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Sam Ring of the University of Puget Sound (Wash.) has been named the 1999 NCAA Division III West Region Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. The United States Track Coaches Association and Mondo Surfacing selects and presents the award annually to a top coach in each of the eight NCAA Division III men's cross country regions.

Ring, who recently completed his 14th season as head coach of the Loggers, guided the University of Puget Sound to a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship held Nov. 20 in Winneconne, Wis. The Loggers, who were four points shy of cracking the top 20, were making their first appearance at the NCAA Division III Championship after a decade of competition in the NAIA.

The University of Puget Sound qualified as a team entrant for the NCAA Division III Championship by winning the 15-team West Regional held Nov. 13. The Loggers placed five runners in the top 26 individual finishes at the West Regional to win the meet by eight points over second-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.).

In addition to its title at the NCAA Division III West Regional, the University of Puget Sound also won the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational and the Northwest Conference Championship during the 1999 season.

Ring, who coached the University of Puget Sound to a fourth-place finish at the 1995 NAIA Championship, is a 1970 graduate of Central Washington University. Doubling as head coach of the women's cross country team at the University of Puget Sound, Ring led the Loggers to four straight NAIA women's titles from 1992 to 1995.

Mick Gieskes of the University of California-San Diego was named the 1999 NCAA Division III West Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.