I will give them credit for their ability to run well. The race today was an amazing display of their strength as a team.
Regardless of their ability, their display at the awards ceremony was classless. It does not matter how well you perform, how much you enjoy life, or if the awards ceremony is held in a gym or not, it is my opinion, and obviously the opinion of several others that athletes should conduct themselves in a manner that best articulates the values of the organization they represent.
Athletes give a college an image. The way they perform is important but so is way they act and dress. Every time a college team travels off school grounds, they are representing where they came from. They are marketing the college, it's values, and what the students there are like.
In this case, they are not only representing Cortland State, but also the SUNY Conference. When they win by a landslide, they are sending a message that they are the best SUNY has to offer. Moreover, as the top ranked team in Division III, they are seen as the best that Division III has to offer.
After the display they made, I would be embarrassed to be affiliated with Cortland. I am already embarrassed, as a member of SUNYAC cross country. And I am even more embarrassed to be in Division III, which is already looked down upon by the rest of the NCAA.
Many teams/schools have dress policies when it comes to traveling to meets. There is a reason those policies are in place. No AD, college President, coach or student athlete wants the image of 14 classless fools damaging the reputation or their school or conference. Important if they lose, but even more important if they win, most strive to make a good impression at the awards ceremony, at the hotel they stay at, and even the Taco Bell they eat at on the way home.