Head Coaches |Senior Staff |UNM National Champions |Lobo Nickname
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The University of New Mexico enjoyed its best athletics season in fiveyears according to the final 2002-03 Sears Directors Cup Standings. TheLobos earned 314.5 points and a 59th place finish, the program’s highestmark since placing 51st in 1998. The Sears Directors’ Cup began in 1994 bythe National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) andis a program that recognizes institutions maintaining a broad-basedprogram, achieving success in many sports.
The Lobos scored points in in seven sports during the 2002-03 season(women’s basketball, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s soccer, men’soutdoor track and skiing). Points are awarded based on a team’sperformance in NCAA Championship events.
University of New Mexico student-athletes increased their combinedgrade-point-average for the ninth consecutive semester, compiling a 3.04GPA during the 2003 spring semester. It’s the highest semester GPA sincethe athletics department began tracking academic progress in 1988. Lobostudent-athletes had a 3.03 GPA in the fall of 2002.
Collectively, the Lobos were also better in their respective sports in2002-03. A total of 15 programs either equaled or surpassed their numberof wins, or placed higher in their conference standings compared to2001-02. Ten teams (women’s basketball, men’s cross country, football,men’s and women’s golf, skiing, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, indoor women’strack, men’s outdoor track) represented UNM at NCAA postseason competition.
The Lobos finished No. 59 in the Sears Directors’ Cup national rankings,the best finish in five years, since being ranked 51st in 1997-98. UNMtied for 77th last year.
2003 University of New Mexico Spring Semester Grade Point Averages
| Men | |
| Baseball | 2.92 |
| Basketball | 2.60 |
| Football | 2.69 |
| Golf | 3.06 |
| Skiing | 3.23 |
| Soccer | 3.25 |
| Tennis | 3.52 |
| Track* | 3.02 |
| Women | |
| Basketball | 3.33 |
| Golf | 3.33 |
| Skiing | 3.60 |
| Soccer | 3.28 |
| Softball | 2.87 |
| Swimming | 3.25 |
| Tennis | 3.48 |
| Track* | 3.19 |
| Volleyball | 3.37 |
| Total | 3.04 |
* includes cross country, indoor and outdoor track
Notes
*A total of 430 student-athletes were included in the tabulation
*101 student-athletes currently have a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher; 11 have a perfect 4.0
*Women’s volleyball and the men’s sports of football, soccer and tennis all achieved their highest semester GPA
2002-03 SPORT-BY-SPORT RECAPS
Baseball (Rich Alday, head coach)
*UNM finished 34-26 overall, a 12-win improvement from 2002…the Lobos were 17-13 in the Mountain West, good for fourth place
*SS Dusty Young, P James Vermilyea, DH Joe Salas and 3B Josh Mader were named first team all-MWC…Young and 1B Chris Alexander were chosen 3rd team All-America by Louisville Slugger…Young was also named first team Academic All-America and was signed by the Florida Marlins
*Alexander set a school record with 25 home runs and was selected in the 15th round by the Texas Rangers…Vermilyea was taken in the 9th round by Toronto
Men’s Basketball (Ritchie McKay, head coach)
*It was the 100th season of Lobo basketball
*Finished 10-18 overall for the school’s first losing record in 20 years…Lobo were 4-10 in the Mountain West Conference in head coach Ritchie McKay’s inaugural season
*Senior G Ruben Douglas became the first Lobo to lead the nation in scoring, averaging 28 points a game… Douglas was also named the MWC Player of the Year…he finished 5th all-time at UNM with 1,782 points in just 86 career games
*Lobos competed most of the season with only eight scholarship players
Women’s Basketball (Don Flanagan, head coach)
*UNM went 24-9 overall and 9-5 in the MWC…the Lobos won the MWC Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history…UNM hosted the NCAA Tournament and played in front of three straight sellouts at The Pit before losing to Texas Tech in the regional semifinals…it was UNM’s sixth straight postseason appearance
*The Lobos had their third straight 20-win season and fifth overall under Don Flanagan…UNM is 136-56 since 1997-98, an average of 22.7 wins
*Senior Jordan Adams was first team all-league, the MVP of the MWC Tournament and the 18th pick in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx
*UNM finished 4th nationally in attendance with a school-record average of 11,896 fans a game
Cross Country (Matt Henry, head coach)
*The men’s team opened up the season with three straight victories en route to a No. 27 national ranking, its highest since 1989…UNM received votes in every national poll and finished the year ranked 34th with 14 votes
*The men placed third at the MWC Championships, their highest finish since 1991, while the women were sixth…Cameron Clarke and Matt Gonzales were first team all-MWC honorees for the men
*UNM hosted the NCAA Mountain Region Championship…the men placed seventh…Gonzales placed eighth to quaify for nationals
Football (Rocky Long, head coach)
*UNM was 7-7 overall, including 5-2 in the MWC, good for second place and a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl against UCLA…only UNM’s second bowl game since 1961…the Lobos were picked to finish sixth in the league…Rocky Long was named MWC Coach of the Year
*Lobos increased their win total for the fourth straight year
*LB Charles Moss, S Brandon Ratcliff and TB DonTrell Moore were named first team All-MWC…Moore was also chosen MWC Freshman of the Year
*UNM’s defense allowed 332.8 ypg to rank 30th nationally, its third straight top-30 finish
*Katie Hnida became the first woman to participate in an NCAA Div. I-A game when she attempted an extra point against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl
Men’s Golf (Glen Millican, head coach)
*New Mexico advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 12th time in the past 14 years and finished 23rd…senior Michael Letzig was named a second team All-American
*The Lobos won their first MWC team title…Letzig won the individual championship and was named MWC Player of the Year…Glen Millican was named MWC Coach of the Year
Women’s Golf (Jackie Booth, head coach)
*The Lobos won three tournament titles, including their fourth straight MWC Championship…they also played in their sixth consecutive NCAA Regional, finishing tied for 12th
*Jackie Booth was named MWC Coach of the Year for the third straight year and LPGA National Coach of the Year for the second time
*Sophomore Kailin Downs was named MWC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season…Downs also set a school record in stroke average at 74.9…four Lobos were named all-conference
Skiing (George Brooks, head coach)
*The Lobos recorded their fifth straight top-5 finish with a fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championships
*Freshman Jimmy Vika won the men’s 10K Freestyle national championship while Kristina Strandberg, Jenny Wissting and Martina Stursova combined to win the women’s 5K Freestyle team title
*Six Lobos earned All-American honors, including Strandberg, Wissting, Stursova, Vika, junior Caroline Schicht and sophomore Lars Krogsveen
*Ten Lobos were named to the Academic All-American squad
Men’s Soccer (Jeremy Fishbein, head coach)
*The Lobos enjoyed the most successful season ever under first-year head coach Jeremy Fishbein….UNM posted a school-record 18-4 mark, won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season and tournament titles, and earned their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, falling in the second round
*Ben Ashwill was MPSF Tournament MVP and received Freshman All-America honors by Soccer America…Brandon Moss was named 3rd Team Freshman All-America by CollegeSoccerNews.com…senior Junro Narita earned honorable mention All-American from CollegeSoccerNews.com
*Fishbein was named MPSF Coach of the Year
Women’s Soccer (Kit Vela, head coach)
*UNM finished 12-8-1 overall, recording the most wins since the 1998 season…earned a 5-2-1 conference mark to grab third place in the Mountain West regular season
*Advanced to the MWC championship game aginst BYU, falling to the Cougars 5-2, in the title match
*Sophomore Kristen Winters was named MWC Goalkeeper of the Year…Michelle Longmire, Marte Dolva and Rachael Addison received all-conference recognition
*UNM had nine academic all-conference selections…in addition, Erchen Theys was named to the Verizon Academic All-America second team…both Theys and Longmire were named to the Verizon All-District Academic team
Softball (Kim Newbern, head coach)
*Lobos finished 25-37-1 overall and fifth in the MWC at 7-13… UNM went 1-2 in the conference tournament
*Senior OF Kelly Glass and freshmen P Iraina Ogas and SS Ashley VanBoxmeer were named to the all-conference team
Women’s Swimming (Bill Spahn, head coach)
*Finished fifth at the MWC Championships with 379 points, up from last year’s sixth place spot…Tracey Berghian and Becca Barras won the 3-meter and 1-meter MWC diving titles, respectively
*Had a fourth place regular-season conference finish (8-3, 4-3 MWC) and beat BYU for the first time in program history
*Jeff DiNicola garnered MWC Diving Coach of the Year honors…Berghian and Barras were named Co-Divers of the Year and were selected to the All-MWC first team along with freshman Robyn Miller…Aimee Dunavant, Heather Morsilli, Whitney Thomson and Myra Will were named to the second team
Men’s Tennis (Alan Dils, head coach)
*Lobos were 12-8 overall, 4-1 in the MWC, good for a first-place tie in the regular season…UNM lost to San Diego State in the championship match of the MWC Championship…UNM finished 56th in the final national rankings
*Junior Divan Coetzee was invited to the NCAA Championships, the fifth straight year UNM has sent a singles player to the tournament…Ryan Stotland and Brent Salazar fell in the first round of the NCAA doubles
*Coetzee, David Kowalski and Bart Scott were all-MWC in singles while Stotland and Salazar were named to the doubles team
Women’s Tennis (Kathy Kolankiewicz, head coach)
*The Lobos finished 15-9 overall, including a 5-2 mark in the MWC…the Lobos were ranked No. 48 in the final national rankings
*Freshman Maja Kovacek was the ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year…she and Sandy Lukowski were named first team all-MWC in singles and doubles…Tiffany Robertson and Michelle Heidbrink were also all-conference in doubles
Indoor Track (Matt Henry, head coach)
*Pole vaulter Bridgid Isworth became the first UNM woman selected to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships…Isworth placed 12th out of 16 participants
*The men and women placed fifth and seventh, respectively, at the MWC Championships…Keren Sari-Bentzur was the meet High-Point Award winner (30) and earned all-MWC honors in three events, including victories in the pentathlon and long jump…Isworth captured the women’s pole vault title, while Matt Gonzales (3,000m), Mark Johnson (pentathlon) and the men’s mile relay team earned all-MWC recognition
*UNM set seven school records, including five in the first meet of the season
Outdoor Track (Matt Henry, head coach)
*The Lobo men finished 4th at the MWC Championships while the women placed 7th…Amanda Barnes won the shot put title
*Matt Gonzales captured All-America honors by finishing third in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships…he became UNM’s first male All-American in 12 years…Keren Sari-Bentzur finished 23rd in the heptathlon
Volleyball (Kelley Sliva, head coach)
*Finished 10-21 overall and 3-11 in the Mountain West Conference in head coach Kelley Sliva’s first year…Lobos captured their first tournament title since 1999, the Comcast Lobo Invitational
*Junior Anna Reines was the first Lobo to be named to the all-conference team since the inception of the MWC in 1999
*Four Lobos were named to the MWC All-Academic team, including Reines, Vanessa Shields, Andrea Sanchez and Chelsea Sondrup
*As a team the Lobos set a new team record for single season block assists…Sondrup broke a nine-year record in single season block assists with her 131
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