COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — University of New Mexico track and field athlete Adam Bitchell earned his first-ever selection as the Mountain West Men’s Indoor Track & Field Student-Athlete of the Year the conference announced Thursday.
Bitchell paced the Lobos at the conference and national championships this indoor track and field season, finishing with his first set of individual conference titles and his first-ever All-American performance in 2015.
The senior from Aberystwyth, Wales, placed sixth in the men’s 3,000-meter run last week at the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships, crossing the line in 8 minutes, 2.72 seconds.
He owns four of the nine fastest times over 3000 meters in New Mexico history
For his top-eight performance at the indoor national championships, he was accorded the honor of First-Team All-American by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
It’s Bitchell’s first such honor, but he was close to earning All-American honors at both the indoor and outdoor national championships in 2014, finishing ninth in the 5000 indoors and 10th in the 10000 outdoors.
Bitchell also won two events at the New Mexico-hosted 2015 MW Indoor Championships in February, leading the New Mexico men to their third straight MW team title in program history.
He claimed the conference titles in the 3000 and 5000, running to altitude-converted times of 7:58.95 and 14:07.16, respectively. He is just the sixth athlete in conference history to win both the 3000 and the 5000 at a single championship meet.
He was also third in the mile, and was named All-Mountain West in the mile, 3000 and 5000.
This is the fourth consecutive year a Lobo has been named MW Student-Athlete of the Year, with Luke Caldwell winning two in a row from 2013-14 and Kendall Spencer earning the honor in 2012.
Overall, this the sixth such honor for UNM, as two-time NCAA mile champion Lee Emanuel earned it in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010.
The Student-Athlete of the Year award recognizes the outstanding male and female athletes in the sport of indoor track and field. Student-athletes are nominated and selected by the head coaches at each member institution.
Utah State junior Chari Hawkins earned the honor for the women.