NEW ORLEANS — New Mexico men’s cross country and track and field placed a program-best seventh in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s John McDonnell Program of the Year award standings for the 2014-15 academic year.
The Lobos cross-country and track and field program combined to gain 84 points to place an unprecedented seventh in the final standings, which combine the teams’ finishes from the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships, 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships and the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
After taking 36th place at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last weekend, the Lobos, under head coach Joe Franklin, were able to notch their sixth consecutive recognition for the award.
USTFCCCA First-Team All-Americans Peter Callahan (1,500-meter run) and Logan Pflibsen (pole vault) scored for the men at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., to cap a successful year of competition.
At the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., the Lobos registered a 31st-place finish behind sixth-place finishes by Adam Bitchell (3,000-meter run) and Allan Hamilton (long jump).
Both earned All-American status from the USTFCCCA, and via their performances, New Mexico scored at the NCAA indoor meet for the seventh year in a row.
At the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Jake Shelley paced the Lobos with a 50th-place finish, while Elmar Engholm (78th place), Todd Wakefield (93rd), Ross Matheson (119th) and Dan Studley (131st) also scored.
The Lobos recorded their sixth-straight scoring finish at the NCAA cross country meet.
The Lobos also finished in the final standing for the award the past six years, dating back to 2010. Last year, New Mexico placed a 11th, with a 11th-place finish in cross country, a 45th-place finish in indoor track and a 44th-place finish in outdoor track.
In 2013, New Mexico finished the season ranked a 13th in the standings, while in 2012, the Lobos took 11th. 2011 saw New Mexico take 14th overall, and the Lobos also placed 11th in 2010.
New Mexico is one of only two schools to finish in the final standings each of the last six years, along with Texas. Oregon and Florida State are the only other schools to earn the honor six times in non-sequential years.
Presented annually since 2009, the NCAA Division I Program of the Year Award recognizes the most outstanding cross country and track & field programs in Division I based on the institution’s performance through the academic year. Final standings are predicated on the institution’s combined finishes at the NCAA Division I Championships in cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field.
To be eligible for the award, teams must qualify for all three NCAA Championships. Scores for award are calculated from the team’s each finish at those championships (i.e., first place earns one point, second place two points, 31st place 31 points, etc.). The team with the lowest total score for all three championships receives the award.
16 men’s teams scored at all three 2014-15 championships. Leading the final standings was NCAA indoor and outdoor champions Oregon (eight points), with Arkansas (34) and Texas (39) rounding out the top three.
The New Mexico women’s cross country and track & field program also finished ranked in the final standings of the award, as they placed 14th. UNM is one of just seven schools with both the men’s and women’s programs in the final rankings (Oregon, Arkansas, Florida State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and North Carolina).