CLEVELAND, Ohio — The University of New Mexico has finished 58th in the final Learfield Director’s Cup standings, the sixth consecutive year that the Lobos have finished in the top 60. The Lobos also finished as the top Mountain West school for a fourth consecutive year.
The Lobos picked up 423.5 points to finish in 58th place, which was also the sixth highest non-Power 5 Conference finish among all institutions. The Lobos earned points from men’s golf, men’s track and field, women’s track and field, men’s tennis and women’s tennis in the spring. The Lobos picked up 135 spring points after getting 142 in the winter and 146.5 in the fall.
The Lobos finished five slots ahead of San Diego State, which was 63rd, and six ahead of Boise State, which was 64th. The only other Mountain West program in the top 100 was Air Force in 77th. All 11 Mountain programs did pick up Learfield Director’s Cup points in the 2014-15 season.
UNM’s best finish in the Learfield Director’s Cup was 41st in 2011-12, and UNM’s top point total was in 2009-10 when UNM picked up 522 points.
“I’m very proud of our student-athletes in the classroom and on the playing field,” said Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “Finishing as the top Mountain West team for a fourth consecutive season is a testament to their hard work, as well as the hard work of our coaches.”
“One of our competitive goals in our new 2015-2020 Strategic Plan is to finish first in the Mountain West and to finish among the top five among non-power 5 schools,” added Krebs. “When you couple the athletic successes on the field with our various academic successes from our MW All-Academic selections to Academic All-Americans to our department GPA being over a 3.2, it’s been another terrific year.”
The Lobos finished the year ahead of such notable programs as Purdue, Indiana, West Virginia, Oregon State, Ole Miss, Kansas, UConn and Kansas State.
The Learfield Director’s Cup program first started in 1993-94. UNM has finished outside the top 100 just once in the 22 years of the program.
In addition, the Capital One Cup final standings were released, and New Mexico’s women’s program finished tied for 43rd. The Capital One Cup is based solely on NCAA Top 10 finishes, of which UNM finished third in women’s cross country and fifth in skiing.