NEW ORLEANS — U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named University of New Mexico head cross country Joe Franklin as the NCAA Division I Mountain Region Women’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
Franklin, in his ninth year at New Mexico, has coached the nation’s top-ranked women’s team to its eighth-straight berth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and one of the best — if not the best — seasons in program history.
The Lobo women have scored dominant victories this at the Notre Dame Invitational, the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and the Mountain West Championships this season and placed second last week at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships. New Mexico is the No. 1 team in the NCAA for the fifth straight week.
The award, as voted on by the Division I coaches, is the third such honor in Franklin’s tenure at UNM, along with selections in 2010 and 2011. He was also named Mountain Region Men’s Coach of the Year in 2010.
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be contested Saturday in Louisville, Ky., hosted at the E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer State Park.