Lobos Lead MW with Program-Best 187 Scholar-Athletes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— University of New Mexico Director of Athletics Eddie Nuñez recently stated that, “we strive for excellence in everything we do” and the number of Lobos on the Mountain West scholar-athletes list announced on Thursday has provided further proof of that standard.
For the 10th consecutive year, UNM led the Mountain West in scholar-athletes with a program-record 187. Not only did the 2020-21 academic year produce the most UNM scholar-athletes on record, it also marked the ninth straight year that UNM totaled over 100 honorees. Further, the 187 was an increase of 59 student-athletes from last year and 10 more than the second-highest total for a conference school.
UNM had seven sports establish program records in soccer, women’s golf, football, volleyball, swimming and diving, women’s track and field and women’s tennis.
The MW Scholar-Athlete award is one of the highest academic honors bestowed by the conference. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in a Mountain West-sponsored sport.
Three different programs led the conference in scholar-athletes within their respective sports in women’s golf (10), soccer (24) and women’s tennis (eight), while men’s tennis tied for the conference lead at six.
In addition, men’s golf and women’s track and field finished with the second highest number of scholar-athletes amongst conference teams with seven and 32 scholar-athletes, respectively. Swimming and diving tied for the second-most scholar-athletes in their sport with 20, and football finished with the third highest number of scholar-athletes with a program-best 24, just two behind conference-leading Boise State. Football more than doubled the number of scholar-athletes from 2019-20.
Volleyball and baseball also finished in the top three in the conference, with volleyball tying Wyoming for the third highest number of honorees at nine and baseball tying Nevada for the third most at 11.
Sport-By-Sport Breakdown (# of Scholar-Athletes)
Baseball (11)
Football (24)
Men’s Basketball (1)
Men’s Cross Country (3)
Men’s Golf (7)
Men’s Tennis (6)
Men’s Track and Field (11)
Softball (7)
Women’s Basketball (4)
Women’s Cross Country (10)
Women’s Golf (10)
Soccer (24)
Swimming and Diving (20)
Women’s Tennis (8)
Women’s Track and Field (32)
Volleyball (9)
Bold indicates conference high