ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --- The Lobo student-athletes have once again crushed it in the classroom, completing a year in which 11 of the 14 programs had at least one top-5 program semester, and eight set a program record.
Overall, for the spring semester, the entire student-athlete population recorded an overall GPA of 3.62, second only to last semester’s 3.68, giving the group the second-best GPA in recorded history, and the best-ever in a spring semester. The men’s sports recorded a 3.55 GPA, the second-best in school history and the best in a spring semester. Women’s sports recorded a 3.71, the third-best in department history, and the third straight semester in which female student-athletes recorded at least a 3.7 GPA.
Every sport, save one, recorded at least a 3.2 GPA, and women’s tennis led the way with the second-highest GPA in the history of the department, turning in a 4.06 GPA. It just missed the department record, set by women’s golf in the fall of 2022 when it recorded a 4.08 GPA.
Vice President and Director of Athletics Ryan Berryman praised the UNM student-athletes. “In the current climate of college athletics, to continually set records in the classroom shows that we are bringing in hard-working student-athletes that understand the value of The University of New Mexico. Our coaches are recruiting student-athletes who are excelling on the field and in the classroom.”
Berryman added, “We have established a culture of academic excellence through the Lobo Center for Student-Athlete Success (LCSAS), and we have shown you can both win championships and excel in the classroom. Sr. Assoc. AD for Student-Athlete Success & Leadership Chris Hudson and the entire LCSAS team have created an environment where our student-athletes can, and do, thrive.”
The women’s tennis team, in setting a record, was one of eight programs to post a top-five GPA for their individual sport. Along with women’s tennis, volleyball under first-year coach Brian Hosfeld, women’s cross country/track & field, swimming & diving, and softball, all did it on the women’s side, and football, baseball, and men’s cross country/track & field did it on the men’s side.
For women’s tennis, the 4.06 marked just the ninth time a team turned in a 4.0 or better, and it was the second time for women’s tennis. Women’s golf has accomplished the feat five times. Men’s golf turned in the top GPA for the spring semester on the men’s side with a 3.80 GPA. It marked the sixth straight semester that the program led the department’s men’s teams.
Football under Jason Eck, which went 9-4 and tied for first place in the fall, has posted the top three semester GPAs in program history over the last three semesters. All of those are under Eck. Lobo baseball’s top five semesters in program history are under coach Tod Brown, and softball’s top five are under coach Nicole Orgeron.
Overall, for the department, and for all men’s sports combined and all women’s sports combined, the top five semesters have all come in the last five. Additionally, 286 student-athletes had a spring GPA of at least 3.0, and 80 had a spring GPA of 4.0 or higher.