One would think continuing to set records for things like grade point averages would be a tough thing to continue. That might be true, but not for the student-athletes at The University of New Mexico.
Five programs, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s track and field and women’s track and field all set program records for cumulative grade point average, and the department set a new high for male student-athletes, female student-athletes and the overall department as Fall 2015 grades were officially released.
The department’s 3.30 grade point average bested the previous mark of 3.25, set in the Spring of 2014. It marks the seventh consecutive semester that Lobo student-athletes have garnered at least a 3.2 grade point average, and 15th straight in which they had at least a 3.0 grade point average.
The fun thing is everyone had a hand in that record. Female student-athletes combined for a program record 3.57 grade point average, which topped the Spring, 2014 mark of 3.53. It marked the 11th consecutive semester that Lobo female student-athletes have had at least a 3.4 grade point average. On the men’s side, they set a program record as well with a 3.10 mark. The previous best was a 3.06 in both the Spring of 2013 and the Fall of 2013. It also marked the eighth straight semester in which male student-athletes averaged at least a 3.0 grade point average.
Along with those records, five teams had the highest grade point average in their program’s history (records date back to 1998). Headlining the way are the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The men’s team turned in a 3.15 grade point average, the second time the program has gone over the 3.0 mark. Under Craig Neal, Lobo basketball has had five straight semesters of at least a 2.7 grade point average, the only such streak in men’s basketball history at UNM. The team’s 0.39 grade point average jump from the previous semester led the department.
The Lobo women’s basketball team had a 3.61 grade point average, taking out the previous program high of 3.52, which had stood since the Fall, 2002 semester. The women’s basketball team now has a string of 30 consecutive semesters of at least a 3.0 grade point average.
Other sports setting program highs were men’s golf and both track and field programs. The 3.60 men’s golf grade point average was better than the 3.55 in the Spring of 2010, and it marked the 17th consecutive semester of at least a 3.0 GPA. Men’s track and field had a 3.50 grade point average, and it marks the third consecutive semester that the team has set a program high.
The women’s track and field team (which counts the grades of the NCAA national champion cross country team) with a 3.64, the fifth straight semester the team has had at least a 3.5, and the second time in three semesters that it set a program mark.
Two other teams, baseball and softball, posted the second-highest GPAs in their respective histories, and the Lobo football team posted the second-best Fall semester GPA in program history as well.
The top grade point average on both sides were turned in by the Lobo ski teams. The men’s team led the male sports with a 3.65 GPA, narrowly topping men’s golf at 3.60. On the women’s side, the women’s ski team not only led the entire department, but its 3.95 grade point average was the history single sport grade point average in the history of UNM athletics.
“Our student-athletes have continually put in the work in the classroom and on the field,” said Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “I want to congratulate Dr. Henry Villegas and his Student Success staff, our coaches, who recruit great student-athletes as well and our terrific faculty and staff on campus. Our goal is to educate and graduate student-athletes, and we are succeeding.”