ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s another semester in the books and another great showing by The University of New Mexico student-athletes in the classroom.
UNM’s student-athletes tied for the second-best GPA in school history with a 3.30 GPA during the Fall 2016 semester. It was just short of the 3.31 GPA mark the Lobos set during the 2016 Spring semester and ties last year’s Fall semester GPA for No. 2 on the list.
A trio of program’s established team highs for its sports. On the men’s side, the defending Mountain West Tournament champion baseball program for the second consecutive semester broke its GPA record with a 3.35 – exceeding its Spring 2016 mark of 3.26. Also setting a new GPA standard was men’s golf and its 3.63 GPA, bettering its previous best of 3.60 set last Fall semester.
On the women’s side, the sand volleyball team set a new mark with a 3.64 GPA. Its previous best was a 3.55 in the Fall 2014 semester – the program’s first year of existence.
Overall, the department’s 3.30 grade point average marks the ninth consecutive semester that Lobo student-athletes have garnered at least a 3.2 grade point average and 17th straight in which they had at least a 3.0 grade point average.
The female UNM student-athletes just missed setting a record with their 3.55 GPA, coming up short of their mark of 3.57 set last Fall semester. However, it did continue their streak of having at least a 3.4 GPA to 13 semesters and at least a 3.15 GPA to 37 semesters.
The men’s programs tied a new high with a combined GPA of 3.13, equaling the mark set the previous Spring semester. It marks the 10th consecutive semester the men have had a 3.0 or better GPA.
The top GPA among the women’s sports (and all-around) went to skiing with a 3.89 GPA – the third-best GPA in school history (women’s skiing set the school record with a 3.95 GPA in Fall 2015). There was a tie for the top GPA among the men’s sports between skiing and golf with a 3.63 GPA (tied for the third-highest GPA for the men since the 2013 Fall semester).
The most recent UNM Athletics Strategic Plan had a focus on “Lobos for Life” a holistic approach to developing the UNM student-athlete, which includes a “Commitment to Athletic Excellence”, a “Commitment to Personal Development” and a “Commitment to Academic Excellence.”
Below is a listing of each sports’ Fall 2016 GPA and any pertinent notes:
| Men’s Sports | ||
| Baseball | 3.35 | Highest GPA all-time; Ninth straight semester with at least a 3.0 |
| Basketball | 3.00 | Third-best GPA all-time; 17 of last 18 semesters with at least 2.7 |
| Football | 2.69 | Second-best Fall GPA all-time (Fall 2008 is record at 2.70) |
| Golf | 3.63 | Highest GPA all-time; Tied for men’s department high; 19th straight semester with at least a 3.0 |
| Ski | 3.63 | Tied for men’s department high; 36th straight semester with at least a 3.2 |
| Soccer | 3.28 | 11th straight semester with at least a 3.2 |
| Tennis | 3.38 | 13th straight semester with at least a 3.2 |
| Track & Field | 3.49 | Second-best GPA all-time; Ninth straight semester with at least a 3.2 |
| Women’s Sports | ||
| Basketball | 3.33 | 32nd straight semester with at least a 3.0 |
| Golf | 3.85 | Ninth straight semester with at least a 3.7 |
| Track | 3.59 | 19th straight semester with at least a 3.3 |
| Beach Volleyball | 3.64 | Highest GPA all-time; Fifth straight semester with at least a 2.8 |
| Ski | 3.89 | Department high; Third highest in department history; Second-highest GPA in program history; 19th straight semester with at least a 3.5 |
| Soccer | 3.62 | Fourth-highest GPA all-time; 13th straight semester with at least a 3.4 |
| Softball | 3.46 | Fourth-highest GPA all-time, 21st straight semester with at least a 3.0 |
| Swimming & Diving | 3.34 | 37th straight semester with at least a 3.0, 22nd straight semester with at least a 3.2 |
| Tennis | 3.75 | Second-highest GPA all-time; 37th straight semester with at least a 3.0 |
| Volleyball | 3.36 | 10th straight semester with at least a 3.0; 28 of last 29 semesters with at least a 3.0 |
| Male Student-Athletes | 3.13 | Tied program record; 10 straight semesters of a 3.0 |
| Female Student-Athletes | 3.55 | Second-highest GPA all-time; 13th straight semester of a 3.4 |
| Overall Student-Athletes | 3.30 | Tied for second-highest GPA all-time, 17 straight semesters of a 3.0 |