All UNM student athletes finished the spring semester with an overall combined GPA of 3.02. That makes it the sixth-straight semester Lobo athletes had a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
Leading the way for women's teams was the golf team with a 3.79 GPA. The men's ski team brought in an overall GPA of 3.52 to score the highest on the men's side.
Ski team head coach George Brooks said his team does so well in the classroom in part because it has so many foreign athletes. There were seven foreign athletes and two Americans on the team.
"I think the foreign athletes are more focused, in school and in skiing," he said. "They accept responsibility more quickly for their own actions."
Jeremy Fishbein, head coach of the men's soccer team, said UNM sets up plenty of opportunities for each team to have tutors and study hall sessions.
UNM has a minimum requirement that student athletes maintain a 2.0 GPA and pass 26 credit hours per year to participate in athletics.
However, each coach sets up different academic requirements for his or her team on top of the minimum requirement the University imposes.
Brooks said if his athletes get below a B average, he sends them to study hall.
Brooks added his team's success in the classroom is due in large part to what he demands from his athletes.
"I think it starts with the expectations of the program and the coaches," he said. "The teammates don't let them slide either. They work with one another to make sure they are doing well."
There were five Lobos - Jeff Rowland in soccer, Chris Carlson in baseball and Lars Loeseth, Trine Lundamo and Martina Stursova in skiing - who were named to All-American teams academically and for their athleticism.
Fishbein said it's important for coaches to ready their athletes to make the jump into the real world.
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"Our responsibility is that they are prepared for life after college," he said. "For 99.99 percent of the guys, they are going to have to make money with their college degree. So it's our obligation to them to see them reach their potential on the field and in the classroom."
