by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
When Matt Henry decided to retire from UNM, he said he was leaving partly because former Athletics Director Rudy Davalos wasn't committed to the track and cross country teams.
But Athletics Director Paul Krebs has emphasized the University's dedication to the sport, and that promise helped attract Joe Franklin to take the reins for UNM.
Krebs said the school will do everything it can to help elevate the program.-
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"Make no mistake, we are in this to win," he said. "Joe is a man with great track credentials, and I don't think there is any question that he would not have come to the University of New Mexico had we not been totally committed to the sport of track and field."
UNM had eight men's scholarships last season, but Krebs said he plans to add one scholarship every year until the University reaches the maximum of 12.
Franklin said Associate Athletics Director Janice Ruggiero and Krebs did a good job of luring the born-and-raised Midwesterner to New Mexico.
"This is an awesome opportunity," he said. "Janice and Paul and the University of New Mexico's commitment to the sport of track and field and cross country is at the top. The goals and the University's commitment is why this is a job I really went after."
And there are plenty of reasons why Krebs pursued Franklin.
He won the Horizon Conference Coach of the Year honors 17 times in cross country, earned conference Indoor Track Coach of the Year honors twice and was named Men's Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 1998.
He led eight teams - six men's and two women's - to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the last nine years. The Bulldogs also sent a team to the NCAA Championships five of the last six years.
Last year, the men's team won its ninth straight conference title, and the women won their fifth in a row, dominating the Horizon Conference. Above all, Franklin was named NCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2004 after leading the Butler men to a program-best fourth place finish at the national meet.
Jarrin Solomon - UNM's returning Mountain West Conference 400-meter champion - said he is excited about his new head coach.
"I think he's a nice guy," he said. "He's got a lot of contacts. He knows a lot of people. It seems like he knows what he's doing and will bring the program to the next level."
Thrower Briana Paxton, who was a part of the hiring committee, said Franklin's head coaching success at Butler was a factor in the decision.
"He was the only finalist with head coaching experience," she said. "He did a lot of good things at Butler. It's a smaller school, and he did great things for them, even though he didn't have the support or funding that
UNM has."
