University of New Mexico Women's Track

Franklin enters his ninth year as the head track and field/cross country coach at the University of New Mexico. Franklin took over the program on June 18, 2007 after 13 years in the same role at Butler University. He replaced Matt Henry who retired after seven years at New Mexico. Franklin is the seventh men's and fifth women's head track and field coach at UNM. At the time of his hiring Franklin said, "I'm excited and thrilled. This is a very unique opportunity, especially when you look at the great tradition and history that New Mexico has had in cross country and track and field. I think the University of New Mexico and city of Albuquerque are tremendous settings for competition and training and places that provide unique opportunities for student-athletes." Franklin said he has lofty expectations for the future of the UNM track and cross country programs. "The goals for the program are always to see where we can max out in every event," he said. "Let's see how high we can go. Let's see if we can get to be a top-10 team in cross country. Let's see if we can get to be a top-25 team in track and field. We want to have athletes in the sprints, throws, jumps, vaults and distance events qualifying for the NCAAs consistently and then see if we can build on that and start moving up in the team standings." Since that time Franklin has wasted little time making his mark at New Mexico and achieved many of the goals he laid out in his hiring. In 2008 the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association created a "Program of the Year" award to honor those teams who succeeded in all three sports cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field on a yearly basis at the NCAA Championships. Since the awards inception New Mexico has made the list six times on the men's side and twice once on the women's side. In fact, New Mexico is one of only two schools to to finish in the final men's standings each of the last six years, joining Texas. UNM is also one of just six institutions (including Florida State, Texas, Oregon, Stanford and BYU) to have placed in the final men's standings at least six times. Franklin has also assembled a considerable collection of championship hardware while helming UNM. Since the start of the 2009-10 school year, the Franklin-led Lobos have claimed the most conference titles of any Mountain West member, with 18 total (eight women's cross-country; six men's cross-country; three men's indoor track & field; one men's outdoor track & field; two women's indoor track & field).  2015 was undoubtedly a banner year for Franklin and the Lobos. Franklin, in his ninth year at New Mexico, coached the nation's top-ranked women'scross country team to one of the most dominating seasons in the NCAA history as the Lobos won the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships with a team score of 49 points, the lowest team score in modern meet history. New Mexico placed all five of its scorers in the top 25, led by its group of All-Americans: Courtney Frerichs (fourth place), Alice Wright (fifth), Rhona Auckland (13th), Calli Thackery (15th) and Molly Renfer (24th). Franklin and his harriers finished the season with perhaps the best performance at an NCAA cross country meet ever, as the Lobos registered the lowest team score by any team since 1982, the smallest team spread (29.5 seconds) in the history of the six-kilometer championship, the most All-Americans (five) since 2009 and the most top-25 finishers (five) since 2001. The entire season was marked with exceptional and historic success for the UNM women, as they won four times in five chances, including a 45-point victory at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, a 156- point win at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and a 47-point victory at the Mountain West Championships. The Lobos set the meet record for the lowest team score at Wisconsin and won a conference record-tying eighth-straight MW title along the way. In 2014, the Lobos had one of their best season under Franklin, with the cross country team soaring to unprecedented results. The men's and women's teams continued their stranglehold on the Mountain West, as the women won their seventh straight title and the men their sixth. Behind Alice Wright and Charlotte Arter, the Lobo women cruised through the UNM-hosted NCAA Mountain Regionals and took third at the NCAA Championships. The men also qualified to their sixth-straight NCAAs, taking 14th.  On the track, Franklin's Lobos won another set of Mountain West titles, fending off the rest of the league to win the indoor championships on their home track. Aasha Marler, Sammy Silva, Zoe Howell, Holly Van Grinsven, Ridge Jones and Django Lovett all broke UNM records indoors, with Silva, Jones, Lovett, Adam Bitchell, Elmar Engholm, Allan Hamilton and Calli Thackery qualifying to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Bitchell, Silva and Hamilton all earned All-American honors. Outdoors, the Lobo women took second and the Lobo men were third at the conference championships, and four Lobos -- Callahan, Wright, Thackery and Logan Pflibsen -- all made thee NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors.  2013 saw New Mexico reign supreme in the Mountain West once again. The men won their fifth consecutive MW championship, while the women rolled to their sixth straight. The Lobos, with five consecutive sweeps of the conference titles, have the second-longest active streak and the fourth-longest in Division I history of conference sweeps. All five mens scorers placed in the top 15 on the men's side, while seven women were among the top 16 finishers on the women's. The Lobos cruised back to the NCAA Championships, as the women made their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance, while the men were making their fifth straight. Together, UNMs streak is tied for the 10th longest streak in Division I history. At the national meet, the women raced to a 10th-place finish behind All-Americans Silva and Arter, while the men took 11th as a result Caldwells second straight All-American performance. On the heels of one of the strongest track and field campaigns in school history, Franklin and his Lobos produced arguably the strongest single season. New Mexico scored three of a possible four conference championships, nine All-Americans, 57 total All-Mountain West honorees, five coach of the year plaudits and an abundance of academic recognitions. Indoors, the Lobos swept the Mountain West men's and women's conference titles for the first time in program history as the men rode six individual titles and the women three. New Mexico also shined as they hosted the NCAA Indoor Championships with Luke Caldwell and Kendall Spencer earning First-Team All-American recognitions. Outdoors, the Lobos again rose to the top of the conference with the men claiming the MW crown and the women placing second. The men, behind superb balance across the board, earned the program's first "Triple Crown" by winning the MW titles in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. New Mexico also qualified 26 athletes to the opening round of the NCAA Championships before advancing eight to the national finals as Peter Callahan earned First-Team All-American honors.  Academically, the Lobos also performed exceptionally in 2013-14, with Caldwell earning the All-America of the Year honors (the top academic honor in the nation) for all Division I track & field athletes. He was also one of three Lobos, along with Patrick Zacharias and Gabe Aragon, to earn First-Team Academic All-America honors. In the fall, 2012 the Lobo men and women continued their mastery of the Mountain West as both teams captured another pair of conference championship, making it five straight for the women and four-in-a-row for the men. The Lobos also had the top individual finishers for the second consecutive year as Lacey Oeding won the women's crown and Luke Caldwell claimed the men's. Franklin also received another round of Coach of the Year honors for both the men and the women. At the NCAA Regional Championships, both teams qualified for the NCAAs with top-four regional finishes, which propelled the women to another top-10 finish at the NCAA finals where Josephine Moultrie and Caldwell earned All-American honors. 2013 saw New Mexico reach unprecedented success, highlighted by the mens first-ever Mountain West Indoor Championship. Behind seven total individual titles and a program-record 15 all-conference selections, the UNM men secured their title. The ladies also performed admirably indoors, as Josephine Moultrie (800, mile) and Kendra Schaaf (5,000-meter run) won individual crowns en route to pacing the women to second. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Luke Caldwell (the school record-holder in the indoor and outdoor 5K) and Floyd Ross garnered All-American nods. Outdoors, the women vied with nationally ranked San Diego State for the conference crown, but placed second. Still, the women generated one of their best showing outdoors as they scored the most points in program history, 145.5, since 1985. The men, despite finishing third in the team standings, erupted for seven individual titles. Caldwell and Ross again claimed All-American status at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Gabe Aragon and Thomas Trujillo also earned Academic All-America nods. During the 2011 cross-country season the Lobo men and women repeated as MWC champions, the women gaining their fourth-in a row and the men their third. Ross Millington and Ruth Senior led the charges for the men and women, respectively, as the duo claimed the top individual finishes. Both groups qualified for the NCAA Championships where the women finished ninth in the nation. Coach Franklin was again accorded Coach of the Year for both genders. He then gained NCAA Mountain Region Coach of the Year for the women's cross-country team. During the 2012 indoor season, New Mexico gained its third individual NCAA champion under Frankling, as Kendall Spencer won the long jump with a school-record leap of 26-3 1/2. Ross and Sarah Waldron also claimed All-American honors indoors, as well. UNM also shined at the conference meets, with the women finishing second indoors and the men placing third at both meets. Outdoors, Spencer again long jumped into the record books with an Olympic A standard leap that led the nation for over a month, while Ross nabbed a national runner-up finish in the triple jump and Waldron claimed another All-American nod at the outdoor championships. In 2010, the Lobo women's cross country program took their third consecutive MWC title, while the men made it two in a row. Franklin was again the Coach of the Year with both programs and Natalie Gray was chosen as MWC Athlete of the Year after taking home the individual title. The teams then went to the NCAA regional championship and took both titles there with Franklin being named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year. At the NCAA Championships the Lobo women placed fifth with two runners, Natalie Gray and Ruth Senior, earning All American honors. The men's program finished 16th with All-American Keith Gerrard leading the way. In 2011, the Lobos sent their record setting distance medley relay to the NCAA Championship, where the squad took sixth to claim All-American honors. Both the men and women also placed third at the MWC Indoor Championships, before finishing as runner-ups at the MWC Outdoor Championships, the first time in program history both teams claimed second at the outdoor conference meet. UNM also sent twenty-nine athletes to the NCAA regional championship, the most ever. Out of that meet nine Lobos qualified for the NCAA championships, where Keith Gerrard and Rory Fraser earned All-American honors in the 10,000- and 5,000-meter races, respectively. In 2009, the Lobo program really took off, with both the men and women winning MWC cross-country titles, and Coach Franklin earning Coach of the Year honors for both genders. Both teams then qualified for the NCAA championship where the men finished eighth and the women 13th. Only eighteen programs qualified both men's and women's teams to the NCAA and when adding the team scores together UNM was the fourth best program in the country. The 2010 indoor season saw Lee Emanuel win his second NCAA title in the mile, while Sandy Fortner, Chris Barnicle and Rory Fraser earned All-American honors. The Lobo men placed 8th at the NCAA indoor meet while the ladies finished 36th. UNM also made gains at the MWC championships, as the Lobo men placed third indoors (with a program-record point total) and were runner-ups (again with a program-record tally). Twenty six Lobos qualified for the NCAA regional championship and seven qualified their way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the 2009 track season the Lobo men finished second at the MWC indoor meet, the highest ever finish to that point and then duplicated the highest outdoor finish in MWC history when they got third. Emanuel also nabbed the programs first NCAA indoor individual title since 1977 as he took the mile run with the years fastest time at 3:57.62. Both MWC outstanding performers went to Lobos, too, as Jarrin Solomon was the mens award winner and Katie Coronado was the womens.Following the 2009 MWC championship the Lobo program sent 10 athletes to the NCAA regional championships, where 11 Lobo tracksters qualified for the NCAA championships. Of those 11, three Lobos earned All-American honors.  In 2008, the women turned in one of the best cross country seasons in program history to that point. New Mexico won its first conference title, edging BYU 31-33 in the closest women's championship meet in MWC history. The Lobos set program records with three first team all-conference runners and five total all-conference honorees. Franklin was named MWC Women's Coach of the Year. New Mexico went on to finish second at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships and placed a school record six women on the all-region team en route to a 70-point score - the team's lowest since 1981. A week later, junior Nicky Archer (56th) led the Lobos to an 18th place finish at NCAA Championships in their first trip to the national meet since 1985. During 2007, senior Jeremy Johnson won the Mountain West Conference men's title and earned All-America honors by placing 20th in his NCAA Cross Country Championship debut. The Lobo men turned in their best ever MWC performance, finishing second with a score of 51, the team's best at a conference meet since 1965. UNM also had a program-best four runners earn All-MWC honors on the men's side. Franklins debut season on the track in 2008 was filled with highlights. Junior Sandy Fortner became the first UNM woman to compete in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships (where she 12th) after winning MWC gold in the competition. Five school records also fell during the indoor season. The 2008 outdoor track season saw seven athletes - four men and three women - advance to NCAA Championship meet, giving New Mexico its best representation up to that point in the modern era of the championships. Three athletes - seniors Robert Caldwell (pole vault) and Jeremy Johnson (10,000m), and junior Katie Coronado (javelin) - earned All-America honors, the most for UNM since 1989. Coronados silver medal in the javelin was the best ever recorded by a New Mexico woman at the NCAA Championships. Caldwell and Coronado gave UNM a sweep of the mens and womens MWC Outstanding Performer awards.  During his time in Indianapolis, Franklin built the Butler program into a national force in men's and women's cross country. He led eight teams (six men's, two women's) to the NCAA Cross Country Championships between 1998-2006 with seven squads earning top-25 finishes. In 2004, Franklin was named NCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the Butler men to a program-best fourth place finish at the national meet. The Bulldogs sent a team to the NCAA Championships five of the last six years Franklin was at the helm and dominated the Horizon Conference in cross country. In 2006, the men's team won its ninth straight conference title, while the women won their fifth in a row. Franklin earned conference Coach of the Year honors 17 times in cross country and was named Men's Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 1998. He also earned conference Indoor Track Coach of the Year honors twice at Butler. Under Franklin, Butler athletes earned track or cross country All-America honors nine times, won 128 conference titles and earned 276 all-conference awards. On the track, Butler had three outdoor All-Americans with Mitchell winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase national title in 2005, Becky Lyne finishing third in the 800 in 2003 and Fraser Thompson placing seventh in the 5,000 in 1999. Scott Overall became Butler's first indoor track All-American in 2007 when he finished sixth in the mile run. Butler athletes also fared well in the classroom under Franklin's watch. The men and women both posted team grade point averages over 3.2 in the fall of 2006 and Thompson earned a Rhodes Scholarship in 2002 - the highest academic award ever by a Butler University student. A native of Greencastle, Ind., Franklin was a four-year letterman in track at Purdue University and a two-time all-Big 10 Conference honoree in the 800 (2nd - 1989, 3rd - 1991). He received his bachelor's in Professional Writing in 1991 and his master's degree in Education Administration in 1994, both from Purdue. Franklin and his wife, Melinda, have a 17-year-old son, Elijah. Age: 47 (born March 1, 1968) Birthplace: Greencastle, Ind. Alma Mater: Purdue 91 Collegiate Athletic Experience: Purdue (mid-distance: 1986-91) 2007-current: University of New Mexico Head Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Coach 1994-07: Butler University Head Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Coach 1992-94: Purdue University Asst. Men's Cross Country/Track & Field Coach 1991-92: DePauw University Head Cross Country Coach ALL-AMERICANS COACHED (32) Joe Franklin THE JOE FRANKLIN FILE

Zuyderwyk is in his seven year on the New Mexico track & field staff after being promoted to Associate Head Coach by Joe Franklin in 2010. He currently coaches the vertical jumps, multis, hurdles and javelin for the Lobos.  2015 was a banner year for Coach Z, as he called, and his athletes, as Zuyderwyk coached a pair of Lobos to the national championships during the year. Indoors, high jumper Django Lovett shined under Zuyderwyk's tutelage, forging a tie for the New Mexico and Mountain West record at 7-3 (2.21 meters). Behind that mark, Lovett won the MW title in the high jump and advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., where he claimed USTFCCCA Second-Team All-American honors. Also excelling indoors was Holly Van Grinsven, who broke the UNM record in the 60-meter hurdles four times, finally setting the current benchmark of 8.24 seconds.  Outdoors, Zuyderwyk coached Logan Pflibsen to a stellar season, as the senior pole vaulter soared to First-Team All-American honors at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. Pflibsen entered his final season with a personal best of 17-2 3/4 (5.25m), but broke his PB three times en route to posting a lifetime best of 17-8 1/2 (5.40m) at the national championships, where he placed sixth overall. The Lobos' javelin throwers also registered strong marks under Zuyderwyk, as New Mexico captured the top-two finishes at the Mountain West Championships before advancing to the NCAA West Preliminary Championships.  In 2014, Coach Z, as he called, coached the Lobos vertical jumpers and throwers to a banner year. Richard York, in his final outdoor campaign, wrote the headlines as he won the javelin throw and placed third in the decathlon at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships. He rode his success in the javelin to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., becoming just one of three Lobos to qualify to the NCAAs in the javelin since 1970.  The 2014 indoor season was also superb as Margo Tucker and Annie Stirling went 1-2 in the pole vault and broke 13 feet at the Mountain West Championships. The duo gave the Lobos their first conference pole vault title in over a decade and the impetus for their first-ever outright conference title. Logan Pflibsen scored a bronze medal for the men indoors, while Emily Heisler and Nathalie Busk also scored. Outdoors, Stirling duplicated her runner-up performance at the conference meet as Pflibsen also scored. The Lobos, however, were also bolstered by stellar performances by their multi athletes. Samantha Bowe and Holly Van Grinsven both scored in the heptathlon at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, while York became the only athlete in MW history to earn all-conference honors in the decathlon at four separate championships. 2013 saw Zuyderwyk guide the Lobos to another solid year in the jump and combined events. Richard York was the headliner early, as he set a new school record the heptathlon twice -- once at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational and a second time in a title-winning performance at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. The women's pole vaulters also showed well, with three vaulter scoring at the indoor conference meet and four Lobos (including all-conference recipients Amber Menke and Margo Tucker) scoring outdoors. Django Lovett also did well under Zuyderwyk's tutelage, sweeping the Mountain West high jump titles en route to advancing to his third straight NCAA Outdoor Championships.  During the 2012 season, Zuyderwyk coached another record-setting year for the Lobos vertical jumpers and throwers. Amber Menke established a new pole vault record of 13-5 3/4 at back-to-back meets, while York again qualified for the NCAA Outdoor meet in the decathlon (and javelin) and Lovett advanced for a second time in the high jump.  The year before, in 2011, Zuyderwyk led Precious Selmon to the MWC indoor title, establishing a new UNM record. Hurdler DeVron Walker set a new indoor school record in the 60 hurdles. York claimed the indoor conference title in the heptathlon and earned the MWC indoor athlete of the year honors. Margo Tucker established a new indoor school record in the pole vault. In the outdoor season York claimed the decathlon at the MWC championship and qualified to the NCAA championships for the first time. Menke went over 13 in the pole vault while freshmen Logan Pflibsen cleared 17. During his first year with the Lobos in 2010, Coach "Z" took Sandy Fortner to All-American status in the indoor pentathlon, where she placed third at the NCAA Championships with a school-record 4156 points. Through the 2016 indoor season, Fortner is the first and only UNM women's track athlete to medal at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Additionally, Fortner swept the pentathlon and heptathlon titles at the MW indoor and outdoor championships. Fortner also posted what was then the second-best point total in the heptathlon in MW history at the 2010 MW Outdoor Championships as she finished with 5723 points. She also qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.  Zuyderwyk also coached a trio of Lobos to school records during his first year, as Richard York (heptathlon), De'Vron Walker (60-meter hurdles) and Precious Selmon (60 hurdles) all set school records. During the outdoor campaign, York emerged as the top American freshman decathlete and finished the season ranked 26th nationally while winning the MWC title with a score of 7292 points. Fortner repeated as MWC Heptathlon champion and qualified to the NCAA Championships. Prior to coming to UNM he spent the previous eight years at Purdue University where he earned 2008 and 2009 Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. In his last seven years at Purdue, Zuyderwyk's athletes broke 17 school records, nine Big Ten records, three American Collegiate records and three USA open National records. They also won 50 Big Ten medals, including 19 Big Ten event titles, seven NCAA Mideast Regional event titles, two NCAA Championship gold medals and three USA open event titles. During his time at Purdue, Zuyderwyk established one of the finest javelin programs in the country. Purdue was the only university to boast three women's throwers over the 180-foot barrier and the only two American collegiate throwers to ever break the 60-meter barrier. His athletes won two NCAA titles, five NCAA Mideast Regional titles, and in 2009 Kara Patterson won her second straight U.S. Championship and qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany with a career-best throw of 63.95 meters (209-10) - just 24 centimeters shy of the American record. Patterson became Purdue's first female track and field Olympian in 2008, winning the U.S. Olympic Trials, breaking the Olympic trials record. Patterson set an American Collegiate record with her throw of 61.56 meters (202-00) at the 2008 Big Ten Championships. She was just the second American woman to eclipse the 200-foot barrier. In 2002, Serene Ross won both Big Ten and NCAA Championship titles, and broke the American record. Two weeks later, Ross improved her American record to 197-00 and became the USA open national champion, gaining selection to the U.S. team and becoming the first woman to throw over 60 meters in the U.S. In the Pole Vault over the last seven years, the Boilermaker vaulters earned 22 Big Ten medals, including eight conference titles, under Zuyderwyk's tutelage. Purdue had six vaulters qualify for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in 2009 after sending seven to regionals in 2008. Upon his hiring Head Coach Joe Franklin said, "To have a coach of Rodney's caliber join our outstanding staff shows that UNM is a destination program for both athletes and coaches," said Franklin. "He brings instant credibility with his longtime success training athletes in the javelin, pole vault and multi events and we're very excited to have him." In college, Zuyderwyk competed for Washington State University, helping the Cougars to a Pac-10 Championship, and a runner-up finish at the 1991 NCAA Outdoor Championships. After graduation Zuyderwyk represented Australia in the 110-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He finished sixth at the World Cup in the 110-meter hurdles and sixth at the World Student Games in the decathlon. Zuyderwyk earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and sports administration from Washington State in 1993 and received a postgraduate diploma in sports psychology from the University of Queensland in 1995, while earning an MBA from the University of Southern Queensland in 2000. Zuyderwyk and his wife, Jill, have two sons, Brock and Tristan.

Ellis tenure.  That success was anchored by All-American High-Jumper, Deante Kemper. Under Ellis tutelage, Kemper finished fourth at the 2015 NCAA Indoor track and field championships, set the indoor and outdoor school records, won three conference titles, and competed at the 2015 USATF Outdoor Championships and 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships.  Ellis also coached High Jumper Lauren Laszczak to a 10th place finish at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships as well as two conference titles and a trip to the 2014 West Regional meet, missing the NCAA outdoor championships in a jump off. Prior to NAU, Ellis spent two years with the University of Michigan mens track & field program coaching the jumpers and combined events. At Michigan, he helped guide Kurt Reichenbach to a NCAA qualifying mark in the 2013 outdoor championships with a decathlon score of 7412 points. Ellis is a 2009 graduate of Duke University where he was the 2009 ACC long jump champion and triple jump runner up; he also finished 19th at the USA Outdoor Championships and 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that same year. As a freshman, Ellis finished second at the USATF Junior Championships in the long jump and a fourth place finish at the Pan-American Junior Meet in 2005. Ellis still holds three school records. Ellis is USTFCCCA Jumps Specialist and USATF level 1 certified.  

Ceronie, as he coached scorers and NCAA qualifiers at an unprecendented rate. Between 60-meter school-record holder Kayla Fisher-Taylor, Aasha Marler and Haley Sanner on the women's side and Charles Lewis, Chris Kline and Ridge Jones on the men's, Ceronie helmed the Lobos' sprints/hurdles crew to 22 scoring efforts at the Mountain West Championships. Of those performances, Sanner (second in 400 outdoors), Marler (second in 60 indoors) and Lewis (second in 400 indoors, top three in 400, 400 hurdles and 4x400 relay outdoors) stand out as highlights. Ceronie was also able to coach Lewis to the NCAA Championships in the 400 hurdles, where the Albuquerque native earned Second-Team All-American honors as the first Lobo to compete in the event at a national championship since the mid-1970s.  In 2013, Ceronie was able to coach the women's 4x400 meter relay team to a second-place finish at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, as the team finished with the school's second-best time of all time. The men's sprinters, under the guide of Ceronie, also contributed at the conference meets, with Ridge Jones, Kendall Spencer and Chaz Lewis all earning All-Mountain West honors at the indoor championships.  His second season at New Mexico saw the Lobos' sprinters shine. Shirley Pitts won the MW indoor title in the 400 and claimed an All-MW honor outdoors, while the women's relay teams both placed third at the MW indoor championships. The women's 4x400 also set the indoor school record twice during the season. Men's sprinter Beejay Lee also exploded onto the scene, setting the school record in the 60-meter dash. He added a MW title in the 200 at the indoor meet, and posted runner-up finishes in the indoor 60, outdoor 100 and outdoor 200. Marin Schweigert also performed strongly at both championships, placing fourth indoor and second outdoors.  In 2011, his first year a New Mexico, Ceronie coached two of his men, Chaz Lewis and Yusuf Muhammad, to second- and third-place finished in the 400-meters hurdles at the MWC Outdoor Championships, with one, Lewis, qualifying on to the NCAA regional championship and the USA junior track championships. He also coached Marin Schweigert to a scoring effort in the high jump at the MWC Indoor Championships. While at Miami University, Ceronie produced three U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers, 4 conference athletes of the year, over 60 conference champions, and 13 NCAA All Americans. He was the first Mid American Conference coach to have an athlete win an NCAA Championship and rank No. 1 in the world. His teams were consistently ranked among the best in the conference winning almost 70% of all competitions in that 24 year tenure. Also during his time at Miami, Ceronie was elected the NCAA Division I Track & Field Committee, where he worked with Joe Franklin for several years. His four-year tenure on the committee culminated in him serving as chair of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship and Outdoor Track & Field Championship.  For the last three years, Ceronie served the City of Albuquerque as meet director for the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships. During 2014, he again will lead the city in hosting this prestigious meet. He also serves as meet director for all Lobo home track & field meets and during the last two years there has been record attendance. In 2011 Ceronie was honored by the City of Albuquerque as "Ambassador of the Year" for bringing increased revenue to the city. Over the course of the last two years Ceronie has been responsible for bringing over 3.5 million dollars in direct spending to the city. Ceronie earned undergraduate degrees in health education and elementary education from Brockport State University (NY). He then went on to earn graduate degrees in elementary education (Geneseo State University (NY) and Sport Organization (Miami University) before completing his Ph.D. at Miami in Educational Leadership/Athletic Administration. Ceronie is married (Karen) and has two daughters, Katelin and Lauren. Coach Joe Franklin on Ceronie, "Rich and I have been friends for many years as my teams at Butler University often competed against Miami University. His organizational abilities will help our program and city as we continue to become a mecca of indoor track & field. His expertise as a former head coach and having coached every track & field event will help our program to have great flexibility as we go into the future."

Butler has helped guide Courtney Frerichs to a number of accolades, includingpair of Summit League titles. Frerichs, who came to New Mexico with Butler to finish her final season of collegiate eligibility, was a two-time cross-country All-American and was the runner-up in the steeplechase at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships.  Additionally, Frerichs (2012) and Bryce Miller (2014) garnered spots on the U.S. IAAF Junior World Championship squad with both competing in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Cosmas Ayabei, meanwhile, placed 56th at the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championship under Butlers tutelage. Prior to UMKC, Butler coached with the Lobos. After serving two years as a graduate assistant at UNM in 2009 and 2010 while coaching the men's and women's track and cross country, Butler moved to a part-time position with the Lobos during his third year, coaching middle distance and cross country. While there, he led multiple All-American performers, and helped the men's and women's cross country teams to national top 20 finishes in back-to-back seasons (2009 and 2010). After a stellar high school career at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, where he was state champion, Butler attended Wake Forest University on a cross country/track scholarship. While at Wake Forest, Butler competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on two occasions, and was an NCAA Regional track qualifier in the 5000 meters. After graduation he moved back to Albuquerque and made coaching stops as an assistant at Del Norte High School, and as the head coach at his alma mater, Eldorado High School, where he produced six state championship teams and individuals. His best athlete, Matt Tebo was a Footlocker regional champion, and fifth placer runner at the Footlocker national finals. During the two years as a graduate assistant at UNM, Butler assisted with the daily training of the cross country team, while focusing on the middle distance runners in track. He also coordinated the recruiting efforts of New Mexican high schools. He was also assistant meet director for all UNM home competitions as well as assisting with the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships and the USA Indoor Masters Track & Field Championships. Butler, who has a bachelors degree in Computer Science from Wake Forest, completed a Masters degree in Sport Administration from New Mexico.James Butler