Sports
Men's Soccer: Former Lobo signs deal to join MLS club
Cameron Goeldner | December 16University of New Mexico men’s soccer product Chris Wehan has signed with San Jose Earthquakes of MLS.
Sports
Sports
Football: Colorado State and Marshall to square off in 12th annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Cameron Goeldner | December 16The Colorado State Rams (7-5, 5-3 Mountain West) take on the Marshall Thundering Herd (7-5, 4-4 C-USA) in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. at Dreamstyle Stadium. For Colorado State, this marks the team’s second trip of the year to Albuquerque, as they defeated New Mexico 27-24 on October 20. The Rams come in to the New Mexico Bowl touting an impressive offense that ranks in the top 10 nationally. The Rams are led by senior quarterback Nick Stevens and wide receiver Michael Gallup. Gallup is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the top receiver in the nation. He leads the Mountain West in both receiving yards and receptions, in addition to being in the top four nationally in both categories.
Sports
Football: Sheriron Jones commits to New Mexico
Cameron Goeldner | December 12Sheriron Jones, a former Tennessee quarterback who played this past season at Mt. San Jacinto College, has committed to New Mexico, according to 24/7 Sports. Jones was listed as a four-star recruit by all four major recruiting sites coming out of Rancho Verde High School in Moreno, California. He joined the Volunteers in 2015 and redshirted his freshman season. Following his redshirt season, Jones transferred to Colorado. However, his stay at Colorado was short-lived, as less than two weeks later he returned to Tennessee.
Sports
Men’s Soccer: Beaulieu and Spangenberg named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
Cameron Goeldner @goeldfinger | December 12University of New Mexico men’s soccer players Jason Beaulieu and Simon Spangenberg were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Teams, CoSIDA announced last week. Beaulieu and Spangenberg are the 21st and 22nd CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in program history, which is the most in the country at any level for a men's soccer program. 20 of those honorees have come during the tenure of current head coach Jeremy Fishbein.
Sports
Men’s Soccer: Herrera named All-Southeast Region First Team
Cameron Goeldner | December 12Aaron Herrera of the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region First Team for his efforts on the field this season. This is the first All-Region honor for Herrera, who is the next on a list of impressive names from Lobo soccer to receive this honor. Last year, Niko Hansen and Chris Wehan were named to the first team. Being named to the All-Region team, makes Herrera eligible for an All-American honor, which will be announced at a later date. Herrera led the Lobos this year, piling up 15 points on five goals and five assists as a defender, leading the team in both categories. He was moved up front during the season as the Lobos looked to generate some additional offense, something that was severely lacking in the latter half of the season. He started all 17 games he played and notched three game-winning goals in 1,539 minutes on the field.
Sports
Football: Gildan festivities kick off with coaches luncheon
Aaron Cowan | December 11Preparation for the 2017 New Mexico Bowl between Colorado State University and Marshall University officially kicked off this week with the Intralot press luncheon hosted at the Four Hills Country Club. Radio sportscaster and Gildan ESPN Executive Director Jeff Sembieda served as the master of ceremonies, introducing the coaches and athletics directors from each school. He spoke at length about the records that both of these Group of Five teams have achieved and what this bowl game means for New Mexico. “This is a great kickoff for our bowl community and for the media to meet these people and get excited,” Sembieda said. “I love bringing in this intraregional game with two of the most successful group of five teams in conference history”.
Sports
Men's Basketball: Lobos show improvement, but blow second-half lead in loss to the Aggies
Robert Maler | December 11Last month the Lobos and Aggies met in Las Cruses, New Mexico for round one of the Rio Grande Rivalry as NMSU ran the New Mexico out of the gym en route to a lop-sided victory. Things did not go down to the wire in the 75-56 victory for New Mexico State on Nov. 17, but that was precisely the case on Saturday night. The teams were separated by just two points at halftime and neither team held a double digit lead in the game. UNM held a nine-point advantage with 10 minutes to play, but hit just one field goal the rest of the way as the Aggies took advantage of the opportunity and take control.
News
Grad Issue: Beaulieu reflects on his time at UNM
Cameron Goeldner | December 10Jason Beaulieu just wanted to win. That, according to the Lobos’ senior goalkeeper and soon-to-be Fall 2017 graduate, is the main reason he decided to come to New Mexico. “Really it’s because they made it to the final four the year I was recruited, and I wanted the best soccer school I could find,” Beaulieu said. "It was hard to find better than that. I didn’t know much about the NCAA and the powerhouses and the good programs. I didn’t know much. Just the fact that they made it far, and they have such good players that made it pro every year, so I decided to come to the best program.”
Sports
Women’s Basketball: Lobos beat undefeated Navy in overtime thriller
Matthew Narvaiz | December 10It took overtime to do it. But in a closely contested battle, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team beat the undefeated Navy team at Dreamstyle Arena, 94-87, in front of an announced crowd of 6,673. The win for UNM (11-0) tied the longest win streak in team history, with the women’s team doing it at one point during the 1977-78 season and again in the 2003-04 season. But the win didn’t come easy.
Sports
Women's basketball: New Mexico and Navy face off with undefeated records on the line
Matthew Narvaiz | December 9The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team will host Navy at Dreamstyle Arena on Sunday afternoon, hoping to continue its streak of perfection. With a win over Navy, the Lobos (10-0, 0-0 MW) can tie the longest win streak in the team’s history at 11 straight, which has been accomplished on a couple of occasions. UNM won 11 games in a row during the 1996-97 season and again during the 2003-04 season. But picking up that win probably won’t be an easy task. Navy, which has played nine games so far this season, is also undefeated—including wins over Air Force and North Dakota State, amidst the run. Navy’s most recent victory came against Richmond—a game Navy won by 20 points.
Sports
Women’s Basketball: Lobos defeat Texas Tech decisively, setting new school record for wins to start out a season
Matthew Narvaiz | December 7The University of New Mexico Lobos 10th consecutive victory of the season, marking a new program record for wins to start a season without a loss, came in dominant fashion against Texas Tech at Dreamstyle Arena, as they won 90-56 in front of an announced crowd of 5,663 fans on Wednesday evening. The crowd was the largest attendance this season for the Lobos (10-0), a healthy site for a team that has yet to taste defeat. But the win against the Red Raiders was due to a strong defensive effort from the Lobos, as they forced 20 TTU turnovers in the game. They also translated those turnovers into 28 points, while only allowing TTU to score two points off of seven UNM turnovers. Senior guard Cherise Beynon, who scored a game-high 21 points against the Red Raiders (3-4) on a 10-for-29 shooting night, was effective on defense leading the Lobos in the game with four steals. Despite the height advantage, the Red Raiders only outrebounded the Lobos by a margin of 44-43. Junior post Jaisa Nunn brought down a game-high 10 boards, with six of those coming on the offensive end. She also had 15 points, giving her a double-double.
Sports
Men's Basketball: Lobo face Colorado in another road test
Cameron Goeldner | December 6The New Mexico Lobos men’s basketball team will travel north on Wednesday night to take on a Pac-12 opponent in the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder, Colorado. The Buffs (6-1) started the season by winning six straight before finally losing their first game of the season on Saturday to Colorado State in their annual rivalry game.
Sports
Women’s Basketball: Lobos look to set new record, face Texas Tech at home
Matthew Narvaiz | December 5It’s true. The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team has started out a perfect 9-0, tying a school record for consecutive wins to begin a season without a loss. These Lobos can set a new benchmark for others to follow, if they are able to notch a 10th consecutive win on Wednesday as they face Texas Tech at Dreamstyle Arena. The Red Raiders have gotten off to a shaky 3-4 record to start to the season, and have dropped three games in a row. Although Texas Tech has frequented the loss column as of late, it still poses a lot of scoring threats. The Red Raiders boast four players that have averaged double figures in points per game.
Sports
UNM hockey dealt first loss of the season
Alanie Rael | December 5The UNM Lobo hockey team won again on Friday, but was dealt its first loss of the season against Colorado Mesa University on Saturday. The Lobos and the Mavericks played against each other earlier in the season and the Lobos came out victorious over CMU in their match up back in October. But the first two meetings were in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This time, the Lobos had to travel to Grand Junction, Colorado to face some competition from their opponents. The weekend match between New Mexico and Colorado Mesa started off promising for the Lobos. UNM defeated the Mavericks by a count of 7-1 in Friday's game, but they couldn’t match the CMU hockey team Saturday night.
Sports
Lobomania exhibit documents UNM sports history
Aaron Cowan | December 5The University of New Mexico has a rich history of participation in college athletics, and now this story has been chronicled in an exhibit entitled “LOBOMANIA! UNM Sports through the Years”, which will be on display until March 31 of next year in the Frank Waters Room of Zimmerman Library. Pictures and sports memorabilia from the archives at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections have been painstakingly assembled by a team of staff and students lead by University archivist Portia Vescio. In an interview Vescio said, “As the University Archivist my job is to research and work with the university’s historical records. I always knew I was going to do something about UNM sports history.” Vescio went on to say, “I really wanted to show the evolution of sports history [at UNM] from this program where you have one building and you have to put equipment outside because it is too small...It has had its ups and downs and good and bad things have happened...” Indeed, the introductory placard for the Lobomania exhibit acknowledged this fact, stating, “The road to success was rocky at times. Scandal, violations, and mismanagement have been persistent reminders that winning is sometimes more important that sportsmanship”.
Sports
Football: Davie must fill at least two coaching positions by 2018 season
Cameron Goeldner | December 4Following the conclusion of a disappointing 3-9 season, New Mexico football coach Bob Davie announced in a press release that offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse and cornerbacks coach Al Simmons will not be retained. DeBesse, who became the offensive coordinator in 2012 when Davie took over as head coach, helped to put the triple option into effect and oversaw a resurgence in the Lobos’ offense leading the nation in rushing yards during the 2016 season. The Lobos set numerous school records, including for most rushing touchdowns with 48, scoring 477 points for a scoring average of 36.7 points per game and total offense with 5,939 yards.
Sports
Women's Basketball: Lobos tie program record with 9-0 start to season
Robert Maler | December 3The Lobo women's basketball team edged out in-state rival New Mexico State in a close, but high-scoring affair on Saturday. New Mexico protected its undefeated record, moving to 9-0 and matching the program's best start to a season after hanging on for a 101-93 victory. The Lobos have not been shy shooting the 3-pointer this season, and Saturday was no different. The team shot lights out from beyond the arc, connecting on 15-for-22 from downtown. Perhaps none were bigger than the deep one launched by senior guard Cherise Beynon with 1:21 to play, sinking a 30-footer with the shot clock dwindling down to extend the Lobo lead to 97-91.
Sports
Ski Team: UNM ski team safe for now, preparing to begin 2018 season
Robert Maler and Alanie Rael | December 3The UNM ski team has been a part of the Lobo’s athletic department since 1970 when the men’s ski team was founded. Last year the program was cut and, though it was later reinstated, some people may be wondering what the status of the ski team is moving forward. The decision to discontinue the New Mexico ski team was announced on April 13, 2017, but was reinstated less than a month later after several protests and a strong push by the community sought to save the program. The ski team held its own press conference, advocating for the chance to continue competing in the sport it loved and received strong support, not just the UNM community but also from many donors around the state of New Mexico.
Opinion
Column: Sports editor goes half-beard, full ridiculous to cap No-shave November experience
Robert Maler | December 3It's December now, but last month many people chose to forego shaving to take part in the phenomenon known as "no-shave November". Many men started growing out their facial hair and some women stopped their routine of leg-shaving as the 30-day event kicked off. A lot of people—perhaps even some of those who participate in no-shave November festivities—may not know there is a reason behind making the decision to forego grooming.
Sports
Men's Basketball: Lobos fall to the Miners 88-76 on the road
Robert Maler | December 2Lobo men's basketball left El Paso, Texas the same way they entered it on Saturday evening — struggling to find its shot and winless away from home. New Mexico fell to 3-5 on the season, falling behind after some long stretches of the game without making a field goal. UTEP used those moments to capitalize and build a lead, eventually walking away with an 88-76 decision. The Lobos have really struggled to knock down shots away from their home court at Dreamstyle Arena. The team has shot a healthy 49.7 percent from the floor at home, but that success rate has plummeted to 36.8 percent when playing outside of Albuquerque.
