New Mexico State Coach Mark McFarland Announces Retirement

LAS CRUCES, N.M., July 20. NEW Mexico State women's swimming and diving coach Mark McFarland has announced his retirement from coaching.

McFarland has been the Aggies' head coach for 15 years and will leave coaching to pursue other career interests.

"I've been here 15 years as head coach and it's been a great experience," said McFarland. "I appreciate everything New Mexico State has done for me. I look forward to new challenges. I leave with mixed feelings. I think I was able to give some consistency to the program. I hope the program is in better shape than we I began."

McFarland was named head coach at NMSU on July 27, 1988 just before receiving his degree from NMSU in December of 1988. He was an assistant for the Aggies the previous season.

During his tenure, 37 of the school's 40 records have been broken and he has guided the program through the High Country, Big West and Sun Belt Conferences.

The past three seasons have been especially successful for the Aggies. NMSU has finished second in the Sun Belt Conference standings in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

During those three years the Aggies have earned 97 all-conference citations and won five relay titles and 12 individual titles at the conference meet.

His team has also been very successful in the classroom. Vanessa Schaufler (2000) and Kendall Key (1988) each earned Verizon Academic All-America status during McFarland's tenure.

"He's had an outstanding run here," said NMSU Athletics Director Brian Faison. "The program has made particularly strong strides the last three years and Mark has left the program on solid footing. Academically, the swimming program has always been at the tops in terms of academic achievement and that's a real credit to Mark. We are going to miss him."

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use