Joe Franklin leaves Butler track/cross country program

June 20, 2007

Indianapolis, Ind. - Joe Franklin, who guided the Bulldogs to national prominence in cross country and track and field, has resigned his position at Butler University to accept a similar post at the University of New Mexico. The announcement ends Franklin's successful 13-year run with the Bulldogs.

Franklin, who began coaching at Butler in 1994, guided the Bulldogs to 18 Horizon League men's and women's cross country championships. He led Butler to the past nine men's titles and the last five women's crowns. He had eight teams (six men, two women) earn a spot in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, and his 2004 men's team placed a school-record fourth in the nation.

The talented Butler coach earned 17 Horizon League Coach of the Year awards and was named Men's Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 1998. He was named NCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2004. During Franklin's tenure, Butler track and cross country athletes earned All-America honors eight times, captured 128 league titles and received 276 All-League certificates.

Franklin, 39, had two runners place in the Top 5 in the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship (Julius Mwangi was third in 1998; Mark Tucker was fourth in 2002) and three runners finish in the "Top 10" at the NCAA Track and Field Championship. In 2005, Victoria Mitchell captured Butler's first outdoor track national championship in 73 years by winning the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Butler Director of Athletics Barry Collier has begun the process of finding a new track and cross country coach.

Story provided by Butler Office of Sports Information