Olympic medalist among NM Sports Hall of Fame inductees

The Land of Enchantment holds a special place in the hearts of the five honorees to the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame, four of whom were formally introduced Saturday.

For Courtney Frerichs, the move to Albuquerque from Missouri changed the trajectory of her life.

A cross country runner who did not particularly enjoy track, in 2015 Frerichs became part of New Mexico’s first NCAA championship squad outside of skiing and later found her niche on the track, going on to win the NCAA steeplechase championship, earn an Olympic silver medal in the steeplechase and becoming the first – and still only U.S. woman – to break nine minutes in the 3000-meter event.

“I had no idea what to expect,” she said of her move to New Mexico a decade ago. “UNM had just hired my college coach, James Butler, who is still to this day the most important person in my running career, and I trusted him and his judgment that coming here was the right move. And he couldn't have been more right my experience at UNM and in the community and the way that they embraced our team and just willed us to the wins that we had. And the lessons I learned pushed me to what I was able to now accomplish in my professional career.”

It was Butler, then a Lobos assistant, who pushed Frerichs into the steeplechase.

“I loved cross country, but really struggled to find the love in track and field, actually, which is ironic that I ended up becoming a professional track and field runner. It was during my first cross country season in college and we were discussing hurdle drills and the steeplechase, and I was like, well, that kind of seems fun. And he told me, well, good, because that's what you're going to run.”

In hindsight, however, Frerichs said it made sense because her athletic career actually started with competitive gymnastics, which made her both strong and limber, giving her the ingredients to shine in steeplechase.

“Being able to add elements and skills that I learned from gymnastics into running and track and field was so fun for me,” she said. “And so the steeple almost felt like I was out there performing, in a way. And yeah, I fell in love with it. Instantly.”

She turned that love into an ongoing career, representing Nike and is looking to return to her favorite event after recovering from a full tear of her right ACL, as well as damage to both menisci, in 2024.

“It's been the wildest journey possible,” Frerichs said. “I went to college excited to be a student athlete, excited for the opportunity to get a college degree, and had full plans of what I was going to do career-wise when I was done with my time as a student athlete.”

But Butler convinced her that she could achieve more in the sport, telling her, “I think you have the potential to be a professional runner,” she recalled. “I didn't even know professional track and field existed. It was not on my radar, and I managed to qualify for the World Junior team that summer. And that opportunity really opened my eyes to what was possible in the sport.”

Frerichs was part of the community health education program at UNM and wants to enter medicine after her running days are over.

“I feel like I'm at a point where I have accomplished a lot of what I wanted to do in my running career,” she said, adding that overcoming the injury is ongoing. “So a lot of the focus has just been on trying to give myself the opportunity to end my career on my own terms and explore this chapter with curiosity. I guess most immediate would be getting to return to the steeplechase this next year. I haven't been able to run the steeple for a couple of years due to injuries and I really want to show myself that I can come back from that.”

The other honorees in attendance Saturday included luminaries such as former UNM golf coach John Fields, a Las Cruces native who has taken his Lobos and Texas men’s golf teams to 33 NCAA Tournament berths and guided the Longhorns to two national titles; Miles Watters, a 1973 Clayton High School graduate who coached the Yellowjackets’ girls basketball team to 11 state titles; and Anita Maxwell, who is still New Mexico State’s all-time women’s basketball scoring leader 30 years after her final game an Aggie

Another honoree is former Artesia, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones, who led the Bulldogs to two state titles. Jones was unable to attend Saturday’s announcement because he is Tennessee’s offensive analyst and is preparing for the Volunteers' bowl game on Tuesday against Illinois.

The honorees will be inducted into the Hall next June