** 2024 Commencement Updates **

** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Highlands Athletic Director Manzanares receives National Award

 Ed Manzanares

New Mexico Highlands University Athletic Director Ed Manzanares was one of five athletic directors nationwide to be awarded a stipend to attend the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association national conference earlier this month in Dallas, Texas. 

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Commissioner J.R. Smith nominated Manzanares for the award.  Nationally, there are more than 250 A.D.s in the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association.

“The conference was really valuable for professional development, and there were great speakers on topics like managing coaches, fundraising and community relations,” Manzanares said.

Manzanares, 36, has been the athletic director at Highlands University for one year.  Previously, he was the head coach for the NMHU men’s basketball team. He is also a member of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics, and the National Association of Basketball coaches.