Thomas Named NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week

Sophomore All-American takes weekly award for first time in outdoor season

EASTON, Mass. (April 13, 2011) – Stonehill College sophomore All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Field Athlete of the Week by the league office.

Thomas was a double-winner for Stonehill at Saturday's George Davis Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, as he won the high jump with an NCAA Championship provisional qualifying height of 6-feet, 10.75-inches and placed first in the 110-meter high hurdles with his time of 14.99-seconds. It marks the second-straight week Thomas has won both events in his first two outdoor meets of the year and the seventh time overall he has won both events at the same meet including the indoor season. Saturday's high jump is the fifth-highest in Division II so far during the outdoor season.

Thomas, the indoor national champion for the high jump, has already claimed two All-America honors this year to go with the two he earned for the indoor and outdoor high jump as a freshman. He captured his first national championship last month when he cleared 7-feet, 0.5-inches and also earned All-America honors for the 6-meter high hurdles for the first time with his fifth place finish in a school-record time of 8.08-seconds. Thomas was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional Field Athlete of the Year for the third-straight season and is a two-time NE-10 Indoor Athlete of the Year after capturing the NE-10 indoor championships for the high jump and 55-meter hurdles in February.

Thomas has won the high jump in nine of the ten meets, combining indoor and outdoor events, this year and has won the hurdles. He has earned NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors five times overall this season and seven times in his career to go with 12 Freshman of the Week awards in 2009-10 combining indoor, outdoor and track and field selections.

Thomas enjoyed a record-breaking outdoor season as a freshman at Stonehill, qualifying for the NCAA Championships for both the high jump and 110-meter high hurdles. He didn't finish lower than third for the high jump in any of the eight outdoor events he was entered in for Stonehill last spring, posting wins at the Skyhawk Invitational and New Balance Boston Twilight Invitational to go with a second New England title. He won the 110-meter hurdles event in six of the eight outdoor meets he was entered this spring, posting wins at the Bryant Invitational, George Davis Invite, Skyhawk Invitational and New Balance Boston Twilight event to go with his Northeast-10 Conference and New England Championship performances. Thomas was named the NE-10 Male Freshman of the Year for the outdoor season.

Thomas capped the year by placing fourth for the high jump at the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium in June, clearing a school-record height of 7'1.50".

Stonehill is back in action on Saturday when it participates in the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Invitational starting at 11:30 a.m.