Fullerton |
Thomas |
Fullerton named Men's Track Athlete of the Week, while
Thomas earns second-straight Men's Field Athlete of the Week award
Fullerton, an All-American at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships in the 4000-meter distance medley relay, topped a field of 37 competitors in the 1500-meter run on Saturday with his first place time of 3:50.70 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Stanislaus, Calif., next month for the second-straight year. He was just under two seconds off his own school-record pace of 3:49.07 set at the New Balance Twilight meet last May.
Fullerton has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1500-meters for the second-straight year. (PHOTO BY Gerry Wall) |
Thomas, who earns the weekly award for the second-straight week during the outdoor season, won the high jump on Saturday for the tenth time in 11 meets this year, combining indoor and outdoor meets, and third-straight week during the outdoor campaign. He cleared 6-feet, 6.25-inches in that event and then placed second for the 110-meter high hurdles with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 14.53-seconds, just 0.11-seconds behind UMass senior Tyler Cotto. Thomas, who provisionally qualified in the high jump with a winning performance at UMass Lowell's George Davis Invitational the week before, has now provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both events for the second-straight year.
Fullerton qualified for last year NCAA Championships in the 1500 and finished 12th in 3:54.16. He earned All-New England honors last spring in the 1500 with his fourth place finish, while collecting All-Northeast-10 honors with a second place finish in the event at the NE-10 Championships. This past indoor season, in addition to earning All-America honors for the 4000m DMR, he captured the New England Championship in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:27.04 and also collected All-New England honors as part of Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay team.
Thomas won the high jump for the third time in as many outdoor meets in which he has competed this spring and also PQ'd for the NCAA Championships in the 110m hurdles. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Fullerton is also a part of Stonehill's nationally-ranked cross country program, earning All-Region honors each year since transferring from Iona College following his sophomore year. This past fall, he placed fifth overall in 31:14 (10k) after earning first team All-NE-10 honors with a fourth place finish in 24:54.4 (8K) at the Conference championships, leading the Skyhawks to second place team finishes at both events.
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 60-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 ten of the 11 meets, combining indoor and outdoor events, this year and has won the hurdles seven times. He has earned NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors six times overall this season and eight 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 returns to action this weekend when it participates in the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton University, on Friday and Saturday.