Thomas

Staley

Stonehill All-Americans aim to repeat All-America haul from Indoor Championships

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Host Website

PUEBLO, Colo. (May 23, 2013) – Stonehill College All-Americans Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) seek at least a repeat of their All-America sweep from the indoor season as they get set to compete at the 2013 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Colorado State University-Pueblo, at Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl on Friday and Saturday.

Thomas and Staley have both qualified for the high jump at the Outdoor Championships together for the second straight year and look to both earn All-America honors in the event after completing the feat at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., in March. Thomas placed third (6-feet, 11.75-inches) in Birmingham, marking his fourth-straight indoor high jump All-America performance, while Staley earned All-America honors for the first time in his career with a fifth place showing (6-10.75). It marks the first time in program history Stonehill has had two individuals collect All-America honors for the same event. Thomas and Staley tied for ninth in the high jump (6-10.75) at the 2012 Outdoor Championships also held here at the ThunderBowl. Thomas' best outdoor finish is third in 2010 with a leap of 7-feet, 1-inch.

Thomas will also be attempting to earn his first All-America double at the NCAA Outdoor Championships when he competes in the 110-meter high hurdles for the first time since his sophomore season. He finished eighth in the 60-meter hurdles at the Indoor Championships in Birmingham with a time of 8.09-seconds to earn All-America honors at both indoor events for the second time in his career after also completing the feat in 2011 when he also claimed the indoor high jump national championship. Thomas' best finish in the 110-meter hurdles was tenth in 2011 with a time of 14.31-seconds in the prelims.

Sophomore All-American Nick Staley returns to Pueblo looking for his first outdoor high jump All-America performance. (PHOTO BY Blake Wood)

While the 2013 NCAA Championships get underway in Pueblo today, Staley and Thomas will open competition on Friday. The Stonehill duo will compete in the high jump final starting at 5:30 p.m. (EDT), while Thomas will run the 110-meter hurdles prelims starting at 8:55 p.m. (EDT). Thomas, who will run in the third of three heats on Friday, needs to win his heat or be one of the next five fastest to qualify for his first outdoor hurdles final, which will be run on Saturday at 8:05 p.m. (EDT). Live results can be accessed via www.ncaa.com and www.stonehillskyhawks.com, with live video coverage beginning on Friday at 7:30 p.m. (EDT), and Saturday at 7 p.m. (EDT).

Thomas, the lone student-athlete in program history to qualify for all eight NCAA Championships over his career, has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the 110-meter high hurdles and high jump for the third time over his collegiate career, marking his fourth-straight appearance for the high jump at the outdoor championships, while Staley has qualified for the outdoor championships for the second-straight year in the high jump. Staley is seeded ninth for the high jump with his New England Championship winning height of 6-feet, 10.75-inches two weeks ago. Thomas is seeded 18^th in the 110-meter hurdles with his school-record time of 14.24-seconds in the prelims of the New England Championships on his way to a second New England outdoor hurdles title, while he is ranked 13^th for the high jump with a height of 6-10.25 set in his first place finish at the Duke University Invitational on April 6.

Thomas is an eight time All-American, collecting the honors for the outdoor high jump on two occasions in 2010 and 2011 with third (7-1.00) and sixth place (6-10.75) finishes, respectively, to go with six indoor All-America honors (four high jump, two 60-meter hurdles). He seeks his first All-America performance in the 110-meter hurdles, having posted a pair of All-America efforts in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships, including this past March when he completed the All-America double for the second time in his career.

Staley seeks his first outdoor All-America honor after placing ninth, along with Thomas, at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Pueblo. He earned his first All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March with a fifth place.

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