Senior Tim Johnson provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile run on Saturday. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Johnson collects first NE-10 Track Athlete of the Week award after provisionally qualifying for NCAAs in the mile; Thomas named Field Athlete of the Week for second straight week and fourth time this season overall
EASTON, Mass. (February 4, 2013) – Stonehill College seniors Tim Johnson (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston) and All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) have earned Northeast-10 Conference weekly Track and Field honors the league office announced this afternoon.
Johnson, who was part of a Stonehill 4x800-meter relay team that earned Relay of the Week honors from the NE-10 on January 21, has been named the Conference's Track Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career. Thomas collects NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week accolades for the second straight week and fourth time this season overall (16th career). The duo helped lead Stonehill, ranked 25th in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II rankings index, to a third place team finish at the University of Rhode Island's Coaches' Tribute Meet on Saturday.
Johnson provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships next month in Birmingham, Ala., for the one mile run with his converted time off a second place finish in a personal best time of 4:15.10. The converted time of 4:11.89 for a flat track currently ranks Johnson 19th nationally in Division II. He and sophomore All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./St. John's of Shrewsbury), who also provisionally qualified for NCAA's (4:16.97/4:13.74) and was named to the NE-10's weekly honor roll, led a pack of four Skyhawks in the event on Saturday as the duo ran second and third, respectively, with three running in the top six.
Johnson earned second team All-Northeast-10 honors as part of a Stonehill 4x800-meter relay team that finished second at the 2012 NE-10 Indoor Track & Field Championships in 8:01.69. He also posted a second team All-Northeast-10 finish at the NE-10 Cross Country Championships this past fall, placing ninth in 26:01 over the six-kilometer course to help lead the Skyhawks to the Conference championship. Johnson is also a strong performer in the classroom, earning NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll status four of the last five semesters.
Senior All-American Corey Thomas earns NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors for the 16th time in his career. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Thomas posted Stonehill's lone event win of the weekend as he cleared seven feet for the high jump for the second straight week. His height of 7-feet, 0.25-inches clipped sophomore teammate Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) and marked his fifth first place finish in the event in as many entries this season.
Thomas has qualified for the NCAA Championships next month for the high jump and provisionally qualified for the 60-meter hurdles. He is currently ranked second nationally for the high jump with his school-record leap of 7-feet, 3-inches, at the Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games on January 25, qualifying for the indoor nationals for the fourth-straight year. The jump ranks sixth all-time in New England Track & Field history. Thomas is ranked 11th in Division II for the hurdles on his school-record time of 8.04-seconds at the Joe Donahue Games.
In addition to winning the high jump all five times he has competed this winter, Thomas has placed first in the hurdles two of the three times he has competed in the event, with a second place showing the remaining time. He has also competed with Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay in two meets, helping the squad to a third place showing at the URI Sorlien Invitational (3:28.87) on January 19.
Thomas, the 2011 NCAA Division II National Champion for the high jump, is a six-time All-American, earning the honors for indoor high jump three times, outdoor high jump twice, as well and one All-America performance in the 60-meter hurdles in 2011. The three-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Region Field Athlete of the Year has won four New England Championships over his career, with two indoor high jump titles, one outdoor championship and he is the first dual New England Champion in program history after winning both the outdoor high jump and 110-meter high hurdles titles his freshman year.
Thomas has earned 11 All-New England and 12 All-Northeast-10 Conference honors, six USTFCCCA All-Region and won eight Northeast-10 titles (five hurdles and three high jump). Thomas holds the school record in all five events he competes in at Stonehill. In addition to his two indoor records set this season, he cleared an outdoor high jump record 7-1.5 at the U.S. Junior Nationals at Drake University during the summer following his freshman year. Thomas ran the 110-meter hurdles in a record time of 14.31-seconds at the 2011 New England Outdoor Championships and also holds the 55-meter hurdles record of 7.45-seconds set at the 2010 New England Indoor Championships.
Stonehill will compete at two events again this Saturday when it splits between the Boston University Valentine's Invitational, starting at 9 a.m., and Tufts Cupid Challenge at 11 a.m. The 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships are the following weekend on Saturday, February 16, at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, starting at 4 p.m.
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