Staley |
Thomas |
Thomas named NE-10 Track Athlete of the Week for first time
Staley earns NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors for second time
EASTON, Mass. (February 25, 2013) – Stonehill College senior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and sophomore Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) both earned weekly Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track & Field honors by the league office this afternoon.
Thomas, who has earned NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors 16 times over his career (including four times this winter), collects NE-10 Track Athlete of the Week accolades for the first time, while Staley has been named the NE-10 Field Athlete of the Week for the first time this season (second career) with his first indoor Field Athlete of the Week award. The duo led Stonehill to a tenth place finish at the New England Championships, hosted by Boston University, on Friday and Saturday, finishing second among Division II entries at the event.
Staley captured the first New England championship of his career with a first place finish in the high jump at the New England Championships on Saturday. He cleared seven feet for the first time in his career with a personal-best leap of 7-feet, 0.25-inches, giving Stonehill two individuals who have cleared the seven foot mark, marking the first New England program to do so since Boston University in 1985.
Staley cleared seven feet for the first time in his career to win the New England Indoor High Jump title. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Staley's winning height improved his provisional qualifying credentials for the NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Ala., next week and ranks fourth nationally for the event. Saturday's All-New England performance in the third overall in his two year career at Stonehill, marking his second straight at the New England Indoor Championships. Staley placed fourth at the 2012 Indoor Championships as a freshman and then turned in a second place showing at the New England Outdoor Championships last spring. Staley will be making his second NCAA Championships appearance, but first indoor after placing ninth at the 2012 Outdoor Championships in Colorado last May.
Staley, who earned indoor All-Northeast-10 honors in the high jump for the first time two weeks ago, has won the high jump event at five meets over his career at Stonehill. He is a two-time USTFCCCA All-East Region performer and two-time All-NE-10 performer.
Thomas, who was named the NE-10 Indoor Athlete of the Year for the third time in his career last week, posted a pair of All-New England performances at the New England Championships on Friday and Saturday. He finished second in the 60-meter high hurdles by just 0.01-seconds, but shattered his own school-record set just seven days earlier with his NCAA automatic qualifying time of 7.88-seconds. Thomas broke his own previous record of 7.98 set with his fourth straight Northeast-10 hurdles championship on February 16. He also placed third behind Staley and University of Connecticut junior Noel James in the high jump to collect All-New England honors for the fourth straight year in that event by clearing 6-feet, 8.25-inches.
Thomas collected All-New England honors in two events. |
Thomas is now ranked in the top five nationally for both events, moving up to No. 4 in Division II for the hurdles and already ranked second for the high jump with his school-record leap of 7-feet, 3-inches set in a winning performance at the Joe Donahue Winter Intercollegiate Championships in January. He also captured his second NE-10 Indoor High Jump Championship two weeks ago and has now won the hurdles three of five times he has competed and he suffered his first event loss for high jump – snapping a streak of six straight event wins.
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 13 All-New England and 14 All-Northeast-10 Conference honors, six USTFCCCA All-Region and won ten Northeast-10 titles (six hurdles and four 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.
Staley and Thomas will await word on official performance lists for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships next week. Stonehill, who captured its first NE-10 Indoor Track & Field Championship this season, is ranked 20th in the USTFCCCA Division II Championships ratings index.
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