BROCKTON ENTERPRISE: "Stonehill College’s Corey Thomas wrapping up brilliant career"

He arrived at Stonehill College in 2009 as an elite recruit following a record-setting high school track and field career.

Expectations were high for Corey Thomas after he set four individual Massachusetts records while at Boston College High School.

With his career about to end this week, it is safe to say that Thomas fulfilled those lofty expectations during a remarkable four-year run with the Skyhawks.

"He is absolutely the best athlete who has ever come through the gates of Stonehill,'' said Stonehill coach Karen Boen. "There's no question about that.''

Given the lengthy list of achievements Thomas has put together, it is difficult to argue with that statement.

He won the national indoor high jump title as a sophomore in 2011, has earned All-America recognitioneight times and has qualified for all eight NCAA Div. 2 Championship meets (indoor and outdoor) in four seasons.

"It's starting to hit me very slowly now because everything's wrapping up,'' said Thomas when asked about all that he's done at Stonehill. "It's a great feeling to be recognized on this campus as one of the best male athletes ever here.''

Thomas' final competition for the Skyhawks takes place this week in Pueblo, Colo., where he will be in the high jump and 110-meter high hurdles events at the NCAA Div. 2 Championships.

He is seeded No. 13 nationally in the high jump (6-101/4) and is No. 18 in the hurdles (a school-record 14.24 seconds).

The high jump will be contested at 6:30 p.m. on Friday while the high hurdles preliminary race is later that night at 8:55, followed by the final on Saturday night at 8:05.

"It will be sad, but, hopefully, I'll be happy,'' said Thomas, who graduated last Sunday. "(Teammate) Nick (Staley, who is also in the high jump field) and I are planning to be All-Americans. I'd like to be a double All-American. That'd be a great way to go out.''

Thomas has earned All-America honors twice during the outdoor season, both in the high jump, and was a six-time All-America performer at the indoor meets (four in the high jump, two in the hurdles).

The criminal justice major was a Northeast-10 Conference champion six times each in the indoor and outdoor season during his career, won New England championships three times in the outdoor season and twice during the indoor season.

He earned All-New England honors 15 times, was the All-East Region field athlete of the year three times and received the NE-10 male athlete of the year award three times. Thomas' best indoor high jump was 7-3, and it was 7-11/2 during the spring.

In his previous seven trips to national meets, Thomas did not earn All-America recognition only once, finishing ninth in the high jump last spring, one spot from that honor.

It has certainly been a career to remember for Thomas, who started producing points and titles as a freshman and never stopped.

"When I first got here freshman year, I just expected to be the best that I could be,'' said Thomas. "I wanted to be No. 1 on the team, the No. 1 point scorer, the one the coaches could depend on, no matter what.''

With a jump of 71/2 at Albuquerque, N.M., on March 11, 2011, Thomas became Stonehill's first individual national champion. He was also an All-America in the hurdles that weekend.

"When I won sophomore year, it was great, like the best feeling I've ever had,'' said Thomas, a native of Brookline. "Everyone there was so good. I needed to have the best jumps and be clean and I was.''

Thomas said that once in a while, the thought of what might have been had to gone to a Div. 1 school crosses his mind. But he always winds up knowing that Stonehill, a school he fell in love with during a class trip as a BC High sophomore, was the right place for him.

"Absolutely no regrets,'' said Thomas. "It's kind of like a Div. 1 program here because we face so many Div. 1 teams. It's the same. It's like being Div. 11/2 for us.

"I do sometimes (think about Div. 1). Would I jump higher or run faster. But would their training mess me up? I'm fine. I love being here. I love the coaching staff here. It's been great.''

Now, a brilliant career at Stonehill comes to an end with an eighth trip to the NCAAs, something that will be difficult to duplicate.

"The odds are against us for that to happen (again),'' said Boen. "We knew Corey was definitely an athlete when he came here and our expectations were really high.''

Given all that he has done for the Skyhawks, all of those expectations were met by Corey Thomas.