Randy Thomas Position: Head Coach Experience: 17th Season

Randy Thomas is entering his 17th year as the program director of the women's cross country and track and field teams at Boston College. He spent the previous 14 seasons as the director of both the men and women's track and field programs.

Thomas has been a part of the Boston College program for 21 years. His past and current successes speak for themselves as he has guided Eagle athletes to 42 All-America awards over the past 17 years.

The women's cross country squad has competed in nine NCAA Championships in the past 13 seasons. Thomas has also trained athletes who qualified individually for the national event. Most recently, Mallory Champa earned All-America awards in 2006 for her 38th -place finish at the NCAAs. Other notable athletes, including Laurel Burdick , Maria Cicero and Jennifer Kramer all gained All-America status after placing in the top-ranks at their respective NCAA Championships.

The 2001 women's team defended their NCAA Region I team championship prior to finishing sixth in the national event. His team's success on the cross-country trails led his peers at the United States Track and Field Association to honor him as the 2001 National Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 2000, his women's cross-country team captured the Big East Championship and went on to finish fourth in the NCAA meet. This placing represented the highest finish at a national championship for a Boston College women's team in any sport in school history.

Thomas also helped bring the first national championship for women's athletics to the Heights, coaching Shannon Smith to the 2001 NCAA Championship in the 3,000-meter run.

Thomas has mentored student-athletes to 20 All-American nods in track and field since 1994. Last season, Tiana Riel earned the honor for her 11th-place finish in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her 4,017 points was a personal best and second on BC's top performance list.

During the outdoor season, Kasey Hill placed seventh in the heptathlon at the 2008 outdoor NCAA Track and Field Competition in Des Moines, Iowa. Hill earned 5,666 points during her All-American performance which set a personal best and Boston College record.

Overall, Thomas, who served exclusively as the schools cross country coach during the first seven years of his tenure, has produced a total of 49 All-America selections, three national junior champions and one Pan-American Games gold medalist.

Before accepting his current position, Thomas was an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Massachusetts, his alma mater. The first-ever Division I All-America in UMass cross country and track and field history, Thomas was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.

Thomas, who received his master's degree in business administration from Boston University, resides in Medway, Mass., with his wife, Marcy, and their son, Ian, who currently runs on the BC track & field team.

Thomas' Accomplishments
• Awarded the 2006, 2005, 2001, and 2000 Northeast Regional Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

• Honored by the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association as the Division I women's coach of the year.

• Named 2001 Track and Field Association National Cross Country Coach of the Year.

• Coached 2001 Boston College graduate Shannon Smith, who became the first female athlete in school history to win a national championship. Smith was victorious in the indoor 3,000-meter race at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

• In addition to winning three Greater Boston Cross Country titles, the women's cross country team has advanced to the NCAA Championship eight times during his career (1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001).

• The men's cross country squad captured the 1992 New England Cross Country Championship, as well as two Greater Boston titles. The 1996-97 men's indoor track squad placed second out of 48 teams at the New England Championships.

• Three-time member (1977-79) of the United States' National Cross Country team.

• Two-time member (1978-79) of the United States' National Track and Field team.

• World-record holder in the 30-kilometer run.

• Previous world-record holder in the 10-mile and 20-kilometer events.

• Previous American-record holder in the 15-kilometer, 10-mile, 20-kilometer, half marathon and 25-kilometer races.

• Registered fifth-place finishes in the 1977 New York City and 1978 Boston Marathons.

• Earned a fifth-place showing at the 1978 Marathon World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan.