Randy Thomas - Women's Cross Country Coach

Randy Thomas

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
thomasjh@bc.edu
Phone:
552-4664

29^th Season

        Randy Thomas is the program director of the women's cross country and track and field teams at Boston College. He spent his first 15 seasons as the director of both the men and women's track and field programs. This will be Thomas’ 29^th year at Boston College.

        The team contributed a strong 2014-2015 campaign. Liv Westphal won the ACC Cross Country Championships. The Eagles also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Westphal was named the ACC’s top-performer for the season. Thomas also coached Westphal to a strong performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where she earned second team All-America accolades. Westphal rounded out the season with her final All-America honor, finishing eighth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

        During the 2010-2011 season, Thomas’ contingent became the first women’s squad from BC to win an event at the Penn Relay Carnival – the College Women’s 4xMile Championship of America. King captured an indoor (mile) and outdoor (800m) conference championship en route to competing in two national meets. Standouts Caitlin Bailey and Jillian King won the half mile crowns at the ECAC and New England Championships, respectively, and also advanced to the NCAA East Regional meet.

        The former world record holder has guided the women's cross country squad to 16 NCAA Championships in the past 24 seasons. Additionally, Thomas has trained athletes who qualify individually for the national event. In 2006, Mallory Champa earned All-America awards for her 38th -place finish at the NCAAs. Other notable athletes, including Laurel Burdick, Maria Cicero, Jennifer Kramer, Caroline King, and Liv Westphal 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.

        Overall, Thomas, who served exclusively as the schools cross country coach during the first seven years of his tenure, has produced a total of 52 All-America selections, four 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-American 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, a BC track & field alumnus.

Thomas’ Accomplishments

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, claiming the indoor 3,000-meter race at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

In addition to winning four Greater Boston Cross Country titles, the women’s cross country team has advanced to the NCAA Championship 13 times during his career (1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014).

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.