THE MONTHLY GLEANER | NOVEMBER 2 - DECEMBER 2, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS MISSED 7 [ NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED ] THE UNITED States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), has announced that Lincoln University track & field head coach Victor‘Poppy’ Thomas, a 14-time NCAA Division II champion, will be enshrined into the Coaches Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023. The ceremony will take place at the Adams Ballroom, Denver Colorado, on Tuesday, December 12, at 6.00 pm, presented by Rekortan. Thomas, who is Jamaican, has guided Lincoln’s women’s track & field program to nine NCAA Division II Outdoor and five NCAA Division II indoor titles, has been named the National Coach of the Year five times in his 22-year career. The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has named Thomas the MIAA Coach of the Year 10 times, and he was the 2004 Heartland Conference Coach of the Year. A graduate of Mico Teachers’College and the GC Foster College of Physical Education, Thomas’‘Blue Tigers’ have won 95 individual and 41 national relay titles and have recorded 671 United States Track & Field and CrossCountry Coaches Association All-Region awards. A 16-time USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honouree, Thomas has led LU’s women’s and men’s track and field programmes to 11 total MIAA championships and finishes among the top-three of the NCAA Division II Championships 28 times. Between the years of 2003-2007, Lincoln won an unprecedented fivestraight NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and, in 2020, the LU men were ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, which were ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19. In addition to their success in the field of competition, Thomas’ athletes have also been stellar in the classroom. Since Lincoln rejoined the MIAA in 2011, over 200 ‘Blue Tigers’ have made the MIAA Academic Honour Roll, and LU athletes have been the recipient of more than 50 MIAA Scholar Athlete Awards. Nine athletes have been named Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, and 11 have earned spots on the Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District first team. Two Blue Tigers have been named the USTFCCCA Division II Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year, and the Lincoln women’s outdoor track & field team was selected as the USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year in 2017 and 2018. Citing the challenges face by the traditional HBCU institutions, such as insufficient funding and limited facilities, Thomas offered that his success since arriving at Lincoln in 1999, is fuelled by his ability to motivate and inspire others. “The key to my success is believing in what I do and avoiding the negative energy from stopping me in accomplishing the task at hand.” “I am just happy to know that my hard work in track and field is finally being recognized by my adopted country. The impact I have made on a lot of young lives and the successes, especially for the Caribbean student athletes at Lincoln, is humbling and for that I am grateful. I do think that this singular recognition is the crème de la crème of my coaching career that has spanned over four decades. I thank God for the health and strength and all the Individuals that have played their part in my success at Lincoln”. Due to the success the ‘Blue Tigers’ have enjoyed under Thomas’direction, the Lincoln University Track & Field Program was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Thomas himself was enshrined in the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2021, Thomas was enshrined in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Victor Thomas gets HoF nod from UST&F Coaches Association Victor Thomas CONTRIBUTED
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