In a historic moment at the USTFCCCA Convention earlier this month, Jamaican coaching icon Victor "Poppy" Thomas was officially inducted into the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's National Coaches Hall of Fame. The ceremony, held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort Hotel and Convention Center, marked a pinnacle in Thomas' illustrious two-decade coaching career at Lincoln University in Missouri.
During his incredibly successful career as Lincoln, Thomas has won 14 national team titles in NCAA Division II women’s track & field and guided his athletes to more than 140 individual national titles and 950 All-America honors.
Whether it is athletically or academically, Thomas has had plenty of opportunities to celebrate. Since taking over the men’s and women’s track & field programs at Lincoln in 2002, at least one of his squads has finished in the top-10 at the NCAA DII Championships indoors or outdoors every year but one – the lone exception being 2020, a year whose national track & field championships were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to his 14 national titles (five indoor and nine outdoor), his Blue Tigers have finished in the top-10 nationally as a team 66 times, with 52 of those being in the top-FIVE. His squads have been named USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Scholar Team of the Year seven times, and four athletes – Nandelle Cameron (2008), Sedeekie Edie (2016), Ryan Brown (2019) and Kizan David (2021) – have earned Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.
For his exemplary work, Thomas, affectionately known as "Poppy," now stands among the greats of American collegiate track and field as the first Jamaican coach to receive this prestigious honor. The seasoned coach, reflecting on the surreal nature of the moment, remarked, "One of the things that I look at and make note of is, like 23 years ago, I was in Jamaica, and I just heard about coaches like Pat Henry and George Williams, Wes Kittley, and now I'm being recognized. I'm in the same Hall of Fame, the same league as the great American coaches that we only heard of."
The significance of the achievement wasn't lost on Thomas, who found solace in the warm reception from his American coaching counterparts. "The good thing about it is that all of them came up afterward backstage and hugged me and said ‘congrats’; that alone felt so good," he shared, highlighting the camaraderie among coaches.
During the induction ceremony, Thomas found himself representing not just his own accomplishments but also paving the way for a new generation of Jamaican coaches. "Quite a number of young Jamaican coaches also came on stage, some of them I didn't even know were coaching.
It seemed like I was flying a flag for Jamaican coaches, black coaches, in some way. That's what it seemed to me, you know. And for that, you know, I feel kind of good because I was only a black coach at the stage right there," he reflected.
In the midst of the celebratory atmosphere, Thomas couldn't help but express disappointment that his home country might not fully grasp the magnitude of his achievement. "The average layman who doesn’t follow the sport or is not on Facebook would never know that ‘Poppy’ got inducted. Those kids I used to coach back in the day at Trinity, Camperdown, STATHS, wouldn’t even know," he lamented.
“And quite a few of them who know, got in touch with me and they are proud. And for me, that feels good that I have been a part of their lives to the extent that this one is for me but it’s for them too because without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
When asked about his proudest coaching moment at Lincoln University, Thomas delved into the heart of his coaching philosophy. "The category I am proudest of is the category of them graduating," he said. He shared a poignant story of a student's innocent mistake, taking a taxi from Saint Louis to Jefferson City, not knowing the distance. "Ten, 12, thirteen years later, that kid has graduated, has a nice job, a nice little business, married, and has a couple of kids. That, for me, is the creme de la creme of all my achievements," he added.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Oakley runs personal best 22.60 to win 200m title at Big 12 Championships; Texas sweeps men’s and women’s titles
Jamaican Texas sophomore Dejanea Oakley claimed her maiden Big 12 Outdoor title with gold in the women’s 200m at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium in Waco, Texas on Saturday.
Oakley, who was the fastest qualifier from Thursday’s heats with 23.00, won comfortably on Saturday with a personal best 22.60, bettering her previous mark of 22.73 done at the Texas Invitational on April 26 this year.
TCU’s Iyana Gray was second in 22.81 while Texas’s Kenondra Davis was third in 22.82, just ahead of teammate Kevona Davis who ran 22.84 in fourth.
Kevon Davis went one better in the 100m with 11.32 to finish behind TCU’s Gray (11.24) and Texas Tech’s Rosemary Chukwuma (11.12).
Jamaican Baylor University senior Demar Francis was also a standout performer on Saturday.
First, he ran 45.44 to win the 400m title ahead of Oklahoma’s Richard Johnson (45.45) and Texas’s Logan Popelka (45.62) before returning to get third in the 200m final with a personal best 20.38.
Houston’s Shaun Maswanganyi won that race in 20.10 followed by Texas’s Nolton Shelvin (20.22).
Francis was also a part of Baylor’s 4x400m quartet who ran 3:03.49 to finish as runners-up to Texas Tech (3:03.09). Jamaican Shaemar Uter was a member of Texas Tech’s winning team.
Jamaican Houston senior Kelly-Ann Beckford ran 2:01.33 for second in the women’s 800m behind Oklahoma State’s Gabija Galvydyte (2:00.42). Texas’s Olivia Howell was third in 2:02.23.
The men’s 110m hurdles saw Bahamian Texas Tech sophomore Antoine Andrews run 13.63 for second behind Houston’s De’Vion Wilson who did 13.35 to take top spot. Texas Tech’s DeVontae Ford ran 13.67 in third.
In the field, Texas junior and Jamaican World Championship representative Ackelia Smith produced 13.92m to win the women’s triple jump ahead of Texas Tech’s Anne-Suzanna Fosther-Katta (13.62m) and Baylor’s Koi Johnson (13.44m).
Texas’s Trinidadian junior Kelsey Daniel produced 16.04m for silver in the men’s triple jump behind Oklahoma’s Brandon Green Jr who did 16.52m. Texas Tech’s Stacy Brown Jr jumped 15.78m for third.
At the end of proceedings, Texas were crowned champions of both the men’s and women’s categories.
Texas scored 134 points in the men’s section, 19 ahead of Texas Tech in second and 54 ahead of Iowa State in third.
The women were more dominant, securing 150 points compared to 98 from BYU and 96.5 from Texas Tech.
Ricketts opens season with 14.50m to win triple jump at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts provided her home fans with a solid performance to win the women’s triple jump at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
The two-time World Championships silver medallist produced a best jump of 14.50m on her first attempt that proved to be enough to win in the end.
American Jasmine Moore had a best jump of 14.28m for second while Dominican World Indoor Champion Thea Lafond jumped 14.22m in the sixth and final round to clinch third.
“I feel exceptional. I usually get started with my season much earlier but this year we decided to get a few things corrected before coming into competition,” Ricketts said following the competition.
“Competing with world class athletes who have been doing well indoors as well really pushed me and gave me a good implication of where I’m at this season,” she added.
The 2022 Commonwealth Champion also spoke on competing in Jamaica.
“It’s always a pleasure to compete in Kingston. Usually, I try to do a meet here before going overseas to compete in the Diamond League. The crowd has warmed up to the jumps because of how well I’ve been doing overseas over the years. I’m always grateful for the support,” she said.
Great Britain’s Hughes, Asher-Smith get 200m victories at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and Dina Asher-Smith took victories in the men’s and women’s 200m events at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hughes, a bronze medallist in the 100m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, produced a season’s best 19.96 to win ahead of American Fred Kerley (20.17) and France’s Pablo Mateo (20.20).
“I feel really good. I think this is my second 200m race of the season. When I opened up I wasn’t ready so tonight I was just testing out the waters. We’re starting to sharpen up but not as much because it’s a long season,” Hughes said after the race.
“To run 19.96 now, I’m very happy. I just need to stay healthy and continue to execute my races accordingly and everything will be okay,” he added.
2019 World Champion Asher-Smith narrowly won the women’s event in 22.51 ahead of the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai (22.53) with Jamaica’s Lanae-Tava Thomas running 22.84 for third.
Asher-Smith says she was hoping for a quicker time and has some things to work on.
“I’m in really good shape so I was hoping to get a quicker time today. Clearly, I’ve got some stuff that I’ve got to work on so I’m going to go back to Austin and work on them but I’m happy to have won here in Jamaica,” she said.
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