Completed Event: Track and Field at TCU Alumni Invitational on March 21, 2025 ,
Final
Track and Field
at TCU Alumni Invitational
University of Oklahoma Athletics
James Thomas Named Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach
November 29, 2023 | Cross Country, Track and Field
NORMAN — University of Oklahoma Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione announced the hiring of James Thomas as head track and field/cross country coach Wednesday.
Thomas, who has strong ties to the state of Texas and the southeast, joins OU after serving the last two years as a highly accomplished assistant on the University of Georgia track and field staff. Hired in June 2021 as UGA's assistant coach for jumps and combined events, he was promoted to associate head coach in summer 2022 and helped lead the Bulldogs to top-10 finishes at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships (the men finished seventh and the women 10th) and top-five showings at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships (the men finished second and the women fifth).
In 2022, Georgia's men finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth at the outdoor championships, the same season he was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
"We're thrilled to welcome Coach Thomas to Sooner Nation," said Castiglione. "James has an established background in helping build championship-level programs and he holds a great vision for our track and field teams, building upon the momentum our student-athletes and coaching staff have created in the past few years. His pedigree is proven having worked with and for some of the best coaches in the sport, positioning him and our program for success. Most importantly, he has an extreme focus on developing the whole student-athlete, and I know our Sooners will benefit immensely from his support and mentorship. We look forward to welcoming him, his wife Ebony, and their sons Jordan and Jameson to the Sooner family."
No stranger to southwest region, Thomas also spent nine seasons (2013-21) as associate head coach on the Texas Tech track and field staff, helping create and sustain one of the most dominant men's and women's jumps and combined events programs in the country. A 10-time USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year with the Red Raiders, he was key to the Texas Tech men's team winning the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also helped Tech to six Big 12 Conference team titles and coached eight individual NCAA champions. His Red Raider athletes amassed 86 NCAA All-America honors, won 28 Big 12 individual titles and established school records in 14 of the 16 events he coached.
Thomas' SEC experience isn't limited to Georgia. He was hired as assistant coach at Kentucky in the summer of 2006 and spent six seasons in Lexington, completely transforming UK's jumps and combined events programs. He coached Wildcat athletes to 14 All-America honors, three individual SEC titles and 74 entries on the school's all-time top-10 performance lists.
"I am incredibly excited and deeply honored to take on this leadership role at the University of Oklahoma," said Thomas. "I want to express my sincere thanks to Joe Castiglione and his outstanding administration for their unwavering commitment to providing the best possible experience for student-athletes. The OU name and brand are renowned for their success, and the championship legacy of the Oklahoma Athletics Department is genuinely inspiring. Our current and future Sooners have a unique opportunity to lead the way toward a new era of excellence in our track and field and cross country programs. I am eager to collaborate with exceptional coaches, support staff and the academic community to help develop the next generation of extraordinary Sooners who will make even more significant impacts beyond their years of eligibility."
Thomas, who served as head men's coach of the USA's 2023 North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Under-23 Championships team, was instrumental in Georgia's success in jumps and multi-events the last two years. During the 2022 indoor season, his star pupil, Kyle Garland, captured the SEC heptathlon crown with 6,205 points to become the No. 5 all-time collegiate performer and move to No. 2 in the school record book. He scored 6,200 points a second time for runner-up honors at nationals. Garland entered the 2022 outdoor season with a personal-best 8,196 points in the decathlon, but obliterated the collegiate record in the event with 8,720 points at the USATF Championships to become the No. 8 all-time American performer. Garland finished third at the championships and qualified for the World Athletics Championships. He also posted a third-place decathlon finish at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships with an 8,333 tally. Teammate Johannes Erm won his first SEC decathlon title while Garland was recovering from the USATF meet. Erm and Garland went on to compete at Worlds with Erm finishing ninth (8,227 points) for his native Estonia and Garland taking 11th (8,133) for USA.
In 2023, Garland set the collegiate heptathlon record with a facility-best total of 6,639 points in Albuquerque, N.M., to win the NCAA indoor title and move to No. 2 on the world's all-time performance list (only six points shy of the world record). That was after Garland scored 6,415 points to win the Texas Tech Multis and earn the No. 4 spot on the all-time collegiate performance list. He then finished as the national runner-up in the decathlon with 8,630 points at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Garland, who owns three of the top four decathlon performances in NCAA history, was named the 2023 USTFCCCA National and South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year for his efforts, and was one of three finalists for The Bowerman, the award given annually to the NCAA's most outstanding male and female track and field athletes.
Thomas' jumpers also hit exceptional levels during his first season guiding them. Sixth-year senior Darius Carbin tied a 37-year-old school record with a 2.30m/7-6.50 high-jump clearance (tied for the NCAA's top mark in 2022) at Georgia's home meet before collecting the first SEC title of his career. Carbin went on to post the top finish for a Bulldog men's high jumper in history at the NCAA meet, taking second (2.24m/7-4.25), and qualified for Worlds after finishing fourth at the USATF Championships.
The Lady Bulldogs also thrived in 2022 under Thomas' tutelage with a pair of first-team All-America certificates. First-year high jumper Elena Kulichenko was the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She finished fourth at both conference meets and eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In the horizontal jumps, Thomas continued to develop Titiana Marsh, as she scored in the triple and long jumps at both the SEC indoor and outdoor meets. Marsh earned bronze medal honors in the triple at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a season-best 13.60m/44-7.50 before battling for fifth at nationals (13.55m/44-5.50). She advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships again in both the long and triple jumps and registered a pair of fourth-place finishes at the SEC meet.
In 2023, the Georgia women finished fifth and 10th in the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, respectively, after finishing 46th and 45th in 2022. Kulichenko earned bronze at the NCAA indoors and outdoors and went on to qualify for the finals of the World Championships.
Thomas, a native of Katy, Texas, graduated from Sam Houston State University in 2003 with a degree in kinesiology and earned a master's degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2014 in health and human performance-athletic administration. Thomas was a 10-time USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant of the Year while with the Red Raiders.
In 2021, he led junior Ruth Usoro to sweep the NCAA indoor and outdoor triple jump championships and also score in both long jumps nationally while also having another pair of scoring All-Americans in the jumps.
Thomas joined Texas Tech in 2012 and redefined success as the head of the men's and women's jumps and combined events groups. He was the catalyst to some of the most significant student-athlete development and achievements Texas Tech and the NCAA had ever seen. In fact, Thomas' athletes registered nearly every top-10 performance in school history.
In addition to the 2019 NCAA outdoor title, Thomas helped lead the Texas Tech men that season to a fourth straight Big 12 championship, 11 NCAA All-America honors and four individual Big 12 champions. While the men were hoisting the team title, Tech's Zarriea Willis completed an indoor/outdoor sweep in the NCAA women's high jump.
Thomas' success at Texas Tech went well beyond 2019. In total, he helped lead the Red Raiders to four NCAA top-five team finishes. Many of his student-earned the opportunity to travel the world and compete at multiple international championships.
Prior to Kentucky, Thomas spent the 2005 and '06 track seasons at TCU as an assistant coach. He started his coaching career at Sam Houston State in the summer of 2003, serving as an assistant coach for a year and a half.
"I am delighted to hear that the University of Oklahoma has chosen James Thomas to be its director of track and field and cross country. Coach Thomas' time here in Athens was outstanding, as he earned several awards and accolades coaching our jumpers and multi-event athletes. The university of Oklahoma is getting an outstanding coach, but more than anything a great human being who will lead the team to heights that will be exciting to watch."
Wes Kittley (Texas Tech Director of Track and Field):
"James Thomas has been preparing to be a head coach for a long time. He has been diligent in being a student of the game in track and field and has proven over and over he can recruit, develop and lead young men and women. He is now being given the opportunity to be a head coach. He will not be afraid to go after it full throttle. He is ready for this opportunity. I am so happy for him and his family."
Thomas, who has strong ties to the state of Texas and the southeast, joins OU after serving the last two years as a highly accomplished assistant on the University of Georgia track and field staff. Hired in June 2021 as UGA's assistant coach for jumps and combined events, he was promoted to associate head coach in summer 2022 and helped lead the Bulldogs to top-10 finishes at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships (the men finished seventh and the women 10th) and top-five showings at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships (the men finished second and the women fifth).
In 2022, Georgia's men finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth at the outdoor championships, the same season he was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
"We're thrilled to welcome Coach Thomas to Sooner Nation," said Castiglione. "James has an established background in helping build championship-level programs and he holds a great vision for our track and field teams, building upon the momentum our student-athletes and coaching staff have created in the past few years. His pedigree is proven having worked with and for some of the best coaches in the sport, positioning him and our program for success. Most importantly, he has an extreme focus on developing the whole student-athlete, and I know our Sooners will benefit immensely from his support and mentorship. We look forward to welcoming him, his wife Ebony, and their sons Jordan and Jameson to the Sooner family."
No stranger to southwest region, Thomas also spent nine seasons (2013-21) as associate head coach on the Texas Tech track and field staff, helping create and sustain one of the most dominant men's and women's jumps and combined events programs in the country. A 10-time USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year with the Red Raiders, he was key to the Texas Tech men's team winning the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also helped Tech to six Big 12 Conference team titles and coached eight individual NCAA champions. His Red Raider athletes amassed 86 NCAA All-America honors, won 28 Big 12 individual titles and established school records in 14 of the 16 events he coached.
Thomas' SEC experience isn't limited to Georgia. He was hired as assistant coach at Kentucky in the summer of 2006 and spent six seasons in Lexington, completely transforming UK's jumps and combined events programs. He coached Wildcat athletes to 14 All-America honors, three individual SEC titles and 74 entries on the school's all-time top-10 performance lists.
"I am incredibly excited and deeply honored to take on this leadership role at the University of Oklahoma," said Thomas. "I want to express my sincere thanks to Joe Castiglione and his outstanding administration for their unwavering commitment to providing the best possible experience for student-athletes. The OU name and brand are renowned for their success, and the championship legacy of the Oklahoma Athletics Department is genuinely inspiring. Our current and future Sooners have a unique opportunity to lead the way toward a new era of excellence in our track and field and cross country programs. I am eager to collaborate with exceptional coaches, support staff and the academic community to help develop the next generation of extraordinary Sooners who will make even more significant impacts beyond their years of eligibility."
Thomas, who served as head men's coach of the USA's 2023 North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Under-23 Championships team, was instrumental in Georgia's success in jumps and multi-events the last two years. During the 2022 indoor season, his star pupil, Kyle Garland, captured the SEC heptathlon crown with 6,205 points to become the No. 5 all-time collegiate performer and move to No. 2 in the school record book. He scored 6,200 points a second time for runner-up honors at nationals. Garland entered the 2022 outdoor season with a personal-best 8,196 points in the decathlon, but obliterated the collegiate record in the event with 8,720 points at the USATF Championships to become the No. 8 all-time American performer. Garland finished third at the championships and qualified for the World Athletics Championships. He also posted a third-place decathlon finish at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships with an 8,333 tally. Teammate Johannes Erm won his first SEC decathlon title while Garland was recovering from the USATF meet. Erm and Garland went on to compete at Worlds with Erm finishing ninth (8,227 points) for his native Estonia and Garland taking 11th (8,133) for USA.
In 2023, Garland set the collegiate heptathlon record with a facility-best total of 6,639 points in Albuquerque, N.M., to win the NCAA indoor title and move to No. 2 on the world's all-time performance list (only six points shy of the world record). That was after Garland scored 6,415 points to win the Texas Tech Multis and earn the No. 4 spot on the all-time collegiate performance list. He then finished as the national runner-up in the decathlon with 8,630 points at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Garland, who owns three of the top four decathlon performances in NCAA history, was named the 2023 USTFCCCA National and South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year for his efforts, and was one of three finalists for The Bowerman, the award given annually to the NCAA's most outstanding male and female track and field athletes.
Thomas' jumpers also hit exceptional levels during his first season guiding them. Sixth-year senior Darius Carbin tied a 37-year-old school record with a 2.30m/7-6.50 high-jump clearance (tied for the NCAA's top mark in 2022) at Georgia's home meet before collecting the first SEC title of his career. Carbin went on to post the top finish for a Bulldog men's high jumper in history at the NCAA meet, taking second (2.24m/7-4.25), and qualified for Worlds after finishing fourth at the USATF Championships.
The Lady Bulldogs also thrived in 2022 under Thomas' tutelage with a pair of first-team All-America certificates. First-year high jumper Elena Kulichenko was the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She finished fourth at both conference meets and eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In the horizontal jumps, Thomas continued to develop Titiana Marsh, as she scored in the triple and long jumps at both the SEC indoor and outdoor meets. Marsh earned bronze medal honors in the triple at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a season-best 13.60m/44-7.50 before battling for fifth at nationals (13.55m/44-5.50). She advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships again in both the long and triple jumps and registered a pair of fourth-place finishes at the SEC meet.
In 2023, the Georgia women finished fifth and 10th in the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, respectively, after finishing 46th and 45th in 2022. Kulichenko earned bronze at the NCAA indoors and outdoors and went on to qualify for the finals of the World Championships.
Thomas, a native of Katy, Texas, graduated from Sam Houston State University in 2003 with a degree in kinesiology and earned a master's degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2014 in health and human performance-athletic administration. Thomas was a 10-time USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant of the Year while with the Red Raiders.
In 2021, he led junior Ruth Usoro to sweep the NCAA indoor and outdoor triple jump championships and also score in both long jumps nationally while also having another pair of scoring All-Americans in the jumps.
Thomas joined Texas Tech in 2012 and redefined success as the head of the men's and women's jumps and combined events groups. He was the catalyst to some of the most significant student-athlete development and achievements Texas Tech and the NCAA had ever seen. In fact, Thomas' athletes registered nearly every top-10 performance in school history.
In addition to the 2019 NCAA outdoor title, Thomas helped lead the Texas Tech men that season to a fourth straight Big 12 championship, 11 NCAA All-America honors and four individual Big 12 champions. While the men were hoisting the team title, Tech's Zarriea Willis completed an indoor/outdoor sweep in the NCAA women's high jump.
Thomas' success at Texas Tech went well beyond 2019. In total, he helped lead the Red Raiders to four NCAA top-five team finishes. Many of his student-earned the opportunity to travel the world and compete at multiple international championships.
Prior to Kentucky, Thomas spent the 2005 and '06 track seasons at TCU as an assistant coach. He started his coaching career at Sam Houston State in the summer of 2003, serving as an assistant coach for a year and a half.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT JAMES THOMAS
Caryl Smith Gilbert (Georgia Director of Track and Field):"I am delighted to hear that the University of Oklahoma has chosen James Thomas to be its director of track and field and cross country. Coach Thomas' time here in Athens was outstanding, as he earned several awards and accolades coaching our jumpers and multi-event athletes. The university of Oklahoma is getting an outstanding coach, but more than anything a great human being who will lead the team to heights that will be exciting to watch."
Wes Kittley (Texas Tech Director of Track and Field):
"James Thomas has been preparing to be a head coach for a long time. He has been diligent in being a student of the game in track and field and has proven over and over he can recruit, develop and lead young men and women. He is now being given the opportunity to be a head coach. He will not be afraid to go after it full throttle. He is ready for this opportunity. I am so happy for him and his family."
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