Ben Thomas strives to keep Virginia Tech track programs in stride

After watching Cole Hocker stunningly win the men’s 1,500-meter race the U.S. Olympic Trials and then seeing him cruise through the semifinal heat at the Summer Olympics in Paris, Ben Thomas started wondering if maybe his standout pupil was on pace for a medal.

“Everyone was talking about everybody else,” Thomas said. “He likes that, and I like that. It lets you stay outside the hype and lets you just focus on you.”

In the final, most competitors became winded because of the blistering pace. But Hocker’s performance was the breathtaker, as he sprinted the final 30 meters to a gold medal in an Olympic record time of 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds.

In doing so, Hocker became Thomas’ first Olympic medalist and capped a rather hectic 12 months for Virginia Tech’s new director of track and field, who recruited and coached Hocker while an associate head coach at the University of Oregon before he returned to Blacksburg last year.

Thomas ’92, a Lynchburg native who was a distance runner at Virginia Tech and graduated with an English degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, was named the director-in-waiting of Virginia Tech’s track and field programs in August 2023, when longtime director Dave Cianelli announced his intention to retire at the conclusion of the season. Then in February, the Virginia Tech women’s team won a third consecutive ACC indoor championship. Thomas officially took over the program in July after Cianelli crossed the finish line of his illustrious career, then put together a staff and wrapped up a year of craziness watching Hocker do what many thought was unattainable.

Now, the starter’s gun is set to launch the first event of the Thomas era, starting Friday afternoon with the Virginia Tech Invitational cross country meet held on the Hokies’ home course. Things get real at that point, as Thomas attempts to sustain the legacy built by a man who led the Hokies to 22 ACC team championships and 20 NCAA individual championships in 23 seasons.

“The big reason any of this happened was because of Dave Cianelli,” Thomas said. “He gave me my first big opportunity. … I’ll probably never match his record – it’s historically good. He had sustained success, and I just hope I can maintain that because everything is changing, with the NCAA and the ACC going to 18 teams and all that stuff.

“But I’m excited and ready for it. At least I’ve had the best mentor that I could have hoped for and the best person. I grew to respect Dave even more and more through the years.”

Thomas joined Cianelli’s original staff in 2001 and spent 17 years working under Cianelli, playing a major role in all those championships during Cianelli’s tenure. He has been a national assistant coach of the year and coached national champions, including in 2018 when the Virginia Tech men’s distance medley relay team of Vince Ciattei, Greg Chiles, Patrick Joseph, and Neil Gourley won the national title.

Several months after that event, Thomas left to be the associate men’s head coach at the University of Oregon, taking advantage of an opportunity to coach at arguably the nation’s preeminent distance program.

For those without knowledge of the distance running world, coaching the distance runners at Oregon is the football equivalent of coaching at Alabama or Texas.

“It was such a hard decision to leave" Virginia Tech, Thomas said. “You’ve been at one place for 17 years, and I loved the coaches and athletes here. I’m not a guy who likes change, but I knew it was an opportunity that would make me better, and it would challenge me in ways that I had never been challenged.

“At Oregon, there’s just an expectation and a huge spotlight. I needed to get out of my comfort zone – and I certainly did that. It was hard on me and my family, but extremely rewarding.”

While at Oregon, six of his runners claimed national championships. A coaching change at the top at Oregon led to Thomas leaving and returning to Blacksburg midway through last year, with Cianelli hinting of plans to retire and creating a potential opportunity for Thomas to oversee the program. Cianelli made those plans official in August 2023, and Virginia Tech Athletics’ leadership put Thomas in charge.

“I’m really happy that the administration decided on him, because I felt like he was the best fit for the program moving forward,” Cianelli said. “He’s an alum of Virginia Tech, he’s been a part of this program, and he’s had a lot of success. I felt like the transition would be smooth with him, and I’m happy that’s how it ended up.”

Cianelli admitted that the recent changes in college athletics played a role in his decision to retire. He said he knows that Thomas will have to do things differently to enjoy continued success.

Thomas understands this, too. Name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules now allow for college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness and allow universities to provide those NIL opportunities. Universities unwilling to invest in their top athletes in all sports run the risk of losing them.

In addition, the NCAA is increasing scholarship limits for certain individual sports. In women’s track, the scholarship limit will go from 18 to 45, and in men’s track, from 12.5 to 45. The increases are scheduled to take effect for the 2025-26 season.

Conference and individual university administrators continue to meet to decide how to navigate through these changes. An increase in scholarships means a substantial increase in costs, something that needs to be absorbed to remain competitive.

“I think our leadership is going to do their best to continue to support track and field here,” Thomas said. “We will be successful. It’s just how you do it. It’s a bit murky right now.

“We’ll still be broad based. We’ll still be strong in the throws and the pole vault. I’d like to get the distance area going strong and not just because that’s my specialty. Alan Dunson, our sprints coach, has done a great job of recruiting the sprints, so we’ll be broad based. That’s the way Coach [Cianelli] always did it, and I don’t intend on changing that. I’m a distance coach, but I love all the events.”

Thomas plans on remaining involved in coaching – a contrast to Cianelli, who handled the daily administrative tasks of running a program. That only makes sense considering Thomas’ record of success.

It also makes sense considering Thomas’ growing reputation after Hocker’s gold-medal performance at the Olympics. Hocker lives and trains in Blacksburg with Thomas, along with several other former Oregon runners, and that will only enhance Virginia Tech’s visibility in the distance world.

Thomas wants Virginia Tech’s programs to be in the top 10 nationally and on a consistent basis. He plans to tweak a few things and implement his own strategies and philosophies to accomplish that goal.

But the foundation of the Virginia Tech track and field programs will remain the same.

“We are what we are, and we’re proud of what we are,” Thomas said. “Truth, transparency, and integrity up front always works in the long run.

“Yes, we’ve got to get the best athletes, but we’ve got to get the best personalities for this department, this program, and this town, and we can appeal to a lot of people that way. With the support we have and the facilities, I think it’s an excellent time. I’m excited about where we’re headed.”