BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB coach Ray Stanfield has announced the hiring of two-time national champion Althea Thomas as an assistant coach for the track & field team. A graduate of LSU, Thomas was a member of the Tigers NCAA Division I Championship squads in 2000 and 2003.
"I'm really excited to hire her," said Stanfield. "She's really going to be an asset to us with coaching and national exposure. Everybody knows who Althea Thomas is."
Thomas was named a two-time All-Southeastern Conference performer in the 400-meter hurdles at LSU. She currently ranks sixth on the school's all-time indoor list in the 800-meter and seventh all-time in the 400-meter hurdles.
Along with her success on the collegiate level, Thomas racked up awards during her time spent at Pelham High School in Pelham, Ala. From 1996-99, Thomas won 15 Alabama High School Athletic Association state titles in six different events. At the time, she was the state record holder in the 800-meter with a time of 2:13.40, until the record fell in 2001.
"I'm very excited to be here," said Thomas. "I have a lot of pride for my hometown of Birmingham and I want to help accelerate UAB's track & field to the next level. It's a program on the way up and I wanted to be a part of it."
Prior to coming to UAB, Thomas was the head track & field coach at Sharon High School in Sharon, Mass., where she coached five division 2 class B outdoor all-state athletes. She has also spent time coaching and teaching at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Ala. While there, Thomas coached 11 all-state athletes, along with the 2005 class 6A 4x100-meter runner-up.
Thomas replaces former assistant track & field coach, Danielle Kiplinger, who has been named the head cross country coach at Southern Miss. Kiplinger was a part of Stanfield's staff when the Blazers won the 2006 Conference USA Cross Country Championship.