Emily Thomas: From The Softball Diamond To The Track Oval
5/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
SPOKANE, Wash. - Emily Thomas went from running 60 feet in the spring to 10,000 meters.
Next Thursday in Austin, Texas, the Gonzaga University redshirt sophomore will run the biggest 10,000 meters of her life.
During her prep days at Camas High her running in the spring was spent circling the softball bases 60 feet at a time and playing second base. Little did she ever dream of being in the NCAA Western Regional Track and Field Championship in the 10,000 meters.
But that's precisely where the native of Washougal, Wash., finds herself today.
The declarations for the NCAA Western Regional were confirmed Thursday, and Thomas is ranked 36th in the field of 48 in the women's 10,000 meters. Her school record time of 35:01.36 set April 6 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival held up to rank 36th among the 48 runners who declared for the regional. When the starting gun goes off next Thursday at 7:40 p.m. Pacific Time, all 48 runners will be vying for 12 spots out of the Western Regional to advance to the NCAA Track and Field Championship June 6-9 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Even though Thomas, head coach Pat Tyson and assistant coach Patty Ley had a pretty good idea she would make the field, "It was nice to not be playing the guessing game" Thomas said when asked for her reaction Thursday morning when the list became official.
She's also the first Bulldog - men or women - to advance to the NCAA post-season in track. Cheska Fairbanks finished 14th in the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship in 1996 for Gonzaga's only representation on the national stage in either track or cross country.
"It means a lot to me, the team and I'm excited for the opportunity," she said. "I was part of Tyson's first recruiting class and it's an entirely different program. I've been able to see a lot of firsts and feel privileged and glad I earned the right to be the first one to regionals."
Thomas had never participated in track in her four years at Camas High.
"In high school, softball was my favorite sport," said the former second baseman. "I tried to focus on softball during track season. I ran cross country just to get in shape for basketball and softball. I didn't do track so I didn't know what I was missing out on."
But it didn't take long for Thomas to become a track athlete.
"When Tyson offered me the opportunity to run in college I jumped on it. I figured I had a lot to give," she said.
"Emily came on an official visit and loved Gonzaga. She loved the basketball men and women. Loved the small atmosphere," Tyson recalled. "She never really ran track, was a softball girl and ran some cross. She had some injuries. She had that little moxie, that little spirit that we liked. She walked on. She didn't get any money. She had no marks. I would say a lot of this was her ability to take some risks financially to get this private education, get a great degree and believe in what we are doing the past three years."
Tyson also credits Ley with Thomas' development.
"The first year was a wash because of the back injuries. What Patty has added to her is to give her the confidence, because Patty's been there, knows what it's all about. It's just a remarkable thing. It's a story everyone should read about that you can go D-I (NCAA Division I) if you really work hard and you really believe in the program. Emily has made all of our ladies believe yes, this is not a dream, it's a Cinderella story."
Thomas, in turn, credits her coaches, especially Ley.
"My first track meet was as a sophomore in college," she said. "Being that inexperienced compared to the rest of team made it harder, but it was something I picked up pretty quickly. I have good coaches.
"I've had a lot of coaches. I was a three-sport athlete in high school. But I never had a relationship with a coach like I have with Patty. She asks of me everything I can give. When she asks me to do something, I know I could do it because I know she wouldn't ask me to do it if she didn't think I could," Thomas said in praise of Ley.
She also remembers that freshman year when back troubles kept her on the sidelines.
"Obviously it's rough. Basically, our sport is one in which you build a sisterhood through struggling with your team. Watching them kill themselves in workouts, not able to be out there makes you want to be out there even more. When I got cleared for practice and workouts were hard and I was out of shape, my mindset was different. Instead of wow, this hurts and I want to stop, I thought of it as I get to run again today." she reminisced of that first trying year of college.
And one regret she has this year is that she'll be going to Austin alone because fellow co-captain and friend Lindsey Drake is sidelined with a femur injury.
"Lindsey and I are co-captains. We work hard together to set the tone and expectations of what the coaches are asking of us. Lindsey is talented and I know if she wasn't injured she would be making this trip with me. I'm looking forward to her making this trip next year," Thomas said matter-of-factly. "It has to be frustrating and really hard for her knowing where she would be. Being truthful, she's the best athlete on our team. I don't think I've ever beat her."
Thomas, the school record holder in both 5000 and 10,000 meters, is looking forward to the opportunity in Austin.
"The thing that's exciting is I'm getting the opportunity to run against best in the West. I know they are more experienced and talented, but it's an opportunity to prove myself and get better. Running against that caliber can only make you better. Maybe next year I can challenge for one of the top 12 spots with the experienced I've gained this year," she said.
While making the top 12 is probably a longshot, Ley said stranger things have happened. Thomas doesn't have to win, she just has to finish in the top 12.
"It will be a mindset change. When you go in the first time for her you're probably looking at the learning experience more than getting that qualifier. But odd things have happened. Kids who weren't supposed to be going are now going because they've been tactical and they catch fire and do some pretty incredible things," Ley said. "The biggest thing we're looking at her is improving up. If she improves up, great. And learning. She has at least one more year, maybe two because she's a redshirt sophomore, to do this. What you learn in this kind of meet is important. We don't have these experiences, and trying to tell somebody what it's going to be like is rough. But she's a quick learner."
Thomas and Tyson have one goal in common - to get more Zags to the regionals and ultimately the NCAA Championship.
"That's the ultimate goal. It's nice to go to regionals but we need runners at nationals. And we need more to go to regionals," Thomas said.
Tyson echoed those thoughts.
"It does validate (the program) now that we are going to have an athlete move on to the semifinals of the 10,000 meters in the NCAAs. We've always had that expectation, but until somebody actually hits the mark you hope it's not like a dream," Tyson said. "It brings goose bumps to me to know we have this person. We're sending an alert out to all of our athletes and recruits that this is the expectation. This is what we want. We want to send as many Zags as we can. That's a great billboard for recruiting and where we want to be."
And Thomas is where she wants to be - on the track oval rather than the softball diamond.
