Virginia Tech: Director of track and field watches athlete he coached win gold at Olympics

Virginia Tech’s new director of track and field had high hopes for the Summer Olympics watching an athlete he coached compete in the 1,500-meter race.

Ben Thomas watched as Cole Hocker won a gold medal in Paris with a record time of 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds.

While Thomas recruited and coached Hocker at the University of Oregon, Hocker now lives and trains in Blacksburg with Thomas. Several other former Oregon runners have also followed Thomas to Blacksburg.

Thomas returned to Virginia Tech after retiring as the associate men’s head coach at UO. He 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 end of the season.

Thomas will follow in the footsteps of a man who led the Hokies to 22 ACC team championships and 20 NCAA individual championships in 23 seasons.

Thomas, a graduate of Virginia Tech and Lynchburg native, was a distance runner who graduated from Tech with an English degree in 1992.

“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. 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 staff in 2001 and spent 17 years working under Cianelli at Virginia Tech. He earned the national assistant coach of the year award and coached national champions including the 2018 VT men’s distance medley relay team that won the national title.

Several months after the national championship, Thomas made the “hard decision” to leave Virginia Tech for a coaching position at the University of Oregon.

“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.”

While at Oregon, six of Thomas’ runners claimed national championships, and now one has earned a gold medal in the Olympics.

Cianelli primarily handled the administrative tasks of the program at Virginia Tech, but Thomas plans to also be involved in coaching.

He wants the Hokies’ track-and-field programs to be in the top 10 nationally on a consistent basis.

“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.”