In 2026-27, Dave Thomas will come to the program as an assistant coach, stepping down from being the head cross country coach for 20 years and the head track & field coach for 13 seasons. In his time at the school, Thomas has built the Rams into a dominant force within the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). Thomas also assists all athletics programs with strength & conditioning.
18-TIME CACC CHAMPION
Women's Cross Country (15): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025
Men's Cross Country (5): 2009, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2025
15-TIME CACC COACH OF THE YEAR
Women's Cross Country (12): 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024. 2025
Men's Cross Country (5): 2008, 2010, 2014, 2021, 2025
CROSS COUNTRY
The cross country programs have combined to win 20 CACC championships (women – 15, men – five) in Thomas’ first 20 years at the helm. The women won 15 out of 17 CACC titles from 2008-25. The men claimed the conference title in 2009, 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2025. The 2020 CACC Cross Country Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 17-time CACC Cross Country Coach of the Year (women – 12, men – five), Thomas has helped Joshua Vander Veen (2006), Sarah Simonetti (2010, 2011), Emilie Barton (2015) Curran Kneebone (2015), Ana Eshraghi (2023, 2024), and Olivia Grahn (2025) earn the CACC Runner of the Year award, given to the runner that wins the CACC Championship meet. In 2009 and 2011, Simonetti represented Philadelphia University at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship. She is the only runner from the University and the CACC to compete in the national championships.
Thomas’ coaching has allowed the Rams to achieve All-CACC recognition 150 times (women – 96, men – 54), including four-time honorees Faith Anderson (2006-09), Gabrielle Dei Tos (2008-11), Simonetti (2008-11), Taylor Falvey (2011-14), Eric Lacy (2011-14), Tim Malloy (2011-14), Alyssa Litty (2012-15), Emilie Barton (2012-15), Ethan Fadale (2015-18), Eshraghi (2021-24), and Capuano (2022-25). 12 Rams have earned the CACC Rookie of the Year award: Simonetti (2008), Chelsea Attaway (2010), Malloy (2011), Falvey (2011), Litty (2012), Jessica Thies (2013), Juliana Coculo (2015), Kali Safer (2017), Annalee Capuano (2022), Hannah Powell (2024), Olivia Grahn (2025), and Dylan Boyle (2025).
Regionally, the women achieved their highest finish at the NCAA Division II East Region Championship twice in the program's history with a third place finish in 2011 and 2025, while the men recorded their best finish of fifth in 2025. The women's team made the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history in 2025. Simonetti earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-East Region recognition four times. Anjelica DiNucci (2010), Christina Wetzel (2011), Malloy (2013), Lacy (2013), Litty (2013), Falvey (2013), Milan Duka (2017), Ethan Fadale (2018), Erin Young (2018), Safer (2019), Owen Bradley (2022), Eshraghi (2022, 2023), Capuano (2022, 2024, 2025), Olivia Grahn (2025), Natalie McFadden (2025), Milana Daiute (2025), Dylan Boyle (2025), and Thierno Barry (2025) have also earned all-region honors during Thomas’ tenure.
In 2025, Boyle placed ninth out of 112 runners in the NCAA East Regional. He was the highest finisher ever at the meet for a Philadelphia University/Jefferson runner since the school added the cross country program in 2005 and became the first Ram since the program returned to make the NCAA Championship as an individual. In 2017, Milan Duka of men's cross country earned all-region honors as he placed 12th overall of 159 runners at the NCAA East Region Championship from Audubon Golf Course in Amherst, N.Y. Duka missed making the NCAA national championships by about 25 seconds behind the last individual qualifier. In 2018, Fadale was an All-Region honoree after crossing 23rd at the NCAA East Region Championship.
TRACK AND FIELD
On the track and field side, the women recently placed third and the men were fourth at the 2026 CACC Track & Field Championships. The Rams set three new school records during the campaign.
The women took fourth in 2018, 2019, and 2024 at the CACC Championships. During the 2026 campaign, Olivia Grahn, Milana Daiute, and Annalee Capuano all secured All-CACC First Team honors at the CACC Championship while Natalie McFadden, Ella Walsh, and Isabella Gitto made the Second Team. Grahn took first in the 5000 and 3000 Steeplechase while breaking the CACC Champs Record. Capuano won the 1500 title for the fourth straight year, breaking the CACC Champs Record as well, while earning her first 800 meter title. Daiute took home the 10000 meter title. McFadden took second in 3000 Steeplechase, 1500, and 5000 while Gitto was second in the 800 and Walsh earned silver at the 10000. Nine school records were broken (100m HH, 400m IH, 400m, 800m, 5000m, 10000m, Steeplechase, 4x100, 4x400) during the 2026 season. Grahn was named the CACC Track Athlete and Track Rookie of the Year in 2026. In 2025, Annalee Capuano and Natalie McFadden each earned All-CACC First Team and Second Team honors at the CACC Championships. Capuano won the 1500 meter event while placing second at the 800 meter race. McFadden finished second behind Capuano in the 1500 meter race while retaining her title in the 3000 meter steeplechase. In 2024, McFadden was named CACC Track Rookie of the Year after winning the 3000 meter steeplechase in only her second time running the event. Jefferson had two record broken (800m, steeplechase) that season. Rams earn All-CACC First and Second Team honors in their races. The Rams broke six records (800m, 1500m, steeplechase, 4x100m, 4x400m, 4x1500m) during the season. In 2019, Kali Safer was named the CACC Track Athlete of the Year after winning both the 5000 meters and 3000 meter steeplechase. Over the two years, eight women were named to the All-CACC First and Second Teams for their top-two finishes at the conference championships. In the 2018 campaign, the Rams broke eight program marks (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x100m, 4x800m, 4x1500m) then set five school records in 2019 (800m, 1500m, steeplechase, 4x400m, DMR). The squad named 14 student-athletes to the CACC-All Academic Team between 2018 and 2019.
The men placed 8th at the 2018 CACC Track & Field Championships as graduate transfer Milan Duka was named to the All-CACC First Team in the 1500m; his time of 3:58.69 came as a conference championship benchmark. Duka also broke the 5000m program record on the campaign. A total of five Rams earned a spot on the All-CACC Academic Team. In 2019, the men were 12th at the conference championships and had six athletes earn CACC All-Academic honors. Ethan Fadale was chosen to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. In 2024, Chase Watson was a two-time All-CACC runner as he won the 1500 meters while coming in second in the 800 meters. During the 2025 season, the men were seventh in the CACC Championships as Mason Moore won the 1500 meter race and earned All-CACC First Team recognition while Jaden Foster finished second in the 400 meter race for All-Second Team honors. In 2026, the men took fifth in the CACC Championship with Dylan Boyle taking the 5000 and 10000 title to make the All-CACC First Team while Mason Moore was second in the 1500, placing him on the All-CACC Second Team. Boyle was named CACC Track Rookie of the Year. Muhammad Lambert broke the school's 40-year record in the 200 meter race at the Paul Donahue Invitational.
PERSONAL
Thomas has competed in over 75 marathons, including the Boston Marathon 17 times. He posted a personal-best marathon time of 2:28:54 in the 1985 Chicago Marathon. He was the first American to compete in England’s London to Brighton race in 1992 and South Africa’s Comrades Marathon in 2000; both races are 56 miles.
A graduate of Temple University with a B.S. in exercise science, Thomas has worked in the preventive medical field and as a conditioning coach for over 30 years. During his career, Thomas—who is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the International Sports Sciences Association—has been involved in coaching many professional and amateur athletes including members of the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Olympic gold-medalist boxer Meldric Taylor.
For two decades, Thomas has coached the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, an organization in which runners train for sporting events, such as marathons, while raising money for cancer research.
A Level 1 USA Track and Field Coach, Thomas is the president of the Philadelphia Athletic Charities and Fast Cat Sports Productions, the race director of the Schuylkill River Loop Run, and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
In 2002, Thomas founded the Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame which honors distance runners, coaches, and administrators from cross country, road racing, and track who made considerable contributions to the sport and have a connection to the city of Philadelphia. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022. Thomas is also a founding member of the Greater Philadelphia Track Club.
A Philadelphia native, Thomas lives in the Roxborough section of the city with his wife, Marie.
