JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame has announced that Lincoln University track & field head coach Victor Thomas, a 14-time NCAA Division II champion, will be enshrined on Thursday, Feb. 25.

Thomas, who has guided Lincoln's women's track & field program to nine NCAA Division II Outdoor and five NCAA Division II indoor titles, has coached athletes to 881 All-American performances and has been named the National Coach of the Year five times in his 19-year career. The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has named Thomas the MIAA Coach of the Year 10 times, and he was the 2004 Heartland Conference Coach of the Year.

Under the leadership of Thomas, the Blue Tigers have won 92 individual and 38 relay national titles and have recorded 564 United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region awards. A 16-time USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honoree, Thomas has led LU's women's and men's track & field programs to 11 total MIAA championships and finished in the top-three of the NCAA Division II Championships 28 times. Between the years of 2003-2007, Lincoln won an unprecedented five-straight NCAA Division II Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and, in 2020, the LU men were ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, which were ultimately canceled due to COVID-19.

In addition to their tremendous success in the field of competition, Thomas' athletes have also been stellar in the classroom. Since Lincoln re-joined the MIAA in 2011, over 200 Blue Tigers have made the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, and LU athletes have been the recipient of 50 MIAA Scholar Athlete Awards. Eight athletes have been named Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, and 10 have earned spots on the Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District first team. Two Blue Tigers have been named the USTFCCCA Division II Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year, and the Lincoln women's outdoor track & field team was selected as the USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

Due to the tremendous success the Blue Tigers have enjoyed under Thomas' direction, the Lincoln University Track & Field Program was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Thomas himself was enshrined in the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2012.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will induct Thomas and seven other individuals in its Outdoor Sports Luncheon, Presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper Bottling Company, at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield, Mo. on Feb. 25.