2019 USTFCCCA South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year

The 2025 season saw plenty of success for the throws squad. Thomas’s group saw three program records fall, and five entries to the MSU All-Time top five list across the throws events both indoor and outdoor. The season was highlighted by Remi Rougetet taking the javelin title at the SEC Outdoor Championships, Thomas’ third athlete to do so. Freshman Marie Rougetet was the SEC runner-up in the hammer and holds both the program record and freshman record in the event. Tuomas Närhi and Kaylee Clark both made their SEC debuts, both advancing to the finals in the javelin. Both Närhi and the Rougetet siblings advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, with Remi earning second-team All-American honors to close his collegiate career. Thomas also oversaw combined events athlete Peyton Bair to two national titles in the throws, sweeping the heptathlon and decathlon NCAA championships this season.

With the addition of alumni Trent Zelden as an assistant coach, Thomas’ 2024 squad had record-breaking success in both the ring and runway. At the indoor SEC Championship, Jhordyn Stallworth and Roury McCloyen finished fifth and sixth in the shot put, and Tafada Wright made her first conference final in the weight throw. Thomas sent five athletes to the NCAA East First Round, the most since 2021, where all five qualified for the national championship. McCloyen and Stallworth were Thomas’ first shot put athletes to qualify for the NCAA Championships in her time at State, and the first ring throwers since 2012. The two earned second-team All-American Honors, with Ella Knott and Franck Di Sanza earning honorable mentions in the javelin. Remi Rougetet improved his performance from last year, earning sixth and first-team All-American honors in the javelin. McCloyen followed up on his national performance with the USATF U20 discus title, ending his season as a finalist at the World U20 Championships in the discus. Thomas also helped coach decathlete Peyton Bair to a national runner-up title at the national championships. Alumni Curtis Thompson and Anderson Peters qualified for their second Olympic Games, in which Peters took home bronze in the javelin.

The 2023 season saw success on both the conference and national stage. Thomas’ throwers earned 13 points at the SEC Outdoor championship in the javelin with top-eight finishes from Tyriq Horsford in third, Franck Di Sanza in fifth and Remi Rougetet in sixth. Thomas also oversaw multi Peyton Bair to third-place finishes in both the indoor and outdoor conference championships. Rougetet and Horsford qualified for the NCAA championships in the javelin, with Rougetet earning a ninth-place finish and second-team All-American honors in his first NCAA appearance. In the postseason, Di Sanza earned the Switzerland national title in the javelin.

The 2022 season brought more success in the ring and on the runway for Thomas’ throwers. Jabari Bennett, a transfer from Tiffin, broke the indoor shotput record with 19.40m at the SEC Indoor Championships. This was the furthest mark in men’s indoor shot at State since 2012, and the furthest by any athlete coached by Thomas during her time at State. DJ Jónsson won gold at the SEC Outdoor Champions, earning First Team SEC honors for the second year. Thomas sent five athletes to the NCAA East First Round, three in ring events and two in the javelin. Jhordyn Stallworth broke the outdoor shot put record with a 16.10m throw in her first East Preliminary shot put appearance. DJ Jónsson represented at the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh with a 76.29m throw. On the world stage, alumni Anderson Peters won the Championships in the javelin with a 90.54m throw.

The much-anticipated 2021 season was successful for Thomas and the team. Jhordyn Stallworth was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team for both shot put and discus at the conclusion of the season. Stallworth broke the school and freshman record at the SEC Championships in the discus with a throw of 51.01m. With the addition of graduate transfer Sindri Guðmundsson from Utah State and fellow Icelander DJ Jónsson coming in as a freshman, the JavU squad was as strong as ever. Guðmundsson and Jónsson threw to the fourth and fifth all-time marks during the season. Jónsson won gold and earned First Team SEC honors as well as being named to the Freshman Team at the conference championship. He was later named the Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. At the NCAA East Prelims, the Dawgs went 1-2-3 with Guðmundsson regaining his NCAA lead from Jónsson, making it seven weeks that he held the top mark. At the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Jónsson took second, Horsford fourth and Guðmundsson in fifth. Two of her former student-athletes were named to their country’s Olympic teams in Anderson Peters and Curtis Thompson, both competing in the javelin at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but not before Tiffaney Johnson and Alicia Viveros shattered their career bests at the Indoor SEC Championships.

After a successful season in 2019, April Thomas was promoted to associate head coach in June 2019. The leader of “JavU,” Thomas’ squad swept the men’s javelin podium at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the first time since 1964 that a school had achieved the feat. Thomas was tabbed USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year in recognition of her squad’s success.
In the summer following that performance, back-to-back NCAA Champion Anderson Peters found success on the global stage. Peters won gold at the Pan American Games while shattering the Pan Am record with a personal-best and MSU-record throw of 87.31m. He went on the claim the IAAF World Championship in October of that year.

Thomas spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach overseeing MSU’s throwers. She has received national recognition for her expertise in guiding athletes in the javelin after leading the Bulldogs to become the only program in NCAA history to have three men throw the javelin over 80m, earning the title “Jav U”.

Thomas’ athletes earned eight top three finishes in the NCAA javelin championships from 2016 to 2021. No other school has combined for more than four in that span. Her throwers hold 28 marks in State’s outdoor record book and 13 on the indoor leaderboards. She has also guided six athletes to freshman records since arriving in Starkville.

In 2018, she tutored Peters to the 2018 SEC and NCAA javelin championships as a freshman, while Nico Quijera placed second at the NCAA championships before going on to claim the Spanish national title. Thomas also coached Curtis Thompson to a national title in 2016. Thompson won the 2018 USATF Championship, and at the 2018 NACAC Games, Peters and Thompson took home gold and silver, respectively.
In 2017, Thomas saw Quijera win his first NCAA runner-up title in the javelin, Brianna Smith shatter the Bulldogs’ indoor weight throw record for the first time and Haley Reynolds break State’s indoor shot put and outdoor discus records.

In addition to his 2016 crown, Thompson won gold in the javelin at the NACAC U23 Games that year and broke the school record at the U.S. Olympic Trials where he came up just 12 centimeters shy of qualifying for the Rio Olympics.
Tautvydas Kieras qualified for the 2015 NCAA East Prelims in the discus throw. Kieras, who holds the school record at 60.03m, placed 23rd. That same year, Kieras posted the No. 5 mark in outdoor shot put in Bulldog history.

Under Thomas’s guidance in the shot put, Erica Bougard claimed the 2013 pentathlon NCAA Championship title with 4,399 points and the 2014 SEC Indoor Championship after a 4,448 point performance. Bougard finished a stellar Bulldog career as a 16-time All-American and won the 2018 USATF Championship in the indoor pentathlon.
In 2013, Thomas coached honorable mention All-American Piotr Antosik in javelin, giving the Bulldogs a national finalist in the men’s javelin for the first time since 1923 and sparking the growth of State’s javelin program. Allison Storey also broke the MSU women’s javelin record in the same year after setting the Bulldogs’ freshman record in 2010.

Thomas led Favian Cowards to All-American honors in the 2012 season with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer while breaking the MSU school record along the way. Cowards also won the Bulldogs’ first SEC Championship in the weight throw that year. That season also saw Ed Wesela post the No. 2 outdoor shot put and No. 3 indoor shot put marks in MSU history.

In 2010, Thomas helped coach LaQuinta Aaron to personal-best throws in the shot put that helped her earn provisional qualifications in the heptathlon for the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In 2009 heptathlete Marrissa Harris earned indoor and outdoor All-American and All-SEC accolades under Thomas’ shot put tutelage.
Thomas came to MSU after coaching boys’ and girls’ shot put and discus at Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic High School and with the Knoxville Track Club.

A native of Albany, Georgia, Thomas earned her degree in sociology from University of Tennessee in 2007.. Prior to her time in Knoxville, she competed at Cloud County (Kansas) Community College.

At the 2006 SEC Indoor Championships, Thomas finished as runner-up in the shot put and was named the Lady Vols’ Field Events MVP for the indoor season. She also has three other top five SEC finishes to her credit in the event. Thomas helped the Lady Vols win the 2005 SEC Indoor Championship and was part of Tennessee’s 2005 NCAA Mideast Regional team that captured the program’s first victory at that event.

Name	Title	Phone	E-Mail Address
Steve Dudley	Associate Head Coach	325-8333	sdudley@athletics.msstate.edu
Bryan Fetzer	Assistant Coach		bfetzer@athletics.msstate.edu
Houston Franks	Assistant Coach	325-7042	hfranks@athletics.msstate.edu
Joe Gant	Assistant Coach		jlg30@msstate.edu
April Thomas	Assistant Coach	662-325-6648	athomas@athletics.msstate.edu

Mississippi State University Athletics

2009 Track & Field Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff