Gordon Williams, Contributor

( L - R ) Davita Prendergast, Lorraine Fenton - file photos

Many foreigners remember post-9/11 as their worst time in the United States. Their cultural diversity, so embraced by the 'Land of the Free', was suddenly a target of suspicion.

Yet, for at least one Jamaican, the memory of September 11, 2001 is not totally sad. Just before that tragic day, when planes smashed into U.S. buildings and killed thousands, Victor 'Poppy' Thomas arrived in Jefferson City, Missouri with a plan to stabilise Lincoln University's track and field programme.

"September 11, was basically my second day on the job," Thomas recalled.

As America turned its attention to a world crisis at its doorstep, Thomas embarked on what has turned out to be one of the most successful coaching jobs in U.S. college athletics. The so-so, former high school sprinter and ex-army reserve, who was raised in Kingston's inner city and had coached at schools like Camperdown and St. Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), and battled adversity at another U.S. college, was thrust into a crash course for survival. Yet he has managed to stave off his biggest fear: being shoved through Lincoln's revolving door for coaches.

"I was the sixth or seventh coach in the past five years (at Lincoln)," Thomas explained. "That is where I learned to make more with less. The onus was on me to stabilise the ship."

That he did; then moved it full steam ahead. Thomas, relying on creative budget management and a heavy influx of Jamaican athletes, has ticked off an amazing streak of accomplishments at Lincoln. While most Jamaicans' knowledge of the school may be restricted to Olympic and World Championship honours won by Lorraine Fenton, known as Graham while a Lincoln student in the 1990s, or 2007 World 4x400 meters relay silver medalist Davita Prendergast, the small Midwest college has developed into a potent athletic force. Since Thomas' arrival, the school has won seven National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II titles. That tally includes two indoor and five outdoor women's championships in a row. For last year's outdoor success, the school will receive the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Sports Achievement Award at a ceremony next month.

"You win one, you're lucky," Thomas admitted. "You win five straight, something must be happening."

DANGER

That streak, however, is in danger. Prendergast's absence makes Thomas hesitant to predict another title in '08.

"I've got to be realistic," he said. "I don't think I'm powerful enough to win a sixth straight."

Thomas said Prendergast has turned professional and can no longer run in NCAA competitions. That means Lincoln, which won by 14 points in 2007, can't bank on the 20 points she earned at last year's outdoor nationals as a member of the victorious 4x400 metres team and by winning the 200 and 400 metres.

"That's a hard act to replace," the coach said.

But Thomas will try. The 'Blue Tiger' male and female rosters are packed with Jamaicans, well over 50 per cent on each team. Thomas said he recruits Jamaicans for a simple trade-off. Their talents help him win and keep his job. In return, they get a shot at higher education that others, like so many he grew up with, did not have. It's working out just fine. Thomas said only two Jamaican athletes recruited so far have failed to earn a degree at Lincoln, a 98 per cent graduation rate.

"I'm giving them a chance," he explained. "I can identify with them."

That's because, according to Thomas, a graduate of Mico Teacher's College, someone helped him. In 1999 he left Jamaica with a degree from G.C. Foster to attend Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. Suddenly everything - culture, climate - was different. G-W paid his tuition and offered a stipend as he completed a master's degree in education and helped coach the track team. But it was not easy.

"Gardner-Webb was the toughest two years of my life," Thomas admitted.

WINNING FORMULA

Yet he learned to adjust to the U.S. and, encouraged by G-W's head coach, Thomas applied to fill the coaching vacancy at Lincoln. Once in Jefferson City he discovered a formula for success.

"We didn't need quantity, we needed quality," he said. "The key was to get the quality (athletes) and make it up with the quantity (to satisfy NCAA competition rules)."

Thomas knew he would not attract top American high school athletes to his small school. They already had too many universities to choose from. But he had built a reputation at home. So recruiting Jamaicans was the solution. Or so he thought. Thomas said despite his success at Lincoln, he still has been unable to skim the cream off Jamaica's overflowing athletic crop. He and other Jamaican coaches at U.S. colleges struggle to get the best athletes from Boys and Girls Champs. While Thomas understands that bigger universities, like Division I powerhouses Florida, Texas, Louisiana State and Auburn offer sweeter deals, he believes high school trainers in the island should help steer the better athletes in the direction of Jamaican coaches overseas. He is even more irritated when the best talent goes to programmes that compete directly against schools coached by Jamaicans.

"I have been the person who works with the underdogs," Thomas explained. "...That's why I'm upset with some coaches in Jamaica who send athletes to other Division II schools when I am one of them who used to sit in the sun at the (National) Stadium with them, sit at Champs with them, and go through the same problems."

Thomas said that even if the top athletes chose Division I universities, he wished they would attend schools with Jamaican coaches. Those include Hampton University, which recently hired Raymond 'K.C.' Graham, formerly of St. Jago, to coach its female sprinters and hurdlers; and Johnson C. Smith University's Lennox Graham, formerly of Kingston College. Those coaches would then have a better chance to succeed, opening doors for others from Jamaica. Then Thomas issued a challenge.

"If those same coaches (in Jamaica) help 'K.C.' Graham I think he can win a Division I championship in a few years," he said. "Let us see if he gets the talented athletes."

Thomas said he will continue to pursue the "dormant talent of Jamaica," athletes who "did nothing whatsoever at Champs" who he believes can come good if they work hard. He reeled off a proven list - past and present - that includes Moya Thompson, Lerone Clarke, Kelly Marshall, Marlene Smith and Carla Thomas.

Meanwhile, Thomas has watched his coaching profile in the U.S. rise steadily while fading at home. He said he had been to several meets as a national assistant coach, including the Commonwealth, Pan Am and CAC games. In recent times, Thomas said he had been asked about his availability, but declined because the meets clashed with Lincoln's schedule. However, the offer he would jump at has not yet come.

"I'd love to go to a World Championships or Olympics," he said. "But the others, I'm not interested. I'm a senior athlete coach, not a junior coach."

Despite his success at Lincoln, Thomas is not eager to move on to a bigger school. Assistant coach Aileen Smith is Jamaican, and he likes the bond among his large island contingent of athletes. Thomas admires "the success rate, the camaraderie.

"They are like brothers and sisters," he said. "It's friendship for life."

Recruiting that vibe - and talent - would not be so easy at the powerhouses. At Lincoln, Thomas is in charge and he's comfortable. Elsewhere, he could easily end up the wrong side of the revolving door.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it," he said. "The future will tell...But I know I won't get the support (like at Lincoln). I've seen other Jamaican coaches go through it. They don't get the stars and they are Jamaican stars. Why would I be any different?"

He's O.K. in Missouri, known as the 'show me' state. So it may take another epic revelation to convince Thomas otherwise.

Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.