The Irish qualify 60 students for Big East at the season opener on December 2nd.
2012 Cross Country Season:Ran in all seven meets for the Irish, including at the BIG EAST, NCAA Great Lakes Regional and NCAA Championship meets ... finished 42nd out of 114 runners at the 8K BIG EAST Championship (25:50.41) ... took 73rd out of 201 runners at the 10K NCAA Great Lakes Regional (32:47) ... opened year with a fifth place finish out of 36 runners at the 6K Crusader Invitational (19:32.6) ... took 17th out of 276 runners at the five mile National Catholic Championship (25:14.4) ... finished 16th out of 127 runners in the five mile gold race at the Notre Dame Invitational (25:06) ... closed out regular season by running in the 8K open race at the Wisconsin Invitational.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Ran in the first six meets of the year for the Irish, turning in a pair of top-10 finishes ... opened the year with a fifth place showing out of 53 runners at the 5K Crusader Invitational (15:58.7) ... followed up performance by crossing finish line seventh out of 255 runners at the 8K National Catholic Championships (24:52) ... competed for Notre Dame at the 8K BIG EAST Championships, crossing the line 46th out of 123 runners (24:51.7) ... also ran for the Irish at the 8K Notre Dame and Wisconsin Invitationals and the 10K NCAA Great Lakes Regional ... won a cross country monogram ... competed in ten indoor/outdoor track and field events ... ran to a first-place finish in the 1,000m run (2:26.58) at the Notre Dame Blue & Gold Invitational ... captured a second-place finish in the 1,500m run (3:59.52) at the Purdue Mike Poehlein Invitational ... helped the distance medley relay to a fifth-place finish (10:00.58) at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships ... earned a track and field monogram.
AS A FRESHMAN: Competed with both the cross country and track teams in his first season ... finished 20th in the "Gold" division at the Notre Dame Invitational with a time of 25:39 ... ran the 1,000m and 1,500m with the track squad ... posted best 1,000m time of the season at the Blue & Gold Invitational with a time of 2:34.60, good for ninth overall ... also ran the final leg of the seventh place 4x400m relay team at that event, crossing in 3:27.64 ... finished first in his heat and 13th overall in the 1,500m at the Gina Relays, posting his quickest time of the season in that event in 4:03.31 ... also ran in that event at the Purdue Mike Poehlein Invitational (4:05.89) and the Dave Rankin Invitational (4:08.45), finishing 16th and eighth, respectively.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL: Three- time letter winner in track and field at Union Catholic (N.J.) ... four-time letter winner in cross country ... three-time conference champion in cross country and track and field ... state champion in track and field during his junior and senior campaigns ... cross country and track and field team captain during his junior and senior seasons ... nationally ranked as a senior in track and field ... five-time MVP honoree between cross country and track and field ... Union County all-conference and all-city selection in both sports his sophomore, junior and senior seasons ... all-state recipient in both sports as a junior and in track and field as a senior ... holds school records in the 1,600 (4:09), 3,200 (9:19), 800 (1:51) and 4x800m relay (7:42) ... son of David and Elizabeth Thornton ... born in Rahway, N.J. ... youngest of five children ... enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business and is majoring in marketing and design.
