Joining a high school sports team late isn’t easy – far from it. But, when Thomas Hooks gave track and field a shot his junior year at St. Mary’s, both sides benefited.

Head coach Tristan Smith said Hooks “immediately made an impact,” but that’s far from the end of the story.

Surrounded by friends and family, Hooks recently signed his commitment letter to study and compete at Central Connecticut College, a Division 1 program.

“For him to have achieved this and sign Division 1 after only two seasons of track really speaks to his work ethic,” Smith said. “I’ve always believed that hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

As for why Hooks chose CCC over some others, there were more reasons than one.

“I chose Central Connecticut because I felt comfortable and welcomed by the coaching staff,” he said. “I also really enjoyed the school’s environment and diversity.”

Also by his side when he signed were his St. Mary’s teammates, whom Hooks couldn’t be more thankful for.

“I think about the teammates I had as a junior who were much better than me and helped me grow into the athlete I am now,” he said. “My coaches were always supportive of me and helped me a lot with each of my events.”

Speaking of events, he’s most proud of his 6-3 high jump, one that took just a year to achieve.

“At first, it was nearly impossible to get over the bar at lower heights, but after training on technique and lots of weight training, I achieved it,” Hooks said.

Memories and milestones later, Hooks knows the life of a college athlete comes with challenges. But, he’s been in that situation before and says he knows what to do.

“I’d like to make sure that I have good time management in college,” he said. “Being a student-athlete is difficult, and it’s only going to get harder once I’m in college.”

And if you ask Smith, he’ll do just fine.

“Thomas has talent, but, more importantly, works extremely hard and we couldn’t be prouder of him,” Smith said.