William & Mary’s Elaina Balouris ’14 ran the race of her life at the NCAA Championships, finishing a best-ever fifth at 10,000m to finish her career as a first-team All-American.
Teammate Emily Stites ’16 finished in 10th place, earning a spot on the All-America second team.
Balouris’ fifth-place finish came in a lifetime-best performance of 32:46.57, as she broke the 33-minute barrier for the first time. She earned her sixth career All-American honor, the most ever for a Tribe women’s runner and making her just the fifth W&M athlete ever to earn All-America honors in all three seasons of a single academic year.
For her part, Stites ran 33:12.74, the third-fastest time in school history. This was the second year in a row that Stites finished 10th in her race at the outdoor NCAA meet, after she was also 10th in the 5,000m as a freshman. She finished the year with two more All-America accolades and now has four in her career after just two years.
W&M’s four points scored in the team standings makes this the seventh year in school history that the Tribe has earned a spot in the national outdoor standings. The Tribe previously placed in 1981, 1982, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2008. The finish also gave W&M an appearance in the final national standings in all three seasons (cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field) for the first time.