William & Mary Duo Named Cross Country Runners of the Week
RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 2, 2012) - William
& Mary's Elaina Balouris and Alex McGrath have been named the CAA Cross
Country Runners of the week following strong performances last weekend at the
competitive Paul Short Invitational.
Balouris
claimed the award after a fifth-place overall finish in the rain-soaked 6K
event. Her time of 20:29 led all Tribe runners and helped William & Mary to
a second-place finish in the event. Balouris' teammate Emily Stites finished
just steps behind her in sixth place while Meghan McGovern gave W&M a third
top-20 finisher by coming in at 19th. The Tribe was able to finish
ahead of defending national champions and No. 4 Georgetown, No. 7 Providence,
and No. 9 Villanova.
McGrath
paced all William and Mary runners in the Paul Short Invitational by finishing
11th overall with a time of 24:23 in the 8K event. McGrath and four of his teammates placed in
the top 17 and were able to help W&M to a second-place overall finish. This
is the second Runner of the Week honor for Balouris and McGrath this season.
The
second place finishes at last weekend's events vaulted William & Mary into
the top 25 of the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I National Cross Country Coaches' Poll.
The men entered the rankings at No. 23 and the women at No. 17 to become the
first CAA schools to rank in the top 25 this season.
In
the USTFCCCA Men's Southeast Regional Rankings, the Tribe moved up to No. 2
while George Mason came in at No. 10. On the women's side, W&M moved into
first place in the Southeast Rankings with James Madison sitting at No. 12.
Also representing the CAA was Delaware, which came in at No. 11 in the
Mid-Atlantic Rankings.