William and Mary junior
Elaina Balouris (Allison Park, Pa.) finished 10th in the nation Wednesday night at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, running 34:13.53 in the 10,000m. The race was won by Iowa State's Betsy Saina in 33:08.85, while the eighth-place finisher ran 34:03.35 for the final team point.
Complete ResultsBalouris' performance represented a seven-place improvement over her seed coming into the night, and a nine-place improvement over her performance in last year's NCAA final. It was also the best-ever place for the junior, besting her 13th-place showing at the NCAA cross country championships last fall. With her 10th-place finish, Balouris earned second-team All-America honors from the USTFCCCA, and now has three All-American certificates in the last calendar year. Her time of 34:13.53 was the fifth-best ever for a Tribe runner, and the third-best of Balouris' career.
The NCAA Championships continue for the Tribe on Friday night at 9:15 p.m. Eastern (6:15 p.m. local in Oregon), as freshman
Emily Stites (Wyoming, Ohio) competes in the 5,000m final.
Elaina Balouris 2012-13 Highlights
10th Place, NCAA 10,000m Final (ALL-AMERICA)
13th Place, NCAA Cross Country Championships (ALL-AMERICA)
School Record, 33:43.26 10,000m
School Record, 16:03.43 5,000m (outdoors)
CAA Champion, Cross Country
CAA Athlete of the Year, Cross Country
All-Southeast Region, Cross Country
CAA Runner-up, 5,000m (outdoors)
CAA Runner-up, 1,500m (outdoors)
All-East, 3,000m (indoors)