W&M's Rome, Stites Named WXC Athletes of the Year

12/9/2015 2:55:03 PM

Kelly McCarthy

RICHMOND, Va. (December 9, 2015) – William & Mary sophomore Regan Rome and teammate Emily Stites were named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Year while Elon University’s Coralea Geraniotis picked up CAA Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year honors.

William & Mary’s Natalie Hall was named CAA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Hall led the nationally-ranked Tribe women’s team to their fourth-consecutive CAA Championship with record-setting performances.

At the 2015 CAA Championships, Stites and Rome finished first, and second, respectively, as both broke the conference record to lead the Tribe to a team title.

Stites, the CAA Championship Most Outstanding Performer, finished the women’s 6K in a time of 20:00.2. In the week leading up to NCAA, she suffered an injury which prevented her from competing at NCAA Regionals and defending her Southeast Regional title. Stites, a seven-time All-American, had another strong cross country season, finishing 15th at the Wisconsin Invitational and picking up second place finishes at the Princeton Invitational and the William & Mary Invitational. She also won the CNU XC Opener. This is the second major award of Stites’ career after being named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2012.

Rome earned her first-career All-American award after finishing 25th overall with a time of 20:17.7 (6K) at the 2015 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Rome, who earned an at-large selection to the Championship, capped off an outstanding fall campaign serving as W&M's top runner in all but one race. She won the W&M Invitational in mid-September and opened the regular season with a win at the Princeton Invitational. On the national stage at the Wisconsin Invitational, Rome finished ninth overall. After her second place finish at the CAA Championship, she jumped right back to the front for a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regionals at Virginia. This is the second major award for Rome, who was named the 2014 CAA Rookie of the Year.

Geraniotis was the top freshman finisher at CAA Championships, finishing in 15th place with a time of 21:45. She was also the top CAA freshman finisher at NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, placing 61st overall in a very competitive field. She got the season off to a strong start with a 23rd place finish at the Adidas XC Challenge with a 5K time of 18:19.

The top-12 finishers at the CAA Championships earned All-CAA honors and are listed below along with the CAA Cross Country All-Academic Team.

2015 All-CAA Women’s Cross Country Team
Molly Applegate	William & Mary	R-So.	Toms River, N.J.
Elyse Bierut	Elon	R-Jr.	Rocky River, Ohio
Molly Breidenbaugh	William & Mary	So.	Mechanicsville, Va.
Cara Butcher	College of Charleston	Jr.	North Massapequa, N.Y.
Becky Celorio	Hofstra	Sr.	Scotia, N.Y.
Kimberly Johansen	Elon	Jr.	Chelmsford, England
Meghan McGovern	William & Mary	Sr.	North Wales, Pa.
Tessa Mundell	James Madison	Jr.	Mohnton, Pa.
Regan Rome	William & Mary	So.	Dallas, Pa.
Kathleen Stewart	James Madison	Sr.	Holland, Pa.
Emily Stites	William & Mary	Sr.	Wyoming, Ohio
Carol Strock	James Madison	Jr.	Mechanicsburg, Pa.

CAA Women’s XC Athletes of the Year: Regan Rome, William & Mary and Emily Stites, William & Mary
CAA Women’s XC Rookie of the Year: Coralea Geraniotis, Elon
CAA Women’s XC Coach of the Year: Natalie Hall, William & Mary

2015 CAA Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Team
Gabrielle Alaimo	Delaware	Jr.	Bridgewater, N.J.
Elyse Bierut	Elon	R-Jr.	Rocky River, Ohio
Cara Butcher	College of Charleston	Jr.	North Massapequa, N.Y.
Becky Celorio	Hofstra	Sr.	Scotia, N.Y.
Megan Knoblock	Towson	Jr.	West Deptford, N.J.
Regan Rome	William & Mary	So.	Dallas, Pa.
Karli Smiraglia	UNCW	So.	Laurel, Md.
Kathleen Stewart	James Madison	Sr.	Holland, Pa.
Brooke Wojeski	Northeastern	So.	East Greenbush, N.Y.