Amirault, Gay Earn All-America Honors at NCAA Championships

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Terre Haute, Ind.-Seniors Mark Amirault (Walpole, Mass.) and Morgane Gay (Bethesda, Md.) earned All-America honors Monday afternoon at the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Virginia women’s team improved one position from last year’s championships, finishing 20th with 466 points at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.

Gay led the Cavaliers across the line, finishing in 22nd place overall in a 6K time of 20:09.9. Gay became the third Cavalier to compete at the national meet four times. Senior Anna Corrigan (Burke, Va.) was next for the ‘Hoos, placing 87th overall in 20:55.0.

“They moved up the entire race and I’m really proud of them,” assistant coach Julie Stackhouse said. “We followed the same race plan we’ve doing all season. They ran as a pack and finished really strong.”

Freshman Chelsea Ley (Woolwich Township, N.J.) crossed the line 136th in 21:17.7, while fellow freshman Kathleen Stevens and sophomore Katherine Walker rounded out the scoring five in 167th and 185th, respectively.

In the men’s race, Amirault finished 27th in a 10K time of 29:56.8, the highest finish for a Cavalier since Emil Heineking placed 26th in 2008. Amirault placed 52nd at last year’s championships for Princeton.

Arizona’s Lawi Lalang won the men’s race in 28:44.1, while Sheila Reid of Villanova claimed the women’s race in 19:41.2.

Wisconsin took home the men’s team trophy with 97 points, while Georgetown won the women’s team title with 162 points.