William & Mary Athletics

Ian Fitzgerald was one of W&M's great men's runners of the last 20 years, earning an individual All-American award in the mile while also serving as a team leader both in and out of competition in cross country and in the longer distance events like the 5,000m.  Such was his impact that in addition to being named the Tribe Club Senior Athlete of the Year, he was named to the Colonial Athletic Association's 25th-Anniversary team in track & field within a year of his graduation, one of just eight Tribe men to earn that honor.
 
Fitzgerald made his first impact on the trails of cross country, where he helped W&M qualify for the NCAA Championships every year including a national No. 8 showing in 2006.  He was a three-time all-region runner in cross country, and in 2005, won the CAA Championship individually and was named the conference's Athlete of the Year after finishing 72nd at the NCAA Championships.
 
On the track, however, was where Fitzgerald truly shone.  Indoors, he became just W&M's third All-American in the mile indoors, finishing ninth at the 2009 NCAA Championships as a redshirt-senior.  He was the first Tribe athlete to make the national championships field indoors since 2001, and did so by very nearly breaking the mythical 4-minute barrier, timing 4:00.01 earlier in the season.  That still ranks tied for 2nd all-time indoors at W&M.  Fitzgerald also became W&M's first-ever IC4A Championship in the 1,000m run that season, after running on the title-winning Distance Medley Relay in 2007 and taking third in the 5,000m indoors as a redshirt-freshman in 2006.  In addition to his second-place ranking in the mile, he also still ranks ninth in school history in the 1,000m indoors, 10th in the 5,000m, and 14th in the 3,000m more than a decade after graduating.
 
Outdoors, Fitzgerald was just as impressive.  He finished eighth in the East Region in the 5,000m in 2008 and second in 2009, qualifying for the national semifinals each year.  While those did not result in any more All-America honors, under the current system (implemented just two years after his graduation), Fitzgerald would have earned the award both years.  He also won the IC4A Championship outdoors at 1,500m in 2008, and was second the following year as well as fifth in the 5,000m in 2007 and sixth on W&M's 4x800m relay in 2009.  He was also a three-time CAA silver-medalist on the track, taking second in the 5,000m in both 2007 and 2009 and the 1,500m in 2008.  Fitzgerald still ranks eighth in school history in the 5,000m outdoors and 15th in the 1,500m.