RICHMOND, Va. —  After leading the way for William & Mary women's cross country this fall—often quite literally—freshman Sofia Istnick and sophomore Arianna DeBoer added another set of accolades to their impressive season resumes on Friday. Istnick was named the Colonial Athletic Association's Women's Rookie of the Year and to the All-Conference team, while DeBoer was named to the All-Conference team.
 
Istnick's honor marks the first time a Tribe harrier has captured Rookie of the Year since Lauren Finikiotis in 2017. She is the league-leading 12th CAA Rookie of the Year from William & Mary.
 
Suiting up for her first year in green and gold, Istnick was a consistent force on every course she ran. She placed ninth at the CAA Championship with a time of 21:51.1, the top finish for any freshman, and followed up that performance with a 44th-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. During the regular season, she was among the Tribe's top-three finishers in all four events, including No. 1 at the Paul Short Run and Virginia XC23.

Additionally, Istnick recorded personal-best times of 17:30.8 in the 5K and 20:48.0 in the 6K during her rookie campaign. 
 
DeBoer was equally consistent throughout the year, with top-three finishes among the team in all four regular-season meets. She finished eighth at the CAA Championship, crossing the finish line with a time of 21:51.50. The Charlottesville, Va. native regularly showed off a second gear late in races. She was 144th at the 2-mile mark at the Paul Short Run before improving 45 spots over the remainder of the race to finish 99th in a time of 20:52.6. At the CAA Championship, she sat in 14th place at the 1.4-mile split before moving up to six spots down the stretch for her final finish. 
 
2022 Colonial Athletic Association Women's Cross Country All-Conference Team
Runner of the Year: Abigail Hassman, Northeastern
Rookie of the Year: Sofia Istnick, William & Mary
Coach of the Year: Kevin Jermyn, Elon

All-CAA Honorees
Abigail Hassman, Northeastern
Madison Synowiec, Elon
Leandra Lorenz, Elon
Anna Twomey, Elon
Fiona McLoughlin, Stony Brook
Tessa McClain, Northeastern
Grace Weigele, Stony Brook
Arianna DeBoer, William & Mary
Sofia Istnick, William & Mary
Katie Blount, Elon
Jette Beermann, Elon
Azza Borovicka-Swanson, Northeastern
Ava Duggan, Northeastern
Sarah Daniels, Delaware
Autumn Sands, Delaware