RICHMOND, Va. - William & Mary's Perry Irons was named the CAA Cross Country co-Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Thursday.
 
Irons is the 14th Tribe women's runner to earn rookie of the year honors and first since Sofia Istnick took home the award in 2022.
 
Competing in her first season of cross country, Irons finished as the CAA runner-up at the conference championship. She turned in the sixth-fastest 6K time in school history, crossing the line 20:01.2. It was the fastest for a Tribe runner since Emily Stites posted a time of 19:57.5 at NCAA Southeast Region Championships in 2015.
 
This season, Irons competed in her first career 4K, 5K, and 6K. She opened the season finishing fourth in the 4K at the Spider Alumni Open on Aug. 30. In her first career 5K, Irons was the runner-up at the Virginia Invitational on Sept. 12, and then won her first 6K at the Fire Tower Project Run on Oct. 3. Irons also took eighth at the Princeton Fall Classic (Oct. 17) and wrapped up the year by placing 38th at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Read more about Irons's story in a TribeAthletics.com feature.
 
The top 15 runners in both the men's and women's races at the conference championships earned All-CAA honors. In total, the Tribe tallied six All-CAA performers. Junior Hayes Trapp, senior Brendan DiStefano, redshirt freshman Caleb Wilcox and true freshman Eli Phillips earned all-league honors for the men's program, while sophomore Molly Weithman joined Irons in earning All-CAA honors on the women's side.