Emma Jones makes history, becomes RIT's first women's cross country All-American

2016 Nov 23

Senior Emma Jones (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) of the RIT women's cross country team became the first All-American in program history, as she finished 34th overall out of 280 runners at the 2016 NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Nov. 19, held at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Jones completed the 6,000-meter course in an impressive time of 21:15.9, earning All-American honors by less than a second. In what was a tight pack of runners, Jones just missed a top-30 finish by one second as well. Jones averaged 3:32.6 for each 1,000-meters and was 32nd at the 4,200-meter split. Her average mile time was 5:42.1. In addition, she was the second best Liberty League finisher and was sixth out of all Atlantic Region runners.

Amy Regan of Stevens was the individual champion, winning the race by 15 seconds in a time of 20:16.4. Johns Hopkins University won the team title with 128 points as Washington University was second and SUNY Geneseo, third.

"This is another great first for the RIT women's cross country program," said RIT head coach Dave Stevens. "I could not be more proud of what Emma has accomplished in her four years at RIT as a student-athlete. She has set the bar very high for those who will follow."

Jones is the school record holder at this distance with a time of 21:09.8, set earlier this season. In addition, she placed eighth at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship last weekend, third at the Liberty League Championship on Oct. 29 and also won a pair of races earlier in the year.

Jones has enjoyed a tremendous career at RIT, earning All-Liberty League first team honors four times and All-NCAA Atlantic Region accolades three times. She is a 12-time RIT Athlete of the Week.

This was Jones' third appearance at the NCAA Championship. In 2014, Jones placed 159th at the NCAA Championship and last year, was 81st in 2015, which was previously the best ever finish for a RIT runner at the national meet.

The top 35 individual finishers from the NCAA Championship race earn All-American honors.