On January 16, Gatorade announced junior Elaina Pierce as Virginia’s 2024-25 Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Each year, a selection committee chooses the top high school athletes in the nation to recognize for their success and leadership on the field (or in Elaina’s case, the trails), in the classroom, and in their community. Elaina is the first-ever CHS student to receive this honor, joining the ranks of past Players of the Year such as Paige Bueckers and Peyton Manning.
Elaina has undoubtedly shown the highest level of achievement in each of these categories. She ran her personal best – 16:54.7 – at the Virginia XC showcase this year and broke three course records during the season. She also manages to balance athletic success with academics, maintaining an extremely high GPA of 4.41. In her free time, she volunteers at her elementary school and with a basketball camp for Charlottesville kids in the summer.
Elaina has been a multi-sport standout for CHS since eighth grade, when she started running on the cross-country team and placed 7th at Middle School XC Nationals. In her freshman year, she broke the girls’ 5k school record for the first time. She’s been lowering it ever since. This year, she capped off her dominant season with a state title, finishing 25 seconds ahead of her next competitor.
This has been the norm for her this year: she finished most races almost a minute ahead of the second-place finisher. Cross-country isn’t the only sport she excels in; in 2024, she won two state titles for indoor and outdoor track in the 1600-meter race. The same year, she went straight from running at her regional indoor track meet (which she won) to starting in the regional final basketball game (which they also won).
“It’s super meaningful,” Elaina says about this honor. “Being recognized for my hard work throughout the season feels really good.” Although Elaina had found tons of success in previous seasons, winning district and regional titles, this was the first year she won a cross-country state championship.
She also earned more awards this year than in the past, such as being named the 2024 Virginia Cross Country Runner of the Year by MileSplit Virginia. “I think my preparation in the summer really helped me in the fall,” she says. “And my teammates. I think we had a really strong team this year, and having that team aspect along with the individual aspect really pushed me throughout the season to do well, and not just for myself.”
“It’s been so great to have Elaina as a teammate this year,” says Juliana Pierce, Elaina’s younger sister and teammate on both the basketball and cross-country teams. “On every team, she brings people closer together. On the court, Elaina never gives up in hard games, stealing the ball and finishing essential layups until the buzzer.”
“She’s very supportive of everyone on the team,” says her co-captain of the cross-country team, Nathaniel Orban.
“On the cross-country course, she’s a determined runner who fights harder than anyone else,” Juliana continues. “I’m so lucky to have her not only as a teammate but also as a sister.”
Each Gatorade Player of the Year receives a grant to donate to an organization of their choice. Elaina has chosen to donate her $1,000 to HER Sports, a program dedicated to using sports to help girls succeed in all aspects of their lives. “It’s a local organization that I used to be involved with when I was younger,” says Elaina. “And it helped me to stay in sports. It also helped lots of other girls by motivating and empowering them.”
