TERRA HAUTE, Ind.—Lewis & Clark women's cross country senior Riley Buese became the first woman in program history to earn multiple cross country All-American awards, to lead the Pioneers on Saturday morning at the La Vern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Buese and junior Malia Heien competed at Nationals for the second and final time together - completing a cross country partnership that dates back to their time at Northfield High School. 
 
Buese earned her fourth career All-American honors and second in cross country by placing 17^th. She ran in the top-20 of the 293-runner field for the entire race. The senior sat 16^th after the opening kilometer. She moved up to the front of the pack and sat third overall at the midway point of the race (3K). Buese dipped to 14^th with one kilometer to go and ultimately placed 17^th. She crossed the finish line in 21:27.0. 
 
"I wasn't completed satisfied with my race today," Buese said. "I felt like I had trained this season with a vision of what my last cross country race would be like. And while I committed to that, through my racing strategy, the ultimate outcome wasn't what I wanted. 
 
So overall, it was a bittersweet moment because it was my last cross country race. I was very thankful I got to spend it with Malia and Evan even though my individual performance wasn't totally to my liking." 
 
Heien took a very different route to finishing 135^th overall. The junior sat 134^th after the opening 1K. She fell to 160^th place at the midway point and was sitting 158^th after 5K. Heien passed 23 runners over the final 0.6 miles to place 135^th. She completed the race in 22:33.4. 
 
"Performance wise the National Championship race wasn't my best, but considering some of the personal obstacles I have encountered throughout the season I am satisfied with how I did today," Heien said. "I am very thankful I had the opportunity to run at this race and compete in a cross country race one last time with Riley.
 
The course was tough, but it was so much fun to be cheered on by the incredible number of fans. It was cool to see how many people love the sport of cross country, especially at the D3 level. Hopefully I'll be back next year, and I will be able to improve upon my place at the National Championship. However, ultimately this race was less about time and place for me, and more a show of my dedication to the sport, my grit as an athlete, and my overall love of cross country. Nothing beats the feeling of pouring everything you have into a cross country race. I am lucky to have felt that feeling today." 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Buese joins Lewis & Clark Hall of Famer Chris Miller (1963 and 1964) as the only two runners in school history to have earned All-American honors at two Cross Country National Championship Meets. 
• Heien beat her time at Nationals from last season by 9.2 seconds. She placed 125^th overall as a sophomore. 
• Buese's 17^th-place finish matched her program-record setting performance from her junior season. She finished two seconds behind her pace from last season. 
• Buese finished one spot ahead of Claremont Mudd-Scripps junior Riley Capuano who won last week's NCAA DIII West Regional Championship. Buese placed second among West Region runners at Nationals, behind only Colorado College's Isabel Olson (21:16.8). 
• Wilmington (Ohio) sophomore Faith Duncan won the individual title in 20.16.5. MIT won their first ever women's team title with 128 total points. 
• Buese wraps up her illustrious cross country career as a two-time All-American, four-time All-Region and All-Conference honoree, two-time Northwest Conference Champion and the program's all-time record holder over 6K (21.00.6).  

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will begin track & field season on December 7 when a small contingent of runners travels to Boston for the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. As for the women's cross country team, Heien will look to lead a Pioneers squad that is expected to return 10 of their 12 runners.