HILLSBORO, Ore.—For the first time in his collegiate career, Lewis & Clark College men's cross country junior Quinn Higgins earned Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors, the league office announced on Monday afternoon. 
 
Higgins finished sixth out of 85 runners on Friday at the Ash Creek Collegiate Meet to lead Lewis & Clark to a third-place finish in the team standings. Lewis & Clark has now had at least one runner win Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Week honors both times this season (Malia Heien week one) and at least one Pioneers has been recognized in seven of the past eight weeks the conference has issued the award.  
 
Higgins was the first NCAA DIII runner to cross the finish line and placed sixth behind one unattached runner, three runners from NCAA DII Western Oregon University and one runner from NCAA DI Portland State University.
 
His sixth-place finish tied his career-best mark in a cross country. The Pioneers junior also placed sixth at last year's Ash Creek Collegiate Meet. Higgins' time of 18:14.30 was a huge PR over six kilometers. He shattered his previous best mark over 6K, set at last year's Linfield Harrier Classic, by 39.30 seconds.  
 
In the Pioneers first two meets of the season, Higgins has finished in the top-10 both times and placed seventh and sixth overall. Seven of the 11 runners to finish ahead of Higgins this season compete for NCAA DI teams. 
 
Cross Country will return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Tacoma for the PLU Invitational. The race will feature all nine Northwest Conference schools and be raced on the PLU Meadows course that will host this year's NWC Championship Meet on November 1. The women's 6K race will start at 11:10 a.m. and the men's 8K race will commence at 11:45 a.m.