HILLSBORO, Ore.—For the first time in nearly two years and second time in her collegiate career, Lewis & Clark College women's cross country senior Malia Heien earned Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors, the NWC office announced on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
Heien picked up her first weekly award since October 2, 2023 – when she finished 32^nd, first among NCAA DIII runners, at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational. 
 
This past weekend, Heien led Lewis & Clark and all NCAA DIII runners at the Lewis & Clark Opener. The Pioneers senior placed 14^th out of 111 runners and was the first non-DI student-athlete to cross the finish line. In a field that boasted four NCAA DI teams and a nationally-ranked NCAA DIII side, Heien finished 14^th overall – five spots ahead of the next non-DI runner. 
 
Her time of 18:35.92 was nearly 50 seconds faster than the second-place NCAA DIII runner (19:25.55). She sat 16^th at the first checkpoint (1K) and moved up to 14^th overall by the finish line of the 5K race. Her time was the third-fastest cross country 5K of her career and her fastest since she won NWC Student-Athlete of the Week honors in 2023. 
 
Lewis & Clark cross country will be off this weekend, before returning to action on Friday, September 12. They will travel to Monmouth, Oregon to compete at the Ash Creek Collegiate Invite.