Men’s and Women’s Cross Country

Riley Buese BA ’25

For only the second time in program history, men’s and women’s cross country each sent runners to the Division III Cross Country National Championship Meet last fall. Max Aldrich BA ’25 and Riley Buese BA ’25 represented Lewis & Clark at the 2022 Championship Meet in Lansing, Michigan. It marked the first time cross country had sent runners from both teams since 2009 and only the 12th time in program history that multiple runners have earned their spots at Nationals.

Max Aldrich BA ’25
Credit: Naji SakerAldrich earned his first trip to a National Championship meet after a pair of record-setting perform- ances. At the Northwest Conference Championship Meet, he ran the fastest 8K time in program history (24:16.2) to finish fifth overall. His performance broke the record of Neal Weare BA ’02, which had stood since 2001. Aldrich followed that up with the fastest Regional Championship time in program history (24:50.6) to place 12th at Regionals.

Buese earned a career-best, third-place finish at the NWC Championship Meet to lead women’s cross country to their best team finish at NWCs since 2012 (second overall). Buese posted a personal- record time of 21:41.5 in the race—which ranks sixth in women’s program history. She finished Regionals in 14th place to book her first trip to a National Championship race.

The pair faced frigid conditions in Michigan with snow covering the course and temperatures below freezing. Aldrich crossed the finish line in 135th place (26:15.8), and Buese recorded a 165th-place showing (23:55.6).