STILLWATER, Okla. – For the second time in a span of four days, Rice distance runner Grace Forbes shined on the national stage by placing 19th (20:37.2) and earning All-American honors in the 6000m at Monday's NCAA Cross Country Championships.
 
Forbes' 19th place finish was the best individual performance by a Rice runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships since Pam Klassen's 11th place result in 1986. The sophomore from Wallingford, Pennsylvania was just two days removed from placing sixth and earning First Team All-American honors in the 5000m at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
 
“This weekend was definitely really tough,” said Forbes. “I had a very tactical and rather odd 5k Friday night and didn't quite perform as I had hoped. Today was definitely a really tough race. It was by far the hardest course I've ever run, but I'm happy that I held on and was able to secure an All-American spot. I'm happy with my performances but relieved that the very stressful weekend is over!”
 
Forbes caps a cross country season in which she was also the Conference USA individual champion with a time of 19:58.6 back on October 31 – the second-fastest 6k mark in C-USA Championship history.