NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Sophomore Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) earned honorable mention All-America recognition after finishing 18th in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., last week according to an announcement by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Monday afternoon.

Busch crossed the line 13 seconds off her school-record pace, finishing 18th in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship last Thursday at historic Hayward Field.  The first Bradley runner to advance to the NCAA Track & Field Championship since 1998, Busch posted a time of 34:01.35 to finish 13 seconds off her school-record time of 33:48.36 set earlier this year.

Busch, who has clocked the top three 10,000 meter times in school history this year and four of the top six performances in the event in Bradley history in 2014, missed qualifying for Second-Team All-America honors by 28 seconds.

Emma Bates of Boise State won the NCAA 10,000 meter title with a time of 32:32.35, crossing the line less than four seconds behind the 1998 NCAA Championship record.

This spring, Busch competed in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary and was the first female runner at Bradley to compete in two events at the same NCAA Outdoor prelims.  She posted school record times in the 3,000 and 10,000 meters during the outdoor campaign in addition to winning the MVC title in the 10,000 meters at the Valley Outdoor Championship. 

Busch also won the 5,000 meter crown at the 2014 Valley Indoor Championship with a school-record time of 16:35.05.  She was second in the Valley in the indoor 3,000 meters after earning All-MVC and All-Region honors in cross country during the fall.  In addition, Busch was part of a school-record setting distance medley relay team during the indoor season.