ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Over the course of her first two seasons with the College of Saint Benedict cross country and track and field teams, Fiona Smith has proved that she can run with anyone. She finished in the top five against Division I competition during her sophomore cross country season, she earned All-American honors during the 2021 outdoor track and field season and the 2021 cross country season, and she was in the top three in two races at last year’s Wartburg Elite Meet.
Saturday afternoon, Smith showed that she doesn’t even need to run against anybody to break records.
In the first meet of her sophomore season with the CSB track and field team, Smith smashed her own record in the 3,000-meter run – with no competition. For her impressive performance, Smith is this week’s CSB Athlete of the Week.
To start her first season with the program in 2021, Smith broke the school record by 12 seconds in her first collegiate race on Feb. 7, 2021. Later in the year, she became the first CSB athlete to break 10 minutes in the indoor 3K, finishing in 9:55.71 at the Wartburg Elite Meet on March 13.
This year, Smith is starting even faster than she ended, as she broke her previous personal best – and school record – by seven seconds, finishing the run on her own in 9:48.63. That is the third-best time in Division III this season, and the fastest 3K time recorded during the 2022 portion of the indoor season. It is also the best 3K time in the MIAC so far in 2022.
Smith and her teammates compete at home for the first time this season Saturday, Jan. 29, when they host the Macalester and Minnesota-Morris for the CSB/SJU Quad starting at 11 a.m. at the McNeely Spectrum in Collegeville. Per campus policy no fans are allowed, but live video will be available.
