LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a historic first season with the College of Saint Benedict cross country team, sophomore
Fiona Smith added her name to the program record books one more time in 2021 Saturday afternoon.
Smith finished fifth out nearly 300 runners to earn All-American accolades at the 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships. She is the first All-American for the Bennie cross country program since 2005, and the fifth in program history. Her fifth-place finish marks the second top-five finish in program history, and the first since Missy Petersen finished third at the 1994 NCAA Championships.
Saturday wrapped up an impressive season for Smith, who won five races and finished in the top five of all eight races she competed in. After becoming the first athlete in program history to break 21 minutes in a 6K last week, Smith just missed breaking her own school record Saturday as she crossed the finish line in 20:58.4.
Loras' Kassie Parker wrapped up an undefeated season by running away with the Division III title. She finished in a course-record 20:11.1, 17 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Wellesley's Ari Marks took second in 20:28.6 and Tufts' Danielle Page finished third in 20:30.1. Johns Hopkins won its seventh total and second straight team title with 130 points and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took second with 132 points.
Smith sat in third through the halfway point of Saturday's race, and was less than a half-second out of second place after the first kilometer, but dropped into fifth at the 4K mark and maintained that pace through the finish. She crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of the sixth-place finisher.
Smith – who earned All-American honors six months ago after taking fifth in the 5K at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships – joins Leah Wurm, Petersen and Katy Diegnan as the four All-Americans in CSB cross country history. She will take a few weeks off before joining the Bennie track and field team for practices ahead of the 2022 indoor season, which starts in January.
