ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Senior Fiona Smith has continued to rewrite the history book for the College of Saint Benedict cross country team by earning MIAC Athlete of the Year honors for a third straight year, according to an announcement by the MIAC today (Nov. 2).  Smith also earned All-MIAC honors along with seniors Annie Kiolbasa and Keiley Maahs .

Both Smith and Kiolbasa were first-team honorees and Maahs was named Honorable Mention All-MIAC.

To view the All-MIAC release, click here.

Smith, a senior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, has dominated in every competition this year as she has won five races, setting course records at every competition and breaking school records three times. At the 6K distance, Smith has an average winning margin of 1:27. A two-time cross country All-American, she ran to her third straight 6K individual title at the MIAC Championship on Oct. 28. Smith, Kiolbasa and Maahs helped lead CSB to third place in the team standings at the 2023 MIAC Championship, which was held at the Billy Huyck Championship Course in Northfield, Minn.  
 
At the MIAC Championship, Smith won her third straight MIAC title with a course and championship record of 19:55. Not only did she win the race by a 1:34, Smith became the first in NCAA Division III history to crack sub-20 minutes in the 6K twice. She is the first student-athlete in school history to earn three straight MIAC Athlete of the Year honors. She is the second in MIAC history to earn three straight honors along with Marie Borner of Bethel in 2007-09. Smith is also just the second Saint Benedict student-athlete in history to earn three straight All-MIAC honors with Missy Peterson in 1995-97. She is also the third CSB student-athlete named MIAC Athlete of the Year, joining Leah Wurm in 2004 and Morgan Pierce in 2018. 
 
Led by Smith, the Bennies had five runners in the top 28 including two in the top 13 in scoring 87 points for third place in the MIAC team standings. Smith and Kiolbasa (13th) earned All-MIAC honors and Maahs (23rd) received All-MIAC Honorable Mention.  ​

In her performance, Smith, who is a two-time NCAA DIII North Region champ and national-runner-up in 2022, broke the previous 6K record by of 21:11.0, set by Borner in 2008, by 1:16. Smith, who averaged 3:19 per 1,000 meters, now joins Marie Borner of Bethel and Macalester's Julia Kirtland, as the only women in MIAC history to win three straight cross country titles. Smith owns the conference 6K record and has three of the top five times ever run in MIAC Championship history. She clocked 21:14.6 in 2022 for third all-time and 21:28.6 in 2021 for the fifth best mark. With her third straight title, CSB has five MIAC individual champions, which is tied for the fourth most in league history.

Additionally, Smith has two USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors in 2023 and four MIAC Athlete of the Week honors. When including both cross country and track and field, Smith has three USTFCCCA national weekly honors. Smith, who has 11 total cross country and track and field All-American honors, also has 12 career weekly MIAC honors in cross country in her career. Counting her MIAC Athlete of the Week honors in both track and field (13) and cross country, she has been honored 25 times. 
 
Kiolbasa, a biology major of Stillwater, Minn., earned her second All-MIAC first team honor after placing 13^th. For the second year in a row, Kiolbasa finished in the top 15. Kiolbasa placed 13th with a clocking of 22:39.9, which is just off her personal best but 1:04 better than her 22:43.9 of a year ago. Of note, Kiolbasa recorded her career-best 6K performance at the Connecticut College Invite when she ran 22:09 for the third-best mark in program history.

Maahs, a computer science major from Plymouth, Minn., was 23rd with a 23:20.9 clocking, which surpassed her personal-best by 7.5 seconds and ranks 30^th in program's history.

The trio of Smith, Kiolbasa and Maahs will lead the CSB team as they compete at the NCAA DIII Regionals on Nov. 11 at the Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis. A year ago, the Bennies finished sixth (226 points) as Smith won a second straight regional individual title.