NEW ORLEANS, La. – One day after being named the NCAA DIII Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, junior Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict has been named one of the four Outstanding Performers of the NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championships from the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday (March 15).

Smith and Victoria Kadiri of Johns Hopkins earned the women's honors while Cheickna Traore of Ramapo and Joseph White of Carthage received the men's honors.

Each year, the USTFCCCA honors the Outstanding Performers of the Championships at both the NCAA DIII Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Winners are determined using a formula that adds together team points scored, plus meet records (five additional points), Division III seasonal bests (three additional points) and facility records (one point). Relay points, if applicable, are split equally among the four team members.

Smith, the Most Outstanding Women's Track Performer of the Championships, totaled 28 points using the above formula. She was a double distance champion, winning both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters (20 points) and set a meet record of 9:25.62 in the former that was also a seasonal best (eight points between those two feats).

On Tuesday, March 14, Smith was named CSB's first-ever DIII Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after winning the 3K and 5K as the nationals. During the regular season, Smith scored 22.5 points at the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship as she swept the 5K and 3K and led the CSB Distance Medley Relay Team to a title. She is the first in school and MIAC history to win two individual indoor titles in the same NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championship. Not only did she set a high standard individually, but Smith also helped CSB record its best team finish ever at the DIII Indoor Nationals with 20 points for 11th. That team finish was the best among all MIAC schools.

Smith owns MIAC and Saint Ben's school records in both the 3K and 5K. In fact, in her career she now has 15 school, conference or DIII records. On top of the two individual titles, she has finished first or second in her last three DIII championship races after finishing national runner-up at the 2022 DIII Cross Country Championships. Smith earned two All-American honors in back-to-back DIII indoor championships years for another first at CSB.  In her career, Smith has never finished lower than fifth in any race and, at the DIII meet, recorded the 42nd (5K) and 43rd (3K) title of her career in cross country and track and field.
 
Smith, who has nine All-Region honors, has four indoor All-American honors and CSB has 11 after Smith's double this weekend. In fact, she has seven total track and field All-American honors with two 5K (2021, 2022) and a 10K outdoors (2022). To go with back-to-back DIII cross country All-American honors, she has nine in her career, which is the most in CSB school history. In addition, this fall, she was the MIAC Elite 22 winner in cross country and a Wooden Citizenship Cup Award – the only MIAC student-athlete to make the finalist stage of the award.