ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After the best national indoor finish in school history, the College of Saint Benedict Track and Field Team is ready to start its outdoor season with plenty of momentum.
 
At the NCAA DII Indoor Championships, CSB finished a school record best 11^th as nine-time All-American Fiona Smith became the first student-athlete at Saint Benedict to win a national championship and she did it twice by winning both the 3,000 meters (meet record) and 5,000 meters as she and multi-event athlete Justus Floren competed at the event. To open the season, the Bennies head to the Wartburg Outdoor Select on April 2-3. Events will be held on Saturday night with the multitude of events set for Sunday.  
 
"We have the chance to have a really exciting outdoor team," said CSB Head Track and Field Coach Robin Balder-Lanoue, whose team was second at the MIAC Outdoor Championships a year ago. "We are excited about the group of returnees, who performed so highly at the 2022 outdoor championships. In addition, we have a lot of talented newcomers who will make an impression this year," she said.
 
A year ago, the Bennies crowned five conference champions and finished second overall at the 2022 MIAC Outdoor Championships – the team's best finish since 2017. CSB scored 117.333 points, the second-best point total in program history. Five conference champions is the most in program history – indoor or outdoor. CSB, which placed fifth at the 2023 Indoor MIAC Meet, had six total All-MIAC performances by five student-athletes a year ago. Of that group, three return, including sophomore Justus Floren who won the high jump; and junior Tiana Johnson who captured the 200-meter dash. Junior Fiona Smith, a nine-time All-American, won the 5K for the second straight year and also captured the 10K before later earning All-American honors in both events.
 
Distance
 Smith will look to continue her outstanding year in cross country/track and field in which she has placed first or second in three straight national events (cross country, 2^nd; 3K indoors, 1^st; 5K, indoors, 1^st.). A year ago, she had a pair of All-MIAC performances with individual titles in the 5K and 10K. Smith owns outdoor records in the 1,500 meters (4:29.11); 5K (16:16.54) and 10,000 meters (34:33.37). Smith, who won the 5K with a 17:13.45 clocking at the 2022 MIAC Outdoors and 10K in 34:36.41, is joined by a mid-long-distance group that includes Bridget Tetmeyer, who was sixth in the 10K (38:08.51) and eighth in the 5K (18:48.62) at the MIAC Outdoor Meet in 2022. Emily Demorett was seventh in the 10K (38:46.38).  
 
CSB will have a talented group in the 3K steeplechase, including Tetmeyer along with Keiley Maahs and Mary Kenney.
 
Hurdles – Sprints
In the sprints, CSB will lean on juniors Tiana Johnson and Kate Gallagher who both placed in the 100 and 200-meter dashes at the 2022 MIAC Meet. Johnson won the 200-meter dash in 25.16 while Gallagher was eighth in 27.60. CSB had three of the top six in the 100-meter dash with Johnson, fourth (12.39), Gallagher, fifth (12.54) and Hailey Johnson, sixth (12.89). In addition, three of the four 4x100 meter relay members return after finishing second (48.42) a year ago. Those returnees include T. Johnson, H. Johnson, and Gallagher. CSB will also have a competitive group in the 4x400-meter relay, led by Mirijana Ganley, who earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention with the sixth-place 1,600 relay team and also ran career-best 200 and 400 times at the conference meet.
 
 Among the newcomers making an impact will be first-year standout Lauren Berg, who will compete in various sprint and hurdle events including the 400 meter hurdles, 400-meters, and 800 meters. Berg was second in the 600M at the MIAC indoors in a school record 1:36.28. She broke a 14-year-old CSB record held by Jillian Daleiden, 1:37.86, in 2009. She was also part of the 4x400-meter relay which finished third in 4:09.26. Berg, who was part of four All-MIAC performances at the indoor league meet, clocked a 9.22 in the 60-meter hurdles which placed her second with CSB's third best time ever. Berg's 59.24 in in the 400M placed her third with the 4th best program mark.

Also expected to make contributions in the middle distance, including in the 800-meters will be sophomore Kalli Smith, who has run a 2:23.24 indoors. She placed eighth in the 800-meters at the 2023 MIAC Indoor Championship.
 
Multi-Event & umps
Justus Floren, a sophomore from Sauk Rapids, Minn., will compete in the jumps and multi-events. During the indoor season, she finished third and was All-MIAC in the pentathlon with 3,097 points, a mark that ranks seventh all-time. Floren, who has four career All-MIAC honors, took fifth in the heptathlon outdoors at the 2022 MIAC Championships for All-MIAC honorable mention honors. A year ago, outdoors, she won the MIAC high jump title and moved into eighth in CSB history with a mark of 1.59 meters (5-02.5). She also earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention with a fourth-place finish in the long jump and moved into sixth in CSB history with a mark of 5.38 meters (17-07.75). Prior to the MIAC meet a year ago, Floren recorded the seventh-best heptathlon score (4,058) in CSB history at the St. Olaf Qualifier. In the pole vault, senior Caitlin Salfer, who was All-MIAC with a third-place finish indoors, returns after placing sixth in the pole vault outdoors at 3.05m (10-0). Sophomore Molly Vaughan was eighth a year ago, going 3.05m (10-0).   
               
Throws
Maggie Beckmann, who earned All-MIAC indoor honors in the weight throws, earned a pair of honorable mention All-MIAC outdoor honors in 2022, finishing fifth in the discus and seventh in the hammer. Beckman, who had six top-five finishes, ranks fourth in school history at 38.93 meters (12708.75) in the discus and fifth all-time in the hammer at 44.38 meters (145-07.25). CSB will also look for contributions from Haley Joos, who owns the sixth best shot put outdoors at 11.88 meters (38-11.75).