INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – Sophomore Justus Floren and junior Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict were announced Sunday (March 5) as qualifiers for the 2023 NCAA DIII women's indoor track and field championships on March 10-11 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

For each women's individual event contested, including the pentathlon, the top 20 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition.  For each relay event contested, the top 12 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition. 
 
 

Smith, a seven-time All-American, was named as a qualifier in the 3,000-meters and 5,000-meters, where she is ranked No. 1 in DIII.
 
In the 5,000 meters, Fiona Smith is the top-ranked performer at 16:28.97, which is a school record and MAIC record. She clocked the record time at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi on Jan. 27, 2023. She will compete in the finals at the DIII meet at 4:35 p.m., on Friday, March 10.
 
In the 3,000 meters, she has a seed time of 9:23.31 which she set at the Minnesota State Massive Met on Feb. 10, 2023. The clocking by Smith, a junior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is an all-time mark at CSB and in the MIAC. She will run in the finals at the DIII meet at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

A year ago, Smith earned DIII Indoor All-American honors in both the 3K and 5K, finishing third in the 3K and fourth in the 5K.
 
Smith, who repeated MIAC titles in the 3K and 5K at the 2023 championships, became the first in school history to earn multiple All-American honors at the 2022 NCAA DIII Indoor Championships. This fall, she was second in DIII at the Cross-Country Championships for her second cross country All-American honor. She has two All-American honors in the 5K (2021 and 2022) and has a 3K All-American honor (2022).

 

Floren, who has three All-MIAC indoor honors in her two years at CSB, was named to the pentathlon field where she is ranked 11^th in NCAA DIII. This will be Floren's first-ever appearance at the DIII nationals. At the NCAA Qualifier at Wartburg College on March 3, she won the event with the 11^th best NCAA DIII performance in 2023 with a mark of 3,288 points which converted to 3,309. At the DIII nationals, she is scheduled to begin the pentathlon at 11:30 a.m., on Friday, March 11 with the 60-meter hurdles. The high jump followed at 12:15 p.m., followed by the shot put at 1:55 p.m., long jump at 3:20 p.m., and 800-mete run at 4:20 p.m.
 
A sophomore nursing major from Sauk Rapids, Minn., Floren had five new personal bests. In addition to her overall mark of 3,288 (3,309 converted), in which bettered her previous high of 3,097 (second, All-MIAC, 2023 indoor championships) she had indoor personal bests in winning the high jump (1.57m-5-01.75) and long jump (5.26 meters – 17-03.50), as well as the shot put (2^nd place, 10.37 meters – 34-0.25) and 800 meters (fifth place, 2:39.41). She was also fourth in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.50 and just off her personal-best. In total, she had three program top-10 marks in the five events. Her total of 3,288 (3,309 converted) placed her third all-time as she bettered former CSB standout Megan Sundstrom's 2017 total of 3,262.