ROCHESTER, N.Y. – With a clocking of 16:22.31 in the 5,000-meters, junior Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict recorded her second runner-up finish at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on a warm Saturday afternoon (May 27).

In what was a replay to the 10,000-meter race on Thursday (May 25), Kassie Parker and Fiona Smith battled from the start to the finish in the 5,000-meters. Parker finished with her second national title of the meet as the Loras senior standout finished in 16:18.30. Both runners surpassed the facility record of 16:58.39.

"The 10K/5K double is a big challenge and Fiona handled it so well," said Saint Ben's Head Track and Field Coach Robin Balder-Lanoue. "She had another gutsy race today and she gave all she had all weekend," she said.

With the eight points for finishing second, Smith accounted for 16 team points as Saint Benedict, which was ranked No. 14 in the latest USTFCCCA National Rating Index, was 15^th in team points which is the best finish and point total in program history at the national meet.
 

In the race, Smith opened at 1:55.69 at the 600-meter mark after a 400-meter lap of 77.08. At 1,800-meters, she was clocked at 3:12.02 with Parker at 3:11.82 as both ran 76-second quarters. At 3,000-meters, Smith had a 400-meter lap of 80.54 and was timed at 9:48.54, just behind Parker at 9:48.32. When the two of them hit 4,200-meters, Smith had a 79.74 lap for a 13:50.51 clocking with Parker at 13:50.27. Both student-athletes followed with 78 seconds quarters as Smith was at 15:08.81 and Parker at 15:08.77 at 4,600-meters. Then, Parker finished with a final 400-meters of 69.53 to win at 16:18.30. Smith battled and had her best 400-meter of the day at 73.4 and finished at 16:22.31.

Smith's time of 16:22.31 is the fourth fastest in program history and each one of them was by the junior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, she set the school outdoor 5K mark by clocking 16:05.43 at the Drake Relays on April 16. That time was sixth fastest all-time at the DIII level. 

With her second straight second place finish, Smith has a program-best 11 All-American honors with five outdoors (2^nd, 10K, 2023; 2^nd, 5K, 2023; 4^th, 5K, 2022; 4^th, 10K, 2022; and 5^th, 5K, 2021). In all five outdoor DIII championship races she has finished fifth or better. She is the first in CSB school history to place second in two events at the same meet. Fact is, the second place finish in both DIII championship races is the best ever in any outdoor event in school history. Perhaps, even more impressive is that in her last five races at the DIII championships, she has placed first or second.
 

Fiona Smith of @CSBTF recorded her 11th All-American performance with a 2nd-place finish in the 5,000M at the @NCAADIII Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Rochester, N.Y. Smith had her 5th consecutive finish of 1st or 2nd at DIII championship races.#BennieNationProud pic.twitter.com/Yw2jHT788c

— CSB Athletics (@CSB_Athletics) May 27, 2023

On Thursday, Smith cracked school and MIAC records with a personal best while finishing second with a clocking of 33:05.17 at the DIII Championship. Both Smith and champion Kassie Parker of Loras surpassed NCAA DIII Championship (1983, 33:50.32) and facility (36:31.71) records with Parker's mark of 33:02.53 the new record. In a race that was close throughout, Parker edged Smith as she closed with a 70-second quarter to overtake Smith who had taken the lead with 400 meters to go. For the majority of the race, Smith and Parker were separated by less than a second.
 

Not only was the performance top three all-time but it shattered her previous best of 33:23.89 at the Mount Sac Relays on April 13 by approximately 18 seconds. While her time is third overall in DIII history, Smith is ranked second all-time in the 10K as an individual. Only Parker's time of 33:02.53 and the clocking of 32:36.22 on March 31 are faster. As the outdoor season started, Smith had the school/MIAC record of 34:33.37 but has since broken that mark twice (Mount Sac Relays, 33:23.89, DIII Championships, 33:05.17), In fact, she has cut an incredible 1:28:20 off the record.

Smith won the 3K and 5K at the 2023 DIII indoor championships and finished second at the DIII cross country championships. Smith, who was named the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association North Region Athlete of the Year, has '19 career All-Region honors, including eight outdoors. This is the third time, including twice indoors, Smith has been the USTFCCCA North Region Athlete of the Year. She was also the indoor USTFCCA National Athlete of the Year in 2023.

At the MIAC Championships, Smith became the first CSB or MIAC student-athlete in school history to win three individual titles, pulling off the rare 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters triple. As a result, Smith helped the Bennies finish third at the MIAC Championship with 127.50 points for the second-best total in school history (130, 2017).

Fiona Smith of @SAINTBENEDICTXC is an 11x All-American after her two runner-up finishes in the 10k and 5k this week.

After some much needed rest, she will look ahead to improving her times in cross country and perhaps even capture an XC National title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Lrez18LUrl

— D3 Glory Days (@D3GloryDays) May 27, 2023

She has a school record 10 MIAC individual titles, 21 facility, school, conference or championship records and 47 individual victories in her career across indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Three times she has earned MIAC Athlete of the Week honors in 2023 (11 outdoor overall and 21 including indoor and cross country) and has also earned the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week on May 2, 2023.

In cross country, she repeated as the MIAC individual champion and also won back-to-back NCAA DIII North Region titles. Named the MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient last fall, she was MIAC cross country MVP for a second straight year and repeated as the North Region Athlete of the Year.