ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – A remarkable year for junior Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict Track and Field/Cross Country Team continues after being selected to the NCAA DIII College Sports Communicators Academic All-American First Team in Women's Track and Field/Cross Country.

Smith, who earned five All-American honors, including two national individual national titles in 2022-23 in track and field/cross country, was selected to her second straight Academic All-American honor. In 2022, she was named to the second team.

 

A junior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Smith has a 4.0 grade point average in mathematics. She is the 30^th CSC Academic All-American all-time at CSB and is the 12^th to be named to the first team. Smith is just the second in track and field named first team, joining Katy Deignan in 1993. In addition, she is the fifth track and field/cross country honoree at CSB.

Thirteen of the 45 members of the Academic All-America® Division III women's track and field/cross country teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 17 honorees on the first team have an average GPA of 3.93, with the entire women's team combining for a collective 3.89 GPA. A total of 13 student-athletes, eight on the first team, are repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Division III women's track and field/cross country team.

To this point in her career, Smith has 21 school records with 47 individual titles. During this year, she finished second or better, including two national titles, in her last five races at the NCAA DIII Championship level. Those accomplishments, along with dominating in track and field and cross country in the MIAC and North Region, earned her the Athlete of the Year at Saint Ben's for a second straight year.

"Fiona is fearless.  She is fearless in setting her goals and fearless in going after them," said Saint Benedict head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue of Smith, who recorded 17 individual/relay wins in 2022-23 and repeated as the CSB Athlete of the Year..

In 2022-23, Smith became the first student-athlete in school history to win a national title and in fact, won two at the NCAA DIII Indoor Championships in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs. Aside from that, she was national runner-up in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter events at the NCAA DIII outdoor championship and second individually at the NCAA DIII cross country championship.

It was a year when Smith ran with confidence while representing the CSB program as a team captain and a campus leader.

"She has been incredible leader because she walks the talk," said Balder-Lanoue. "She knows the little things to do to be successful and doesn't get distracted from doing those little things.  She is a great role model.  She is also genuinely supportive of her teammates goals and celebrates their successes," she added.

It is not often that a single student-athlete represents three sports, but it is true with Smith, an inspiring and selfless student-athlete who achieves at a high level in competition, in the classroom and as a student-leader at CSB. This summer, she is serving an internship in computer science in Baltimore, Maryland, as she continues to build on her sterling academic record.

Smith takes 2nd at NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships
At the 2022 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships, Smith placed a program-best second and earned a second straight All-American honor. Smith became the first in school history to win back-to-back MIAC individual titles and the first Bennie to repeat as the NCAA DIII North Region individual champion as she recorded a school record time of 20:51.06 in winning the race by 15 seconds.

Smith, who clocked in at 21:49.6 in repeating as MIAC champion, had the best national finish ever by a St. Ben's student-athlete. Previously, Missy Petersen was third at the 1994 NCAA DIII Championships. Smith, who was fifth a year ago, recorded consecutive top-five finishes at the DIII Cross Country Championships, which is a historic first at St. Ben's. Smith is the second CSB athlete to earn All-American honors in back-to-back seasons, joining Leah Wurm in 2004 and 2005. In the fall, she won five titles while earning the MIAC Athlete of the Year, NCAA DIII North Region Athlete of the Year, MIAC Elite 22 Award and being named a Wooden Award finalist.

Junior standout earns four All-American honors in Track and Field
In track and field, Smith was simply one of the best in NCAA DIII. She earned four All-American honors including winning the two individual indoor titles (3K, 5K). Smith, who was named the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association North Region Indoor Athlete of the Year, has recorded 19 career All-Region honors, including eight outdoors. This was the third time, including twice indoors, Smith was selected the USTFCCCA North Region Indoor Athlete of the Year. She was also St. Ben's first-ever indoor USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year in 2023 and this spring named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) All-District Team.

At the indoor national championships, Smith won the 5K in 16:33.79, and finished ahead of the field by over seven seconds. In winning the 3K title, she clocked a 9:25.62 which was a championship record. As a result, she was the first in school and MIAC history to win two individual indoor titles in the same NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championship.

With those performances, Smith 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.

At the MIAC Outdoor 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).

At the NCAA DIII Championship, she was second in both the 10,000-meters and 5,000-meters. 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 NCAA DIII level. At the NCAA DIII Championship, she was second in the 5K at 16:22.31, surpassing the facility record.

In the 10K, both Smith and DIII 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 with Smith at 33:05.17. Not only was Smith's performance top three all-time but it shattered her previous best (and the school/MIAC record) 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. Just like indoors, the 16 points she earned at the DIII Outdoor Championship enabled CSB to finish a program-best 15th as a team.

With the two runner-up finishes, Smith now has a program-best 11 All-American honors with five outdoors, four indoor and two in cross country.

Smith, who has earned 21 career MIAC Athlete of the Week honors, including nine in 2022-23, also earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week both in outdoor track and field and cross country.