BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – After setting school and MIAC records in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, 14-time senior All-American Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict outdoor track and field team has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Athlete of the Week.  

Smith, who was also selected as the USTFCCCA Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week today (April 2), now has 27 career MIAC weekly honors in cross country (12), indoor (five) and outdoor (10) track and field. In terms of national honors, Smith earned a fifth USTFCCCA Track Athlete of the Week honor, including her second outdoors. She was also honored with the USTFCCCA Indoor Athlete of the Week December 5, 2023 after setting the DIII mark of 15:50.48 in the 5,000-meters in Boston.  A senior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Smith earned the national honor twice in cross country on Sept. 18, 2023, and Sept. 22, 2022; as well as on Dec. 5, 2023 in indoor track and field and outdoor track and field on May 2, 2023 and today (April 2, 2024).  

At the Stanford Invitational on Friday (March 29) night, Smith shattered the school and MIAC record with the second best 10,000-meters time in NCAA DIII ever by clocking 32:57.28 4iat the Cobb Track and Angell Field. 

Witht he performance, Smith continued to build on an impressive 2023-24 season. After winning the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championship in November, she concluded her NCAA Division III indoor career by capturing her fifth national title by winning the 3,000-meter title in 9:25.97 at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday (March 9) at the Virginia Beach (Va.) Sports Center. The win in the 3K followed a dramatic finish as she also won the 5,000-meter race on Friday (March 10) by clocking 16:26.40.

And, now as the 2024 outdoor season opened, Smith continued to snap school and MIAC records.

With the 32:57.28, she had the top 10K time in NCAA DIII this year. Smith, who set 3K and 5K records indoors in 2024 and owns the mile record indoors, now owns the 10K outdoor mark, surpassing her own mark of 33:05.17 in 2023. This performance bettered that mark by over eight seconds. She now owns four outdoor marks including the 1,500 meters (4:25.51, 2023), 3,000-meters (9:58.64, 2021), 5,000-meters (16:05.43, 2023) and now the 10K (32:57.28).

Smith finished 13^th overall in the fastest of two heats of the 10K as she finished only behind DI runners. Hilda Olemomoi of Alabama clocked 32:20.20 to win the race. Runners from Arkansas, Syracuse, Washington, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and Oregon finished ahead of Smith. The senior standout finished ahead of a number of DI competitors including those from Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, and others.

Through 800-meters, Smith had a 2:35.96 which placed in second. At 1,600 meters, she was clocked at 5:13.97 which ranked her fourth in the talented field. At 3,200-meters, Smith was clocked at 10:33.26. She was at 17:08.75 after clocking a 79 quarter. With another 79 quarter, she was at 23:42.57 through 7,200 meters. She ranked 400-meter laps from 1:14.40 (final lap) to 1:22:17 during the remarkable performance.

Coming into this race at the Stanford (Calif.) Invitational on Friday (March 29), Smith had been the first runner at the NCAA DIII level to repeat in both the 3K & 5K in doors. In the 3,000 meters, she finished just .35 off her own NCAA DIII championship record of 9:25.62 which she ran in winning the 3K a year ago in Birmingham, Ala., at the DIII Championship. Smith, who has 14 All-American honors and four indoor titles (plus cross-country title in fall 2023), finished almost six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher senior Natalie Bitetti of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who clocked 9:31.74. In her last eight races at the NCAA DIII championship level in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, she has finished first on five occasions and second in the other three races.

After being named the USTFCCCA 2024 North Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and the three-time MIAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, Smith earned her fourth and five indoor national titles in March. Named the 2023 USTFCCCA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, Smith was honored on March 5, 2024, as an all-region performer for the fourth straight year after being recognized in the mile, 3,000-meters, and 5,000-meters during the 2023-24 season. In 2021, she was honored in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs and in both 2022 and 2023 earned the designation in the mile, 3,000- and 5,000-meters events. Smith now has 12 all-region honors indoors.