INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Jaylyn Ahlberg and Fiona Smith of the College of Saint Benedict outdoor track and field team were announced as qualifers on Friday (May 17) for the 2024 NCAA DIII women's outdoor track and field championships on May 23-25 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Smith, a 14-time All-American and five-time national champion in cross country and track and field, was named as a qualifier in the 5,000-meters and 10,000-meters, where she is ranked No. 1 in DIII in both events. She will compete in the 10,000-meters at 7:30 p.m., (CST) on Thursday, May 23. Then she runs in the 5,000 meter run at 6 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, May 25. A year ago, the senior from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, finished second in both races. However, she has won four indoor titles, repeating in 2023 and 2024 in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races and is the only CSB or MIAC student-athlete to accomplish that feat.

Ahlberg, a sophomore from Shoreview, Minn., was ranked No. 22 in the pole vault as she will make her first appearance at the NCAA DIII Championships. Ahlberg earned her first outdoor pole vault title at the MIAC Championships by matching her outdoor best of 3.71M – 12-02, a mark which ranks third all-time at CSB. She also won the indoor MIAC Championship with a career-best vault of 3.76m - 12'4.25, a mark that ranks second all-time in CSB program history. She will vault at 11 a.m., (CST) on Thursday, May 23.

Earlier today, Smith was named all-region in three events by the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA). Smith was recognized in the 1,500-meters, 5,000-meters and 10,000 meters for the third straight year. In her career, Smith has earned 11 outdoor all-region honors from the USTFCCCA including the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000-meters in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the 5,000-meters and 1,500-meters in 2021. In total, counting indoor, outdoor, and cross country, she has totaled 26 (12 indoor, 11 outdoor, three cross country) all-region accolades. 

Earlier this week, Smith  was named the MIAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the first time in program history. A three-time MIAC Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year and a three-time cross country MIAC Athlete of the Year, she was honored after winning the rare triple of the 1,500-meter, 5,000-meters and 10,000 meters at the MIAC Championship on May 10-11 in St. Paul. In the 1,500 and 5,000-meter runs, she established conference championship records.

Smith is the first-ever at CSB to earn MIAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year honors after repeating with wins in the three distance events. With Smith leading the way, CSB was third overall and snapped the program mark of 130 points by the 2017 team with 136.33 points. At the 2024 MIAC Championship, CSB recorded a program-best 13 All-MIAC performances, including five titles, matching the program-best mark set in 2022 and 2023.   Smith wrapped up her career in the MIAC with the rare triple. On May 11, she won the 5,000 meters in 16:51.63, which was more than 26 seconds ahead of the field. It was her fourth straight 5K title at the MIAC outdoor championships.

With victories in May 10 in the 1,500-meters and 10,000-meters, she wrapped up her career with nine individual outdoor titles and 15 individual titles overall. Including relays, she earned 20 All-MIAC career honors. She broke the conference championship record in the 1,500 meter run in 4.28.55, which broke the 15-year old record of Marie Borner of Bethel in 2009. Later that night, she broke a 41-year old championship record in the 10,000-meters by clocking 34:15.01 and surpassing the mark of Debbie Thometz of the University of St. Thomas, who had a 34:22.58 in 1983. 

In her career, Smith, who has 29 All-MIAC Athlete of the Week and six USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors, has totaled 70 career wins in track and field and cross country. In the 2024 outdoor season, she has clocked the fastest outdoor 5,000-meters in school and MIAC history of 15:53.27 at the Drake Relays on April 25 as part of the distance carnival. It was the fastest 5,000-meters in NCAA DIII this year and the fourth fastest all-time at the DIII level. She is also just the second DIII women's runner to crack 16 minutes in the 5K both indoor and outdoor. At the Stanford Invitational on March 29, Smith shattered the school and MIAC record with the second-best 10,000-meters time in NCAA DIII history by clocking 32:57.28 at the Cobb Track and Angell Field.