ST. JOSEPH, Minn. –
Fiona Smith,
Kate Gallagher,
Jaylyn Ahlberg and
Ellie Selisker have been named to the 2024 Academic All-District® Women's Track & Field / Cross Country Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators on Wednesday (June 18).
The CSC recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced on July 9.
This represents the second straight year that CSB has had four student-athletes in track and field/cross country named CSC Academic All-District.
Smith, who has a 4.0 grade point average mathematics and Hispanic studies, earned her third straight CSC Academic All-District honor. Originally of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, she is a two-time CSC Academic All-American, earning first team honors in 2023. With that honor, she became the 30
th CSC Academic All-American all-time at CSB and the 12
th to be named to the first team. Smith was just the second in track and field named first team, joining Katy Deignan in 1993. In addition, she was the fifth track and field/cross country honoree at CSB.
Smith, who was the USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete of the Year and Chi Alpha Sigma National Scholar of the Year in 2023, had an amazing senior season in 2023-24, as she won four more individual national titles in cross country and track and field and now has six in her career. Smith, who has nine Academic All-MIAC honors, culminated her career by winning the 10,000-meters and placing third in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA DIII Track and Field Outdoor Championships. Those titles go with repeating as the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter DIII titles (first ever in MIAC history) at the indoor nationals and also winning the cross country title last fall.
A 16-time All-American, Smith is one of five in MIAC history to win at least five individual national track and field titles. Add in her cross country title in the fall of 2023, and she is one of three in MIAC history to capture six or more national DIII individual titles (Julia Kirtland, eight titles, 1984-87; Kelly Copps, six titles, 1993-95). This year, she also was the recipient of back-to-back USTFCCCA North Region Track Athlete of the Year honors. This spring, 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 With victories in May 10 at the MIAC Championships 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. In her career, Smith, who has 29 All-MIAC Athlete of the Week and six USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors, totaled 71 career wins in track and field and cross country. She owns school records in mile, 3,000, 5,000-meter runs indoors plus the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs outdoors.
Gallagher repeated as a selection to the CSC Academic All-District Team. Gallagher, a senior exercise and health services major with a 3.89 grade point average from Fargo, N.D., set a school record in the indoor 60-meters in 2024 with a clocking of 7.84 in placing third at the MIAC Indoors in 2024. Seven times, she earned All-MIAC in sprints and has seven honorable mention All-MIAC honors. She is a six-time Academic All-MIAC honoree in indoor and outdoor track and field, who has 21 titles as an individual or on a relay and 56 top-three finishes in her career.
A sophomore exercise and health science major with a 3.89 grade point average from Shoreview, Minn., Ahlberg had a special season with indoor and outdoor MIAC pole vault titles. In earning her first-ever CSC Academic All-District honor, she also earned her first-ever individual berth to the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She placed 18
th at the DIII Championship. 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.
Selisker, who registered a 3.93 grade point average in nursing and is from Baxter, Minn., had four All-MIAC honors in her career. This spring, she recorded a pair of All-MIAC performances in placing second in both the long jump and triple jump at the 2024 MIAC Outdoor Championships. By doing 5.59m – 18-04.25, she ranks third all-time at CSB. Her second place finish in the high jump of 1.58M – 5-02.25 is ninth all-time at CSB. She also has the program, 10
th best indoor mark of 1.57 m – 5-01.75. Four times, she scored points at the MIAC multi-event competitions. In the indoor pentathlon in 2024, she was fifth with 2,881 points and placed eighth at the 2024 outdoor MIAC heptathlon with a score of 3,623. In 2023, she was sixth at the MIAC outdoor heptathlon with a career-best 3,689 points and with 2,664 points was seventh in the 2023 indoor pentathlon. She also placed third in the high jump and long jump at the 2023 MIAC Championships. In her career she has 72 top-eight placing and 12 titles. She also placed seventh at 2,664 points at the 2023 MIAC Indoor Multi-Event Championship.
