NEW ORLEANS, La. – The College of Saint Benedict Track and Field Team earned its 18^th straight USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honor with five student-athletes earning USTFCCCA All-Academic individual plaudits.

The College of Saint Benedict track and field team, which is led by head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue, is consistently one of the top programs in the MIAC, and the Bennies are also consistently impressive in the classroom. For the 18^th straight season and 22nd season overall, Saint Benedict earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors. St. Ben's has earned the USTFCCCA academic team award every year since 2007. In order to be eligible for the award, teams must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.1 or higher. In 2024, the Bennies, who finished third at the MIAC Outdoor Championship with a record 136.33 points, had an impressive 3.637 GPA, a mark which ranked in the top 35 in DIII.   

The CSB student-athletes honored included:  Fiona Smith, a senior mathematics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, who earned her fourth All-Academic honor from USTFCCCA.  Both Lauren Berg, a sophomore biology/pre-med major from Bemidji, Minn., and Justus Floren, a junior from Sauk Rapids, Minn., both were recognized for a second time. First-time honorees include sophomore Jaylyn Ahlberg, an exercise science major from Shoreview, Minn., and Ellie Selisker, a senior nursing major from Baxter, Minn.

To be eligible for individual academic honors, athletes must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher and must have finished the season among the top 50 individuals in Division III in their respective events.

Smith, a 16-time All-American and six-time national champion (including track and field/cross country), finished ranked first in the 5,000-meters (15:53.27) and 10,000-meters (32:57.28) and fifth in the 1,500-meters (5:25.80). She won the DIII individual title in the 10,000-meters and was third in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships. Ahlberg, who earned an invitation to the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships (finished 18^th), was ranked 23^rd in the pole vault at 3.71M – 12-02.  Berg was 38^th in the 400-meter hurdles (1:03.74) while Selisker was 47^th (5.59M – 18-04.25) in the long jump and Floren was 50^th in the heptathlon (4,172 points).