Smith beats record, Bennies take first over host Carleton

Another meet, another record for CSB sophomore Fiona Smith.

It was the 1500 school record that was the latest to fall this weekend, as Smith ran 4:34.06 to move past 2016 graduate Allison Kosobud by a tenth of a second on a warm and windy day at the Carleton Relays. She beat Carleton All-American Clara Mayfield by just over a second to win the race.

“Before I saw the weather I was hoping to PR and break the record, but then once we got out there, I was like, ‘okay, that doesn’t really seem all that realistic,’ and I guess my goal was just to win,” Smith said. “The 1500 is more of [Clara’s] distance than mine, so I was pretty nervous about it.”

Mayfield, who finished fourth in the mile at the NCAA DIII National Indoor Championships in March, took the lead from the gun and held it until Smith passed her on the backstretch with about 650 meters to go. It was a lead Smith wouldn’t relinquish, maintaining a steady gap despite a strong headwind coming in to the finish.

“Afterwards, I was talking to [head coach] Robin [Balder-Lanoue] and [distance runner] Tracy [Renier], and they thought that I thought it was the last 200 because I was going so hard,” Smith said. “But I need a little bit longer to kick, so I thought it was safer to go sooner rather than wait.”

The 1500 record had proven to be more of a challenge for Smith to topple than some of her other top performances. While she knocked off the 5k record last spring and the 10k record in her first attempt at the event on April 9, the 1500 record was something she wasn’t sure she was ever going to get.

“I remember last year seeing the record and then running my first 1500, and I was probably 10-15 seconds off of it,” Smith said. “Then this season running my first [1500 in] around 4:34, just like .1 off of it, I was like, ‘I think I actually can do it.’”

Now, she holds the school record for every event 1500 meters or longer, excluding the 3000 meter steeplechase.

Amid her consistent success, Smith’s teammates said she still maintains a humble attitude.

“When she’s with the team, she’s just one of us,” Renier said. “It’s not like she’s like some otherworldly human that we can’t interact with. She’s just one of the gang. But then when she’s on the track, you’re just really proud to have her as your teammate.”

Renier also had a strong performance for the Bennies, winning the steeplechase by over 30 seconds with a time of 11:44.25. While she wasn’t pleased with her time, she acknowledged the conditions weren’t ideal for anyone looking to run personal bests.

Smith’s second-place finish in the 800 (2:24.24) and senior Maggie Mahota (72.26) and sophomore Ellie Selisker’s (73.86) 1-2 finish in the 400 hurdles were other top results that helped CSB take home the team title with 172 points, just ahead of Gustavus with 170 and Carleton with 137.5.

“To have everybody get out there and compete the way they did, that is what you want at the end of the day,” Balder-Lanoue said. “We had so many people move up from their seeds, and that’s what you want. The team just really did well.”

Both Gustavus and Carleton placed ahead of the Bennies at the MIAC indoor championships in February, so the win gave CSB some higher hopes come time for the outdoor championships on May 13-14.

“This is one of the most potent teams I think we’ve had,” Renier said. “We could even try to win MIAC, honestly, if everyone can have a good day or even a semi-decent day. I think we do have a really good shot at it.”