Fiona Smith runs away with MIAC championship

A trio of talented runners triumphed this past weekend at the MIAC championships in Northfield.

Sophomore Fiona Smith was victorious for the Bennies, beating the second place finisher by 11 seconds. For the Johnnies, sophomore Lloyd Young took third place and senior Andy Goldsmith took eighth place.

For the Bennies, Smith’s success can be attributed to her intense preparations. Smith said she treats every race leading up to the end of the year as a training race and is always looking to improve, even when she is not in the country.

“(Fiona) was living in Saudi (Arabia) all summer, training in 130 degree heat…the fact that she gets out every single day when it’s 130 degrees says a lot about her drive,” Head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue said.

Smith’s career is off to a hot start, shattering the previous CSB school record by nearly 40 seconds with her time of 21:28.6 in the MIAC championships as only a sophomore.

One way she is able to keep improving is by goal-setting. She sets specific goals, “even if I go into the race thinking I am probably going to win, I usually have a goal for time, trying to hit each mile at a certain time.”

Coach Balder-Lanoue emphasized the fact that Smith does all of the little things right, like goal-setting.

“She is proactive with her time, she gets stuff done during the week so she can be with the team over the weekend, she makes sure she’s well-hydrated, she makes sure she sleeps nine hours a night…she is very diligent about doing the little things and understands that they all add up,” Balder-Lanoue said.

Senior Tracy Renier and junior Emily DeMorett earned All-Conference honorable mention awards for their performances at MIAC. Renier finished 18th with a time of 23:41.5 and DeMorett finished 25th with a time of 24:03.6.

Smith also mentioned that the team is very laid back compared to other teams and that helps in competition. The team has their own fun chant that they do before each race and they’re constantly joking around with one another. A lot of coaches would try to take that out of a team and have them focus, but Balder-Lanoue wants them to be themselves.

“They have a passion to bring laughter and their work ethic all in one place, and they do it very well,” Balder-Lanoue said.

Before the MIAC Championships, the Bennies had one person in their top 10 who had conference championship experience. This shows that the Bennies are still a very young team who have a very bright future.

On the men’s side, Young and Goldsmith each attributed their success in this race to the preparation they have put in all year.

“These are the kinds of races that we train for… we just needed to trust the training we’ve been doing, trust the mental training we’ve been doing, and let it all ride out,” Goldsmith said.

Young set a new personal record of 25:07 and said one of the main reasons for this was because of his training the week leading up to the race. Young reduced his mileage workload.

“My peak mileage is 80 miles per week…I was at 50 miles for the week of conference…that reduction helps you keep your legs fresh so you are ready to go,” Young said.

Assistant coach Maxwell Kuzara said he and head coach Tim Miles purposefully gear their training for the end of the year.

“The runners are running their most miles in the early part of the season and as we progress through, the season the amount of miles we run per week decreases so that they feel fresh and ready to go for the big end of the year meets,” Kuzara said.

Another quality that the Johnnie runners have ingrained in them is patience. Young said Miles stresses the importance of patience by reminding the team “you don’t score at the mile, you score at the finish line.”

Goldsmith added that it is crucial to trust the pace that you have prepared for and not get sucked into the pack of runners going at an unsustainable pace.

This strategy worked in the race. Through the first 1,600 meters, Goldsmith was in 11th place running it in 4:59 and Young was in 28th after running it in 5:04. After 5,000 meters, Goldsmith had moved up to 10th and Young soared past the competition, moving all the way up to fifth.

In the final 3000 meters, each runner moved up two spots, finishing in eighth place and third place respectively. Junior Mitchell Grand was in 33rd at the 1,600 meter mark, 28th at the 5,000 meter mark, and finished 19th.

In the final 1,600 meters, Young had the second fastest split out of 195 racers, Goldsmith had the fifth fastest split, and Grand had the 11th fastest. Sophomore Carter Grove finished 26th but had the 12th fastest final 1600 split. Senior Dillon Diekman finished 31st but had the 15th best final split.

The Johnnies remained patient, believed in their training, didn’t get sucked into the pack and flew by the competition at the end of the race, putting themselves in a very strong position to succeed going into their regional in Eau Claire, WI next weekend.