Producing empowered and principled leaders
In four years at Saint Ben’s, Fiona Smith ’24 built a legacy both academically and athletically. She was a 16-time All-American and six-time individual national champion as a member of the CSB track and field/cross country program.
She is the most decorated student-athlete in school history. “Fiona has been an incredible ambassador for Saint Ben’s cross country and track and field, but also for the College of Saint Benedict, Saint John’s University and all of NCAA Division III running,” said CSB head coach of track and field/cross country Robin Balder-Lanoue ’91.
She was a 4.0 student as a math major and Honors Scholar. She took on summer research projects on campus in 2021 and 2022, and completed a research internship at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County last year. Before graduating, she was inducted into Pi Mu Epsilon (national mathematics honor society), Delta Epsilon Sigma (elite Catholic honor society) and Phi Beta Kappa (the nation’s oldest honor society).
“I’d say being a Bennie to me really encompasses all the past Bennies, all the current Bennies, all the future Bennies,” she says. “It’s just a whole network of amazing women.”
This academic year she is working toward her master’s degree and using her final year of athletic eligibility to compete at the Division I level for North Carolina State University.