Smith, Young Earn All-American Honors at NCAA Championship

LANSING, MI (WJON News) -- Two central Minnesota collegiate athletes performed well on the national stage.

Juniors Fiona Smith from the College of St. Benedict and Lloyd Young from St. John’s University both earned All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Michigan over the weekend.

This is Smith’s second straight year earning the recognition. She finished the 6K in second place with a time of 21:49.6, setting a program record in the process. In 1994, Missy Petersen earned a third-place finish for the Bennies which had previously been the highest CSB had gotten on the podium.

Smith finished in fifth place in last year’s tournament and is just the second CSB cross-country runner to earn All-American honors back-to-back years behind Leah Wurm in 2004 and 2005. She is also only the fourth St. Ben’s student to be recognized.

Young finished the men’s race in 40th place with a time of 25:37. Among all MIAC runners, he finished third. His All-American honors mark the 25th overall for St. John’s and the first for the program since Chris Erichsen's third-place finish in 2007. Young competed in the NCAA tournament in 2021 as well, earning a 52nd-place finish.

St. Joseph's on the Grow!

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