Athletics: NZ runner given top indoor award for US colleges

Auckland middle distance runner Kimberley Smith has been named Indoor Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association.

Smith, on a scholarship at Providence College, New York, won the 5000m and 3000m at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship on March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, breaking NCAA records in each event.

She ran the 5000m in 15min 14.18sec, breaking the 13-year NCAA record (15:17.28) and the 3000m in 8:49.18 (8:53.54, set in 1983).

Smith was also named Northeast Region Athlete of the Year and Big East Most Outstanding Track Performer, Athletics New Zealand said in a statement today.

She will open the outdoor track season on March 26-27 at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina.

- NZPA