Providence’s Smith Left Field In The Dust

A record 28 women toed the starting line for the 5000-meter final at the 2004 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas. Inclement weather three days earlier forced officials to drastically change the meet schedule, which produced the biggest final field in that event in meet history (The current model allows 24 athletes to make the final).

Well, the 26 women who eventually finished second through 26th place were all chasing Kim Smith of Providence. No one should have expected a different result based on Smith’s past.

Smith entered the meet that year on an unbelievable hot streak, having completed the distance double at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships with collegiate record setting marks – 15:14.18 in the 5K on Friday and 8:49.18 in the 3K on Saturday. The native of Auckland, New Zealand, would remain atop the collegiate chart in those events until 2015 (Emily Sisson, Providence) and 2009 (Jenny Barringer, Colorado), respectively.

There wouldn’t be a record time in Austin – at least not in the previous sense.

Smith covered 12½ laps in 15:48.86 – the third fastest winning time since 1991 – and won by a staggering 36.04 seconds. That was – and still is – the largest margin of victory in meet history, nearly doubling the previous best established by Jen Rhines in 1995 (18.88 seconds).

Five months later, Smith demolished a much larger field – 249 other women – at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Smith won by 18 seconds, which was the biggest time differential between a champion and runner-up since Vicki Huber won in 1989.