Smith’s Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team traveled to Rochester, N.Y., to compete in the NCAA Indoor National Championships last Friday, March 14, 2025. The group made history as the first relay team from Smith to compete at the national level. In the team’s debut, they snatched an 11th overall finish, with a time of 12:00:41.
Smith sent a lineup of experienced athletes to the competition: Serena Britner ’25, Lena Baker ’26, Shams Ferver ‘26J and Pria Parker ’25.
The four athletes have broken Smith’s previous DMR record three times now, twice this season alone.
The four initially broke Smith’s record in 2023 at the DIII New England Championships, where they finished with a time of 12:20:28.
At Boston University’s Valentine Invitational on Feb. 15 this year, they broke their record by seconds, finishing with a time of 12:08.00. Last Saturday, March 8, they shattered that record by over ten seconds, finishing with a time of 11:57:22 in a race at Tufts University. This performance unofficially placed the team at #12 in the nation for Division III and clinched them an invite to nationals.
The Distance Medley Relay is a four-athlete undertaking. The race commences with a 1200m leg, followed by a 400m dash, 800m stretch, and 1600m (one mile) final push. The DMR is the only event where each member of the relay runs a different distance, highlighting each athlete’s unique strengths and merging them together to complete the fastest 4000m possible.
On Friday evening, the squad laced up to race for a historic finish.
Smith’s team brought energy and grit to Rochester. Britner raced the first leg in 3:45:96 before passing the baton to Baker, who sprinted the 400m split in 1:01:27. Ferver followed, finishing the third section in 2:18:50, and handing off the baton to Parker, who executed the final mile in 4:54:70.
Parker opted only to race in the DMR at nationals this year, even though they qualified for the individual mile as well. This choice gave Smith a better shot at leaving nationals with four All-American athletes instead of one. If Parker had opted into the individual mile, they would have had to run three races in two days, risking pushing their body too far to perform their best in the relay.
This decision marks the ultimate spirit of the DMR team. Individually, each athlete in the group is highly decorated. By coming together and racing for one another, they form a connection that reaches outside of athletic performance altogether: a tight-knit circle of belonging, trust, gratitude and grit.
Britner, Baker, Ferver and Parker have been racing the DMR for two years together. As a team and individually, they’ve grown as athletes.
“I definitely think [the four of us] have formed a special bond through all of our attempts to break the school record and qualify for nationals,” said Britner.
“We were able to break our own record twice this season,” said Ferver. “It was amazing that we were able to go to nationals together.”
Smith’s 2025 DMR team disproves the assumption that track is an individual sport. These runners’ favorite moments from the weekend were about togetherness, on and off the track.
When asked about her favorite moment from the trip, Ferver reflected on their pre-race jog together. “It was really sunny and warm, and we were getting excited for the race the next day,” said Ferver.
Although she had a stellar finish in the 800 meters leg, it was the moment of pre-meeting along the Erie Canal with her team that felt most special.
Over the past two years, bonding moments like these have built the group’s cohesion.
“We all believe in each other so much,” said Britner, “it allows us to set ambitious goals and run faster because we’re doing it for each other.”
National competition means that stress and pressure are at their highest. In times like these, how one handles that pressure can make or break a race. Parker uses the stress as motivation.
“[I’m] using the pressure as a motivator, [and] every race as an opportunity,” they said.
Baker echoed the importance of shifting one’s mindset around competition.
“We always tell each other ‘nerves mean you care’. I think that shifting my mindset to seeing pressure as a privilege was key for me in terms of performing in the face of challenges,” she said.
Though all athletes have different methods of handling pressure, each member of the DMR voiced the same motivation–running for each other.
“Just knowing that I was competing as part of a unit drove me to overcome my nerves and perform for my teammates,” Britner said.
“Letting myself down is one thing,” Parker said, “but [I am] running for the team… I don’t want to let [them] down.”
“I always know [Serena, Shams and Pria] will give their best effort, which drives me to do the same. I think we inspire each other to dig deeper and find new limits within ourselves,” Baker said.
Though the championships marked the end of the season for the DMR event, Britner, Baker, Ferver and Parker are bringing their winter momentum to spring racing as they continue running for each other. Together, Smith Track and Field will take on several highly competitive New England teams at the Coast Guard Spring Invitational on April 5th in New London, C.T.
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