2019 D2 XC Top 25 Women: Update #7 (FINAL)

Was not ranked the week before.

First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where they were ranked the week before.

O’Malley was the top freshman with her 24th place finish last weekend. The GVSU youngster ended her phenomenal season with All-American honors and will be one to watch for the next few years. She came on very strong in the latter half of the season (she debuted at the GLIAC Championships) and has proven to be a valuable scorer on an already deep Grand Valley State squad.

Molesworth showed up big time for the Orediggers, coming in as their #2 scorer last Saturday in 16th place. The Mines sophomore has had a strong season, but she never had a performance which led us to believe that she would be inside the top 20 at NCAA's. She gave her team an extra low-stick to catapult them into 3rd place in the team standings.

After falling in and out of our rankings this season, Comastri had a great race at Nationals last weekend to finish 23rd overall. She has had a consistent presence at the top of the results for a handful of competitive meets this year, finishing 5th at the Lewis Crossover and 5th at the GLVC Championships.

Ritter earned All-American honors with her 22nd place finish. Overall, she had a consistently successful season, earning top finishes week in and week out. Her 22nd place finish was roughly what we expected from her, but she drops back in the rankings simply due to great performances from other runners.

It's hard to dislike what Holmberg has done this season. With Kaylee Mitchell now moving on to Oregon State, Dania stepped up into the role as a lead score and produced well above expectations coming into this season. Her 21st place finish at Nationals perfectly complements her 2nd place finish at the West Regional Championships and 4th place finish at the GNAC Championships.

Hope Pietrocarlo was 15th last Saturday, improving upon her 27th place finish from the year prior. Despite edging out teammate Stefanie Parsons (who finished in 17th), we're placing Pietrocarlo a couple spots behind her since Parsons had the better overall season coming into Nationals (Pietrocarlo also struggled a bit at Paul Short).

Gruidel placed 20th in Sacramento to cap off a very respectable 2019 season. Admittedly, she seemed to struggle a bit this race, most likely because of the fast pace from the gun. Her talent level told us that she was capable to be in the top 12. Regardless, she had a breakthrough season and will be one to watch during the winter and spring

Baker finished up her fantastic sophomore season with a top 20 finish at NCAA's, placing 19th overall. She was an outstanding #2 option for a talented Mines team all season long. It should not be overlooked how well she has been running since the very beginning of the season. Her ability to sustain a high level of competitiveness while consistently progressing throughout the season is an underrated aspect of her 2019 resume.

Not much to say here as Gockley ended her 2019 cross country season with an 18th place finish. She wasn't ranked prior to the NCAA Championships, we but we knew she had enough potential to crack the top 20.

Parsons had a phenomenal day last Saturday as she finished 17th overall to earn All-American honors. The Edinboro women peaked at the right time and Parsons was the focal point of that postseason emergence. Despite facing somewhat limited competition prior to NCAA's, her conference and regional title now seem far more legitimate than we had originally thought. The same goes for her 6th place finish in the Brown race at Paul Short.

Christensen had a great day and finished 13th at NCAA's to act as Adams State #5 runner and final scorer. Her regular season was strong, but I'm not sure we would have thought that she was going to finish inside the top 15 last weekend (although her 7th place finish at the South Central Regional Championships suggested that she was peaking at the right time). Since transferring from the University of Northern Iowa, Christensen had been an integral part of a loaded Adams State roster.

Jeptoo placed 10th to end her season on a high note. She thrived with a hard, fast pace and proved that having a top low-stick like her can dramatically swing your team's chances of a favorable finish.

Groeber placed 14th to cap off a successful season and aid Grand Valley State in their runner-up team finish. Her end result in Sacramento was better than we expected, but for a consistent, veteran low-stick like Groeber, it wasn't necessarily surprising or unexpected either.

Hanle opted not to run at NCAA's, instead favoring the German U23 XC Trials.

The sophomore has been one of the more overlooked runners in the NCAA this year, but Burgos made sure that she'll be a top returner in 2020 after finish 11th overall at Nationals. She had an impressive season and a fantastic performance on the national stage. She is only a sophomore and it will be fun to see if she will improve upon her already tremendous success.

Chelimo has the highest jump up in our rankings after her 5th place finish at NCAA's last Saturday. She is a very talented runner, but her performances prior to Nationals were not at the level that led us to believe that she would be a top five finisher. She went out hard with Narbuvoll and the Adams State women and she was able to maintain the gap for long enough to finish where she did.

Bailey surprised us with her 9th place finish at NCAA's, although in retrospect, her finish should not have been something we didn't expect. Coming into NCAA's, she never finished worse than 4th in any race she toed the line for despite racing in some absolutely loaded meets (Lewis Crossover, GLVC Championships, Midwest Regional Championships). The Indianapolis junior has been exceptional in 2019 and proved that she was the real deal last Saturday.

Billie Hatch was 131st at Nationals last year, but moved all the way up to 8th this year. She finished her season with a fantastic performance after battling through the always challenging RMAC and South Central region. She only got better as the season went on, and when your "worst" finish is a 10th place result at the Capital Cross Challenge, you're having a pretty good season.

Chloe Cook finished 7th at NCAA's, leading her team to a 3rd place finish. In a year where Adams State dominated the RMAC and South Central, it was Colorado Mines who quietly held their own. Cook consistently produced, finishing 3rd (Capital Cross Challenge), 4th (RMAC's), and then 3rd (South Central region) before her race at NCAA's. She doesn't get enough credit for emerging as one of the elite runners in the NCAA this year.

Hunter-Galvan had a fantastic day and finished 6th overall.

Ludge placed 12th at NCAA's, but it seems fair to suggest that she had a bit of an off day. She was fully capable of being in the 5-6-7 range, but she struggled in a lead pack that put forth a very aggressive pace. Regardless, she finished her fantastic season with All-American honors. Her consistency this season and ability to win race after race was impressive and she will be one to watch in the spring.

Narbuvoll finished 4th at NCAA's after not only going undefeated all season long, but dominating her competition in the process. She took the race out hard, but the Adams State trio stayed surprisingly composed and eventually overtook her. Nonetheless, you have to give some credit to Narbuvoll for taking a chance and making the Adams State women work for their sweep.

The Flanagan sisters finished 2nd and 3rd last weekend, completing a 1-2-3 Adams State sweep. Roisin only raced twice this season, but she was a vital aspect of the Grizzlies' team. Both of her performances showed her talent and added to Adams State low scoring dominance. Eilish was able to beat her sister by a hair to cap off her phenomenal season. The only person to beat Eilish Flanagan all season ended up as the national champion.

Stephanie Cotter ended her short, but wildly successful sophomore season with a national title. Not only did she win, but she won by 24 seconds and broke the Division Two 6k record with a time of 19:15. She dominated the field and since she is only a sophomore, I have a feeling this might be a recurring pattern at the championship stage for years to come.

Klaudia O'Malley (Grand Valley State)

Morgan Molesworth (Colorado Mines)

Jennifer Comastri (Southern Indiana)

Hope Pietrocarlo (Edinboro)

Stefanie Parsons (Edinboro)

Nancy Jeptoo (Alaska Anchorage)

Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State)

Nicolette Schmidt (Augustana (S.D.))
 Kayla Ogle (U-Mary)
 Taryn Christy (Illinois-Springfield)
 Emily Byrd (Michigan Tech)

Chloe Flora (Lee (Tenn.))

Alexia Thiros (Western Colorado)

Nicole McMillen (Tusculum)

Emily Byrd (Michigan Tech)

Taryn Christy (Illinois Springfield)

Chloe Flora (Lee)

Kaylee Bogina (Adams State)

Piper Meuwissen (Adams State)

Nicole McMillen (Tusculum)

Ashley Corcoran (SNHU)

Hannah Thompson (Malone)

Zoe Jarvis (Tampa)

Hannah Wolkenhauer (Queens (N.C.))

Angelina Ronquillo (Cal St East Bay)

Kayla Ogle (U-Mary)

- At TSR, we aren't under the belief that one race at Nationals should dictate exactly where you rank in our final update. However, the top 25 finishes at this year's National Championships ultimately ended up equaling out to where these women finished the season in our rankings. This wasn't intentional, but when you look back and start comparing results, it's hard to argue that some of these women should be ranked significantly better or worse than where they are at now.