TSR Collaboration
Dec 29, 202010 min
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Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted.
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Written by Garrett Zatlin
I'll admit, trying to find the right spot for this CBU recruiting class was a challenge.
A plethora of talented international athletes headlined their recruiting class when we initially started collecting data during the summer. We later found out that two of CBU's original commits weren't joining the team, but also realized that a couple of other athletes were joining the program at the start of this spring semester.
If that sounds confusing, that's because it is. Even so, this is an odd year and the weirdness of 2020 doesn't make these current freshmen any less talented or any less accomplished.
Let's start our analysis with Emilia Mikszuta, a distance ace from Poland.
On paper, Mikszuta is someone who can have an instant impact in the NCAA. She boasts a personal best of 9:51 for 3000 meters, but one could argue that her best event is actually the 3k steeplechase where she owns a PR of 10:38. That's a fairly competitive mark and if she is able to improve upon that time in the next year or two, then Mikszuta may be able to position herself for a national qualifying spot on the track.
Not only that, but the current Polish freshman has represented her country on multiple occasions at the U20 European Championships, both on the track and the grass. Although the Lancers aren't yet immediately eligible to compete at NCAA championship meets due to their recent move from D2 to D1, they have gone on to race against nationally-ranked teams during the cross country season. In theory, Mikszuta's experience and distance prowess on the track should translate to her being a key scorer for CBU in the near future.
Speaking of valuable experience, let's talk about Greta Karinauskaite. The distance runner from Lithuania is a talented athlete in her own right, boasting strong personal bests of 4:37 (1500) and 17:21 (5k) -- times that would typically put her among some of the better distance recruits in the United States.
However, Karinauskaite's experience in championship races is too extensive to ignore. She has represented Lithuania at the U20 European XC Championships not once, not twice, but three times, placing as high as 40th in 2019. She also competed at the U18 European Athletics Championship as well.
Karinauskaite has solid times, but her championship experience gives her an edge when she is compared to other American recruits of her caliber.
Our next international recruit is Helen Pacurariu-Nagy. Hailing from Romania, she also has experience competing in championship races, placing 44th at the 2019 European U20 XC Championships.
Although her new teammate Greta Karinauskaite did get the best of her by four spots in that same race, Pacurariu-Nagy has the edge on the track as she owns an eye-catching personal best of 9:54 for 3000 meters (she has also run 17:31 for 5000 meters).
Tired of hearing about the longer distances? Don't worry, California Baptist has some top-ranked middle distance runners joining their program as well.
Liudmila Rudzko is set to join the Lancers from Belarus. The accomplished middle distance ace has shown extremely impressive consistency when it comes to the 800 meters and has run a personal best of 2:08 in the event.
However, one could argue that Rudzko is just as good in the 1500 meters, owning a personal best of 4:29. If you tack on a very rough 19-second conversion, then her mile equivalent is around 4:48.
Having a sub-2:10 800 meter runner and a 4:29 1500 meter runner is a nice luxury to have...but having two women with those same credentials is even better.
Sure enough, that's the case for California Baptist as they will be adding South African standout Anneken Viljoen to their roster. The rookie middle distance runner boasts personal bests of 2:09 (800) and 4:29 (1500), acting almost like a carbon copy of Rudzko (on paper).
With both Rudzko and Viljoen, CBU is gaining extremely valuable scoring diversity for a few shorter races on the track. That's a promising development for a program that is a bit long-distance heavy in terms of their personnel.
And no, we're not done yet.
One final name who we need to mention is Karen Gosek from Slovenia. Arguably the most well-rounded distance recruit of this entire CBU class, Gosek could end up being the best three-season threat out of any of these freshmen.
The Slovenian ace has run personal bests of 2:12 (800), 2:51 (1k), 4:27 (1500), 9:51 (3k), 10:33 (3k steeplechase) and 17:43 (5k). She can replicate the middle distance success of Rudzko and Viljoen while also being just as effective as Emilia Mikszuta in both the 3k and the steeplechase.
When we finalized these recruit rankings, we were expecting to also talk about Beatriz Rios (9:48 3k) and Klaara Leponiemi (17:04 5k). Those women are no longer joining the Lancers and, admittedly, those absences would have made these rankings a bit lop-sided. However, when we factor in the spring semester enrollees (and we didn't necessarily make a self-imposed rule barring those athletes from consideration) it seems fair to say that the Lancers have once again landed an elite-level recruiting class.
Written by Sam Ivanecky
Stanford is another team that appears to have gone for the “quality over quantity” route, bringing in only four new women to their roster in 2020. However, those four recruits, Tori Starcher, Zofia Dudek, Lucy Jenks and Ellie Deligianni, are some of the absolute best from the Class of 2020.
This group is composed of both middle distance and long distance talents and should provide an immediate boost to a Stanford team that could soon lose numerous top veterans depending on what they choose to do with their additional eligibility.
Zofia Dudek was an absolute star in high school. She first broke onto the national scene when she claimed a victory in the Brooks PR Invitational mile, running an incredible time of 4:41. That big moment would set off a chain of performances elevating Dudek to the elite status amongst prep stars.
Dudek claimed the Michigan state cross country title and came back a few weeks later to finish runner-up at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships. Despite already having a phenomenal season, Dudek had a huge race at the Foot Locker National Championships where she won the title. She would go on to also win the 3000 meter title at the European U20 Championships and finish 5th in the European U20 XC Championships.
On paper, Dudek is a stud. Her personal bests of 4:24 (1500), 9:29 (3k) and 16:45 (5k) are already bordering on her becoming a varsity scorer for this Stanford squad. On top of that, her experience in national meets likely gives her enough of an edge to remain competitive at the collegiate level.
In short, the Michigan native looks like one of the next great NCAA stars. Stanford doesn’t necessarily need Dudek to be a superstar on day one, but she could still certainly have an impact name whenever she next toes the line.
Similar to Dudek, Tori Starcher is another name who comes into the NCAA with elite-tier personal bests. Starcher was the fastest high school miler in 2019, running 4:38 for the distance. She has also run 4:20 for 1500 meters and 2:07 for 800 meters. On paper, Starcher reminds us of Stanford standouts Christina Aragon and Ella Donaghu when they first came to Palo Alto.
Like Dudek, Starcher should not have any immediate pressure placed on her shoulders. Stanford still has a group of veteran studs and are already one of the favorites to win the NCAA Championships in cross country should a national meet happen in March.
Looking at the bigger picture, Starcher is a runner who could easily become a top NCAA star in time. It is hard to say whether Stanford will look to force that sooner rather than later, but intuition says she will have some leeway here in terms of development. This roster is already stacked.
As we move on, it might not be a stretch to say that Lucy Jenks has the most natural talent of any recruit in this group. The Massachusetts native won the Massachusetts state cross country title in only her third cross country race ever.
Yes, ever.
Jenks comes to campus having run 4:45 for the mile and 10:17 for the two mile. She also won the mile state title in her only track season. A former soccer player turned runner, Jenks likely has a massive pool of untapped talent and could quickly develop into a star if she is able to carry even a little bit of her momentum into the NCAA.
Now, admittedly, the biggest concern with Jenks is how she may handle the training load in college. In her only cross country season, she won a state title, but also spent five weeks sidelined with an injury. Her lack of experience means that she likely has a much higher ceiling, but the learning curve could also prove to be a challenge.
Finally, we have Ellie Deligianni. The runner from Greece was predominantly focused on the 400 and 800 meters prior to Stanford and comes in with a personal best of 2:05 for the half-mile distance.
While Deligianni may not have the same range of her other recruits, she might have a chance to make a more immediate impact. On paper, her 800 meter time is good enough to fit somewhere in the Stanford DMR on the indoor oval.
As a whole, Stanford brings in a stellar recruiting class. Dudek and Starcher were two of the best runners in the country last year and could immediately contend for a roster spot in cross country. Jenks is a bit of an unknown, but her ceiling appears to be well beyond “state champion”. Deligianni is a name who will likely show up in a big way when the indoor season rolls around.
This group is poised for both immediate and long-term success at Stanford and could be looking to follow in the footsteps of runners like Fiona O’Keeffe and Ella Donaghu.
Written by Eric Baranoski
In just his second year at Chapel Hill, Coach Miltenberg has built and developed a roster that is filled with top distance talents who have begun to mold the team into his vision. This is precisely why we ranked the Tar Heels at TSR #2.
With five women who have achieved great heights at the high school level, these UNC rookies are primed to do big things for this program in the future. In fact, they already got a jump start this past fall.
Let's start our conversation with Ava Dobson, a South Carolina native. A 2019 Foot Locker national qualifier, a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year and a multi-time South Carolina state champion are just a few accolades that this distance ace brings to the table.
Dobson has proven that she can run with the very best of them as shown by her 23rd place finish at the Foot Locker National Championships. Her development is also plenty evident, especially at the state cross country championships where she blew her competition out of the water, wining by a larger margin in each successive state title.
With personal bests of 4:58 (mile), 10:33 (3200) and 16:55 (5k), it's scary to think that Dobson may not even be a top-three distance recruit in this class.
As we move further down this list, we find Kelsey Harrington, hailing from the Old Dominion state (Virginia). A relatively late bloomer, Harrington didn't truly start to throw down fast times until her junior season in outdoor track. Since then, she has burst onto the running scene.
2019 was a huge year for the Virginia native as she ran personal bests in both the 1600 (4:57) and 3200 (10:37) and later went on to win her first cross country state title while also earning bids for both Foot Locker and NXN. At those national meets, Harrington finished 20th at NXN and 21st at Foot Locker. Not bad for her first appearances at any national meet...
Harrington went from a relative unknown to a top national-caliber runner over the course of just 12 short months. With a 5k personal best of 16:55, Harrington is someone who seems to have a ton of room to grow. If she can carry her momentum with her to the collegiate stage, she'll be a problem for her ACC competitors.
And after seeing her place 19th at the ACC Championships this past fall, that initial suspicion seems to be plenty valid.
We now come to Taryn Parks who has entered Chapel Hill with quite the resume.
A four-time Foot Locker national qualifier and a six-time PIAA state champion, Parks will surely go down as one of the best distance talents to ever come out of the state of Pennsylvania. However, by far her most memorable race will be the 2019 PIAA 1600 where she ran 4:37 and beat out NC State signee Marlee Starliper at the line.
Parks can do it all, both on the grass and the track. The ACC is plenty deep when it comes to the middle distances, so while Parks will surely be a valuable piece during cross country, it's her mile prowess that makes her the best recruit of this class when it looking at value for the indoor track and outdoor track seasons.
Speaking of accomplished track runners, it's not too often that you see someone with a personal best of 2:08 in the 800 and a personal best of 6:31 in the 2k steeplechase.
Well, that’s exactly the case for New York native Sarah Trainor who has a tremendous amount of strength and may just need another year or two to get accustomed to college training. She had a couple of decent performances this past fall, but much like Parks, Trainor seems poised to be a more effective weapon on the track, especially with her underrated middle distance prowess and her very rare steeplechase experience.
Last but certainly not least is Sasha Neglia, the freshman superstar from this past fall.
Neglia was a two-time NXN qualifier who finished 15th and 24th in her two appearances at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. With three cross country state titles, as well as a state title in the 3200 meters, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to see her running so well at the collegiate level this past fall.
Of course, I don't think anyone could have predicted that Neglia would be the most dominant freshman in the NCAA during the altered and limited cross country season. She took home multiple wins, battled with some of the top talents in the ACC and secured a huge 6th place finish at the ACC Championships. Just seeing the success that she had this past fall instantly gave this Tar Heels recruiting class an edge in our rankings.
North Carolina is on the come-up and this past fall was evidence of that after the women finished 5th overall at the ACC Championships with a plethora of freshmen scorers.
Watch out, Chapel Hill may soon be another distance running hub in the United States.