TSR Collaboration
Dec 28, 20208 min
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Written by Maura Beattie
Similar to their men’s program, the women of NAU are beginning to sign stellar recruits who are highly accomplished at the national level. High schoolers are wanting to travel to Flagstaff, Arizona not only for the altitude, but for the newfound success of the Lady Lumberjacks.
The 2020 distance recruiting class for Northern Arizona brings in versatility and national championship experience. Each of these four freshmen joining this roster boast personal bests which suggests that NAU's presence as a top-ranked team in the NCAA won't be fading any time soon.
Tori Gaitan of Great Oak High School in California is the top new freshman on the roster for the Lumberjacks. Gaitan boasts personal bests of 4:39 (1500), 4:47 (1600) and 10:17 (3200). She has also run 17:09 for 5000 meters in cross country. Gaitan was a California cross country state champion (2018) and was a two-time NXN qualifier where she placed 27th (2017) and 17th (2018).
Although she was hampered by injury during her senior year, Gaitan is still a wildly consistent runner when healthy and will add depth to the NAU women’s roster in the longer distance events. She is exactly what the Lumberjacks need as they attempt to replace the scoring value of a few now-graduated veterans.
Joining Gaitan from California is Skyler Wallace of Sage Creek High School. Wallace is a solid athlete in her own right and she has shown some exciting potential on the big stage as evidenced by her 26th place finish at the 2019 Foot Locker Championships. More of a true long-distance ace, Wallace has secured a personal best of 10:33 (3200) as well as a 5k personal best of 17:06 on the cross country course.
Alexis Kebbe of Jesuit High School in Oregon will add even more depth to the long distance side of things as she has run 4:42 (1500), 9:55 (3k) and 17:40 (5k XC). Not only is her resume filled with fast times, but Kebbe is easily one of the more experienced distance runners coming out of the Class of 2020. She has, after all, competed in three NXN Championships during her high school career.
That trio of distance runners are all exceptionally talented and they fit the mold of Northern Arizona's long-distance focus. Their times are just as fast as some of the top recruits that we have mentioned from other recruiting classes, but their championship experience is huge. The NAU women needed depth, and that is exactly what they are getting with these three rookies.
We do, however, have one more recruit that we need to mention.
Coming to Flagstaff from Steamboat Springs High School in Colorado is Maggi Congdon who will be an excellent addition to NAU’s roster when it comes to the middle distances. She has run 2:13 (800) and 4:59 (1600).
The Lumberjacks are slowly putting together a respective middle distance crew where women are running right around 2:09 in the 800 meters and 4:45 in the mile. Congdon should find solid training partners in Melanie Loft and Bryn Morley and could extend the Lumberjacks' reach into the middle distance events.
The men from Northern Arizona have understandably stolen many of the headlines and attention from distance running fans around the NCAA. However, this women's team is beginning to make exciting improvements of their own.
Don't be surprised if the women from Flagstaff continue to secure more big-time distance recruiting classes in the future.
Written by Maura Beattie
After losing a handful of top-tier cross country scorers to expired eligibility, one could argue that the BYU women are rebuilding after their 2nd place finish at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships. However, with the recruits that coach Diljeet Taylor has since added, it would be more accurate to say that BYU is actually reloading.
The abbreviated 2020 cross country season already saw some of these women toe the line, but with indoor track and a winter cross country season coming soon, these stellar freshmen will likely get a chance to prove why they are some of the most valuable young talents in the NCAA.
Let's start by focusing on three women who will add great depth to the longer distance side of this roster: Lexy Halladay, Jenna Fitzsimmons and Anna Martin.
Halladay, coming from Idaho, has shown off her range from the 800 meters to the 5k. Her 4:41 mile PR is the main highlight of her resume, although personal bests of 10:30 (3200) and 17:08 (5k XC) are also hard to ignore. During cross country, Halladay was a two-time NXN qualifier, finishing as high as 16th in 2016. She also competed at the 2018 Foot Locker Championships.
The Idaho native boasts an elite mile PR, has extensive experience racing in cross country championships and has also proven to be a valuable scorer after placing 6th at the Oklahoma State Invitational this past fall. On paper, she is one of the more valuable freshman talents in the NCAA this year.
We then move to Jenna Fitzsimmons who has personal bests similar to Halladay (with the exception of the mile). With times of 4:54 (1600) and 10:35 (3200), the Colorado native will be a great asset to the BYU women in events like the 3000 meters and 5000 meters. She has also run 17:20 for 5000 meters on the grass and was a three-time NXN qualifier, finishing as high as 30th.
And how about Anna Martin? In Utah, she was a state champion who still holds the UHSAA State XC course record. She was also a two-time Foot Locker national qualifier, finishing as high as 25th. During her prep days in Utah, Martin set strong personal bests of 10:42 (3200) and 17:06 (5k XC). In fact, she owns the fastest 5k personal best out of any of these BYU recruits.
With Martin running alongside Halladay and Fitzsimmons, the Cougars have a formidable trio of freshmen who are arguably just as good as the long distance trio of Gaitan, Wallace and Kebbe from Northern Arizona.
However, there is an additional recruit who may actually be the biggest star of this BYU recruiting class.
Simone Plourde is a current freshman out of Ontario, Canada who has impressive range, owning personal bests of 4:23 (1500), 4:42 (mile) and 9:38 (3k). Whether it be cross country, relays or individual races on the track, Plourde looks like someone who could eventually develop into the same kind of three-season threat that Whittni Orton has been for the Cougars over the past few years (although whether she runs as fast is a different question).
On paper, that is a scary-good group of young distance runners, each strong enough to potentially have some kind of impact on this team in the somewhat near future.
As we move into the middle distances, there are three more freshmen who will likely find their fit with the 800/mile crew of this roster.
Caroline McLeskey, Meri Dunford and Rachel Fitt are three additional talents who have 1600 meter PRs of 4:53, 4:54 and 4:55, respectively. It may take some time for them to develop, but those are strong personal bests. That trio adds depth to an already deep roster and gives Coach Taylor the luxury of having additional relay pieces that she could utilize in the future.
The recruits who have joined this BYU roster have shown off their experience on the prep stage and have joined a storied program that continues to rise up the NCAA ranks ever since Coach Taylor took over. Each freshman brings something different to this team, but they all have the potential to fill important scoring spots left behind by stellar alumni or teammates who are out of eligibility.
This past fall, we saw three of those BYU rookies finish in the top-eight of the Cougars' lineup. That was just a glimpse of the exciting potential that some of these young ladies have.
Written by Maura Beattie
After four of their top five women ran out of cross country eligibility following their 2019 NCAA XC team title, the Arkansas Razorbacks were going to be looking for their stellar freshman class to fill in the missing gaps. Now, upon reflection of the abbreviated 2020 cross country season, the freshmen who competed did just that.
Taylor Ewert, who ventured from Ohio to Arkansas, is the clear star of this Razorback recruiting class. Ewert was an extremely consistent runner during her junior and senior seasons in high school, continuously improving and posting top finishes at national meets.
At the Ohio state meet in cross country, Ewert placed 3rd in 2017 and then followed that up with two victories in 2018 and 2019. At the Foot Locker National Championships, she posted a 4th place finish in 2018 and a 6th place finish in 2019. At NXN, she was 3rd in 2018 and nearly got the comeback win in 2019 when she finished 2nd, losing only to Katelyn Tuohy.
Of course, Ewert is more than just a beast on the grass. She owns personal bests of 9:40 (3k), and 10:18 (two mile) on the track. Ewert has also shown success in the 2k steeplechase with a 6:33. On the cross country course, Ewert has raced to a personal best time of 16:57 (5k).
With times like these and championship experience that becomes exhausting to list off, Ewert has the potential to develop into a true star in the NCAA. Coach Lance Harter is a successful coach and has shown time and time again that he can develop top-tier talents. In theory, he can do the same with Ewert.
London Culbreath from Texas could be a strong middle distance competitor for the Razorbacks, eventually filling roster spots left open by past graduates. However, don't confuse Culbreath's middle distance prowess as her being one-dimensional. If anything, she may have the best range out of anyone in this recruiting class.
The Texas native owns personal bests of 2:12 (800), 4:43 (mile), 9:36 (3k) and 16:44 (5k track). She has incredible range between the track and the grass as she has also run 16:36 for 5k on the grass. Her times are actually better than what we have seen out of Ewert.
Culbreath is a solid athlete who could do well training alongside top-ranked women like Lauren Gregory, Krissy Gear and Kennedy Thomson. These three veteran talents could be good mentors for Culbreath when they take to the track.
Claire Openshaw and Corie Smith are two more women who could make some noise for the Razorbacks, both on the cross country course and on the track.
Openshaw has recorded personal bests of 4:52 (1600) and 10:36 (3200) during her time in high school. Those times may not be quite as fast as what we have seen from Culbreath or Ewert, but that doesn't make her any less talented or less valuable.
This Arkansas roster will soon be losing many veteran talents depending on what they choose to do with their additional eligibility, so Openshaw's development will be crucial for the purposes of Arkansas having future depth.
As for Corie Smith, she is a versatile runner with personal bests of 4:56 (1600), 10:17 (3200) and 16:53 (5k XC). In 2019, Smith placed 2nd at the CIF XC Championships and then went on to secure an underappreciated 12th place finish at the NXN Championships. She already had an incredibly promising cross country season this past fall (finishing 16th at the SEC Championships) and looked like one of the better freshman in the nation.
Coming into this year, Arkansas needed additional depth for their current cross country lineup and new developmental pieces for the future. Both of those needs were addressed with this recruiting class.
With the way these freshmen raced during their prep careers, you should expect to see them competing for top spots on this roster both on the cross country course as well as on the track. Much like the BYU women, this past fall already gave us a glimpse at just how valuable they will be in the long term.