Sam Ivanecky
Jan 20, 20207 min
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TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...
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.
Mejia earned her first appearance in the rankings after opening up her indoor season at the UW Preview where she ran 9:41 for 3000 meters. The Stanislaus State senior had not raced a 3k since 2017 when she ran her former previous best of 10:30. This weekend’s performance ranks #4 in the NCAA thus far and the major jump indicates that Mejia could prove to be a legitimate threat in the 3k and 5k on the national stage later this indoor season.
Mejia was not the only Stanislaus State runner to break into the rankings this week. Clarissa Morales finished just ahead of her teammate with a mark of 9:39 for 3000 meters, bettering her previous personal best by 27 seconds.
Seeing a breakout performance is one thing, but seeing two breakout performances from a pair of teammates leads us to think that this wasn't just luck. Whatever Stanislaus State is doing, it's clearly working.
Has yet to compete.
Has yet to compete.
Has yet to compete.
Has yet to compete.
Ritter opened up her season with a pair of races this past Sunday at the Emory Crossplex Showdown. The junior from Lee ran both the 800 meters and the mile at the meet, clocking respectable times of 2:15.9 for the 800 and 4:55 for the mile. Her mile mark is currently the #4 fastest mark in D2. Expect Ritter to run faster in the coming weeks when she faces stronger competition, but for now, this was a solid double which shows some underrated strength.
Comastri has set two personal bests in two races this indoor season. She took almost two full minutes off of her 5000 meter best when she opened her year with a 16:31 at the GVSU Holiday Open. The junior from Southern Indiana then started 2020 with a big personal best in the mile, running 5:03 at the UAB Vulcan Invitational. At this rate, her 3000 meter best of 10:13 appears to have an impending expiration date, with the potential for a sub-10 mark well within the cards.
Has yet to compete.
Has yet to compete.
Jeptoo ran her first race of the season at the UW Preview where she clocked 10:00 for 3000 meters. That time was less than a second off of her personal best, indicating that she could be in for some big improvements this indoor season as she aims to peak in the latter portion of the season. It would be surprising if Jeptoo does not race a 5k in the near future at UW given her background as a true distance runner and her recent success during cross country.
The middle distance runner from Western Colorado has yet to finish a race this season. She started the mile at the Western Colorado Open back on December 7th, but did not finish. She competed unattached, raising the question if she will redshirt this indoor season. Sharon has yet to redshirt an indoor season of competition, so it's not totally out of question.
Jessica Gockley opened her season at the GVSU Holiday Open with a personal best of 16:35 for 5000 meters. That time cut seven seconds off of her previous best and it's the fastest she has run for both indoors and outdoors.
Gockley’s time, while encouraging, isn't something we should read too heavily into. That performance was fresh off of country season and the race will likely play out differently on the national stage. Still, seeing her snag a personal best is a great indication that she still has room for growth in what has been a great career for her so far.
Hernandez is the only returning finalist from the 800 meters from the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The middle distance specialist has competed twice this season, running a 4:56 mile (flat-track and altitude converted) at the Mines Alumni Classic and then 2:09.95 for 800 meters (flat-track and altitude converted).
Her 800 meter mark is currently the fastest in D2, leaving no doubt that she belongs in the national title conversation for the half-mile battle in March.
Has yet to compete.
Parsons had a relatively disappointing season opener, running 17:30 for 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open. However, the Edinboro junior bounced back nicely this past weekend when she ran 2:13.69 for 800 meters at the YSU Invitational.
Parsons may have opened her year with a 5k in an attempt to capitalize on cross country fitness, but will likely focus on the 800 and mile as the year progresses. For that reason, we're not willing to penalize her too much in our rankings.
Burgos started her year with a big personal best in the mile, knocking three seconds off her former best when she ran 4:47 at the Crimson & Gold Invitational. That mark is currently the fastest in Division 2. The Southwest Baptist star looked set up for another big run over the weekend when she lined up against top Division 1 competition at the Arkansas Invitational but only managed a time of 5:04 for the mile.
The former Cal-Baptist runner had the biggest jump of any runner this week as she was unranked in the preseason rankings. The Indianapolis senior is currently the second name listed on the TFRRS leaderboard in both the 800 meters and the mile.
She has run 2:11.62 (flat-track converted) and 4:47.60 this season which is extremely impressive when you consider that she had never run an indoor mile before this season (at least not that we could find). Cleyet-Merle and teammate Lauren Bailey could become a dynamic duo to watch this indoor season, with Bailey coming in ranked a couple spots ahead this week.
The Walsh senior opened her year with a 10:13 for 3000 meters, her first time running the distance. Lehotay is primarily known as a middle distance runner and should rise in the rankings for future weeks when she starts racing the 800 and mile distances. If anything, this was a nice tune-up to begin her season.
Groeber came very close to running a personal best in the 5k at the GVSU Holiday Open when she clocked a time of 16:30. That run was only four seconds behind her all-conditions personal best. Groeber has potential in both the 3k and 5k - competing in both at the NCAA Indoor Championship last year. At the very least Groeber is an experienced veteran who can produce on the big stage. If anything, her near-PR tells us that she's in for yet another All-American performance (or two) in March.
As we just mentioned, Cleyet-Merle is not the only star Indianapolis has on their roster. Lauren Bailey has been on a hot streak over the past six months, finishing 9th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and then opening her indoor season with an all-conditions personal best of 16:17 for 5000 meters. Only a week later, Bailey ran another personal best of 9:38.79 for 3000 meters at the Hoosier Open. There may not be anyone with more momentum than Bailey right now and it's hard to argue otherwise.
Until this weekend, it had been almost a year since Addy Townsend had raced in the NCAA. The middle distance star returned to the track at the UW Preview where she ran 4:49.03 for the mile. That time is six seconds faster than she has ever opened an indoor season and it's one of the reasons why Townsend will be a favorite in the 800 and mile this indoor season.
It seems like almost every woman in our rankings ran a personal best for 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open. But the woman who beat them all in that race? Ida Narbuvoll. The U-Mary senior also set a personal best of 16:14 en route to running the fastest time at the Division 2 level. Her time is also faster than all, but one mark from 2019.
This race will be different on the national stage when/if it becomes tactical, but Narbuvoll has now shown that she can be a legitimate threat to anyone at 5000 meters. Is it fair to say that she's the favorite to win it all?
Can Allie Ludge take a swing at the Division Two record in the 3000 meters this season? The all-time best is 9:07 by Caroline Kurgat from 2019. Ludge opened the year back in December with a personal best of 9:18 for 3000 meters and won the race by four seconds. If she gets in a competitive field, dropping another 11 seconds should not be considered impossible.
Has yet to compete.
Cynthia Mejia (Stanislaus State)
Clarissa Morales (Stanislaus State)
Berenice Cleyet-Merle (Indianapolis)
Chloe Flora (Lee)
Bree Erickson (U-Mary)
Kara Burton (Colorado Mines)
Jessica Cusick (Western Colorado)
Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)
Kara Burton (Colorado Mines)
Chloe Flora (Lee)
Dania Holmberg (Seattle Pacific)
Hope Pietrocarlo (Edinboro)
Bree Erickson (U-Mary)
Anna Rogahn (Winona State)
Kathryn Etelamaki (Ferris State)
Madeline Geesen (Colorado Mines)
Morgan Molesworth (Colorado Mines)
Charlee Boxall (Lee)
Alden Gruidel (MSU Denver)