TSR Collaboration
Feb 18, 202010 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin and Eric Baranoski
Want to know how we rank certain athletes? Click here to learn more.
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.
Szarzynska lowered her season best in the 800 meters by 0.22 of a second recording a time of 2:10.59. She completed that feat on the 300 meter flat-track in Gorilla Country. She finished as the top division two runner, just 0.57 seconds off from the winner from Missouri State. The Harding junior will look to capture the Great American title in the 800 meters and then set her focus on March to compete in an 800 meter field that is growing in depth, but is still relatively wide-open as far as All-American spots are concerned.
Holmberg has not raced since our last rankings update.
Gockley checks in at TSR #23 having only run the 3k at her home track this past weekend. A 9:49 effort is a little slower than expected, but now she can say that she is nationally ranked in the mile, 3000 meters, and 5000 meters. She’s ranked at NCAA #25 in the mile, NCAA #21 in the 3k, and NCAA #6 in the 5k. Regardless, none of this takes away from the fact that she has been a consistent veteran who will be a factor on the national stage in March like she seemingly always is
Welcome to the TSR rankings, Dawnel Collymore! Running at the South Carolina Invitational a few weeks ago, she was the first D2 athlete to cross the line in the 800 meter, running 2:10. This elevates her to the NCAA #8 spot. The senior from Benedict in Columbia, South Carolina is looking to get back to the NCAA Championship and earn All-American as she finished 13th last year. Another year of experience under her belt will certainly help with that endeavor.
The only PSAC competitor in our rankings, Parsons contributed three noteworthy efforts recently. Her first was at the Sykes and Sabock Challenge where she ran a quietly strong 4:53 mile. This ranks her at NCAA #15. The Fighting Scots’ next two races were last weekend’s mega meet held at Grand Valley State University. There, Parsons earned a new personal best in the 3000 meters, running 9:41 before toeing the line for a DMR that secured a preliminary bid to the NCAA Championships. Parsons' continual, seemingly non-stop progress has made her a very interesting name to watch as inch towards the postseason.
Streff makes her first appearance in our rankings at TSR #19. She had two huge weekends as of late, racking up PR's in the mile, 3000 meters and 800 meters, all while helping her team run a national qualifying time in the DMR.
In Albuquerque, Streff ran a converted 2:11 800 and a converted 9:53 3k PR in the same meet. This past weekend in Allendale, MI, she won the women’s mile in 4:52 over competitors such as Nancy Jeptoo from Alaska Anchorage and Lauren Bailey of Indianapolis. Alongside Yasmine Hernandez, the Thunderwolves turned in a 11:33 DMR performance which qualifies them automatically for NCAA's.
It's clear that Streff has dramatically improved her fitness. Her ability to double effectively in one weekend, take down big names and display better than normal range is more than enough to put her in our TSR Top 25.
Mejia recently ran a huge PR, taking nearly 50 seconds off of her 5k time that she ran back in December. Her new time of 16:52 which is good NCAA #12 in the TFRRS performance list. The “Big Meet” proved to be a “Big PR” for Mejia, but she wasn't done there. She helped Stanislaus State run 11:55 in the DMR, which is a provisional qualifier and an NCAA #14 time across D2.
Mejia has done an excellent job this season, showing tremendous progress and and consistency. However, the recent results of others, as well as a 3k performance from earlier in the year which suggested that she could a run 5k time like that, keeps Mejia put at TSR #19 for now.
McMillen only ran once since our last update, but she got a shiny new PR from Camel City. She shaved nearly 15 seconds off of her 5K time that she ran three weeks beforehand. A converted time of 16:46 is going to land the Tusculum senior at the NCAA #8 spot on the 5k national leaderboard. With the South Atlantic Conference Championships looming it will be interesting to see what events McMillen runs. Will she pursue the mile and 3000 meters like last year? Or something new entirely? Only time will tell...
Bogina headed to the Husky Invite looking for an improvement upon her 5000 meter qualifying time. She ran 16:55 and now sits at #14 on the NCAA performance list. However, it’s not quite near where she was a year ago when she ran 16:40 on the same weekend. Her #8 3k from earlier in the season keeps Bogina in our Top 20 for now (and rightfully so), but a stronger 5k performance was what we were looking for.
The Blue Tigers qualified for Nationals in the DMR at the GVSU “Big Meet” on Saturday and Beckford was a big reason why. Her anchor leg solidified a provisional qualifier which means we should see Lincoln (MO) in Birmingham come March as they now have the NCAA #9 fastest DMR in the country. Prior to that, Beckford posted a very respectable double of 2:16.99 (800) and 4:57 (mile) at the Bearcat Open. That's a nice double from a durability point of view, but it doesn't really add a whole lot to her overall resume.
Lehotay reenters our rankings for the first time this season after having two huge performances over the past two weekends. First, at the Akron Invitational, she ran a 4:49 mile to snag the NCAA #8 fastest time in D2 this season. Then, at the “Big Meet” hosted by GVSU, she ran 2:09 for 800 meters, finishing just behind D2 superstars Ludge, Hernandez and Cleyet-Merle. The Walsh senior has run her way back into the spotlight thanks to an incredible double that demands respect from both the media (us) and her competitors. It's one thing to run one race as fast as she did, but to run both races of her double as fast as she did is downright impressive.
Burgos dropped in our rankings due to her solid, but still somewhat average mile time of 4:55 from the Bearcat Open hosted by Northwest Missouri State. However, at the GVSU “Big Meet” she helped her DMR run an 11:40 to take over the top spot in the GLVC conference for the DMR as well as secure a D2 provisional qualifier in the process. Lookout for Burgos to stand atop the GLVC podium later this month.
The junior from CSU-Pueblo was just four tenths of a second off of her personal best when she ran at GVSU this past weekend. Her time of 2:09.09 was able to get her 2nd at the meet and it is now the #4 best time in Division Two. She also ran on the DMR that qualified for Nationals with a time of 11:33, which is the NCAA #2 time in the nation. Despite the great performances from Hernandez, the increasing top-heaviness of this year's 800 meter field, along with a handful of other great performances, forces us to push her back three spots in our rankings.
Hunter-Galvin makes a substantial jump up in our rankings this week after running two PR’s (one of them by virtue of a conversion) in consecutive weekends. She ran the 3000 meters at the New Mexico Collegiate Invitational and ran an altitude-converted 9:36 to win the race. Her time is currently the NCAA #6 time in Division Two and it will easily qualify her for the National Championships. This past weekend, Hunter-Galvan ran a PR in the 5k at the Husky Classic. Her time of 16:21 is the #3 time in Division Two.
These two performances show just how much of a legitimate national threat that Hunter-Galvan has turned into. The 3k/5k double at Nationals isn't easy, but Hunter-Galvin has shown consistency and strength throughout this past cross country season and this indoor season. She has gone from being a great supporting piece to a major focal point of a loaded roster.
Morales moves up five spots this week after running a 9:35 at the GVSU Big Meet to take runner-up honors. This performance moves her up to the NCAA #5 time in the 3k for Division Two. She also has the NCAA #7 time in the 5k which sets her up for a solid 3k/5k double at Nationals. Morales' early-season success was encouraging, but her continued progression shows us that she's the real deal as far as being a national contender is concerned.
Comastri jumps up five places to break into our top 10. Comastri set a new PR in the 3k this past weekend with a time of 9:34 at the GVSU Big Meet. It was a tight race between her and TSR #11 Clarissa Morales and TSR #8 Hanna Groeber, but Comastri was able to pull ahead and win the race. With this performance, she now has the NCAA #4 time in the 3k and NCAA #5 time in the 5k.
In addition to these results, she also owns a mile PR of 4:52, an aspect of her resume which highlights the dynamic talent of her recent breakout success. Comastri has seamlessly transitioned to the elite tier of D2 distance running and hasn't slipped up since.
The senior from Western Colorado moves up four places this week to rank at TSR #9 on our list. Sharon ran 56.63 in the 400 meters and was part of Western Colorado’s 4x400 meters relay that set a school record at the New Mexico Collegiate Invitational. This past weekend, she ran 2:08 at the Husky Classic to move up to the NCAA #3 time in Division Two. Sharon is an experienced middle distance runner who has earned All-American honors four times throughout her career. She’ll without a doubt be adding a fifth All-American performance to her name, but where she finishes is a question for a different day.
It's pretty incredible that someone can run 9:36 for the 3000 meters and still drop back in the rankings. Unfortunately, that's the case for Groeber this week thanks to performances from other women around the country. Regardless, she was also a member of Grand Valley State’s DMR team that ran an 11:44.
Like many of her teammates, Groeber is a consistent, versatile veteran who will produce on the national stage when called upon. A 9:36 easily sets her up to be in the All-American conversation.
Ritter moves up two spots this week after running a flat-track converted 4:46 in the mile at the Camel City Invitational. She is now ranked at NCAA #6 in the mile, NCAA #3 in the 3k, and NCAA #5 in the DMR. Could we see a triple for the Lee junior come Nationals? It would be difficult, but not many women have shown this kind of range at such a high level.
Bailey slips just one spot from her previous TSR #5 ranking despite running two PR’s in the past two weeks. She ran an impressive 9:28 in the 3000 meters at the Meyo Invitational to place 5th overall before running 4:55 in the mile at the GVSU Big Meet to place 7th. None of those are bad performances, and they still keep her in the title conversation as far as the 3000 meters are concerned, but we just had to make room for Narbuvoll who was exceptional in the mile.
Narbuvoll finally raced these the other weekend and she gave us a performance we’ve never seen before. She ran 4:48.34 at the Bison Classic and saw it convert to 4:45.52 after flat-track conversions. That’s the NCAA #5 time time in Division Two right now. Granted, she’s still five seconds back of the top four, but it was the first time that the senior has contested the event and what a debut it was. It’s clear she is still in shape from when she ran 14:14 for 5000 meters right before Christmas break. This additional display of speed is huge and it could come in handy if the race gets tactical at Nationals.
The Simon Fraser senior moves down two spots this week, but at no fault of her own. She set a new mile PR of 4:40 at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational, a performance that truly establishes herself as an NCAA D2 elite. This performance gives her the NCAA #3 time in Division Two this season to pair with her NCAA #2 ranking in the 800 meters and NCAA #3 ranking in the DMR. Only one athlete can claim better performances in the 800 and mile this year, but that doesn't make Townsend any less talented than she was this season.
Berenice Cleyet-Merle set two personal bests and recorded the top time in Division Two in the 800 meters by almost a full second. She ran an incredible time of 2:06 (NCAA All-Time #10) at the GVSU Big Meet to take home the win. The previous weekend, she ran a 4:40 mile to PR and move up to the NCAA #4 time in Division Two.
Cleyet-Merle is now challenging for the title of "Best Middle Distance Runner in D2" this season and there aren't many arguments against her. She's not only running absurdly fast, but she's taking home top finishes as well.
Allie Ludge moves up one place to take over our TSR #2 ranking. Her talent and versatility across multiple events earns her the spot. She ran a 4:39 mile at the Meyo Invitational for 3rd overall. The following week on her home track, she ran 2:09 in the 800 meter to finish 3rd and was a member of the winning DMR team. These eye-brow raising displays of middle speed paired with her 9:18 3k from earlier in the season made it VERY hard for us to not put her at our TSR #1 spot. In fact, it was so impressive that we have to second guess the idea of the 3000 meters being the obvious choice of what she runs at Nationals.
Cotter finally opened her season at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico this past weekend. Her converted 4:38 mile put her in the NCAA #1 spot in Division Two and secured her spot on the starting line at Nationals. We would imagine that she also runs the mile leg of the DMR for Adam’s State.
At this point, despite only being a sophomore, these performances are what we expect out of Cotter. Her previous dominance and numerous national titles make it hard to not put her at our TSR #1 spot, even if she hasn't displayed the same range that Lude, Cleyet-Merle and Townsend have.
Kayla Wooten (UCCS)
Natalie Graber (GVSU)
Emmanuelah Chelimo (Alaska Anchorage)
Chrissani May (Lincoln (Mo.)
Andra Lehotay (Walsh)
Dawnel Collymore (Benedict)
Stefanie Parsons (Edinboro)
Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)
Kayla Wooten (UCCS)
Natalie Graber (GVSU)
Emmanuelah Chelimo (Alaska Anchorage)
Katie Olding (American International)
Anna Roghan (Winona State)
Chloe Flora (Lee (Tenn.))
Brianna Robles (Adams State)
Piper Meuwissen (Adams State)
Mackenna Curtis-Collins (Malone)
Klaudia O’Malley (GVSU)
Haleigh Reindl (Minnesota-Duluth)