Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 5, 20218 min
Updated: Jan 10, 2021
Things have been quiet as of late when it comes to racing. However, as we slowly navigate our way through the early portions of January, it seems as though the NCAA is poised to have their most of their athletes toe the line for a 2021 indoor track season.
So with that, we're moving forward with our rankings for this season's Top 25 individuals, ranking the top talents in the 800 meters, Mile, 3000 meters and 5000 meters. However, before we unveil our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" names, I wanted to quickly address some QYMA's (Questions You May Ask)...
Unlike our preseason cross country rankings from the summer, there doesn't appear to be a plethora of conferences or teams who are pulling out from indoor track competition (at least not at this moment).
The Ivy League isn't expected to compete this winter and multiple conferences have already cancelled their respective indoor championship meets. Those championship cancellations, however, don't necessarily mean that those teams won't be competing this year.
Admittedly, things could rapidly change, even as soon as we publish these rankings.
That said, our rankings will consider any of the top distance athletes who still have indoor track eligibility remaining. These rankings will not consider any athlete in a conference that is not expected to compete this season OR any athlete who we know is simply not competing this winter.
We'll be updating these rankings as the season goes on. If it becomes apparent that one athlete is not running indoor track this year, or that a certain program is going all-in for the winter cross country season, then they'll eventually fall out of our rankings.
That could mean that only a few names will fall out of our rankings or everyone will fall out of our rankings. We have no idea what this season is going to look like, so just work with us here.
There may also be instances where an athlete runs only one or two indoor track races and then doesn't toe the line for an indoor track meet for the rest of the season. In that case, their limited number of races might play a role in terms of where that athlete is ranked, but they'll still be eligible for a Top 25 spot.
We look at a variety of different aspects when trying to rank a certain athlete. If you've read The Stride Report on a semi-regular basis, then you know that we look at more than just times. Range, consistency, experience and recent progression (or regression) play big roles in terms of how we craft these rankings.
Performances on the outdoor track and performances from the most recent cross country season will have some influence in terms of where a certain athlete is ranked. The more impressive those results are, the more influence that they will have on these indoor track rankings.
Still, the results from the past few indoor track seasons will act as the foundation for how we construct these rankings. Those results are obviously the most relevant to our Top 25.
One of the more pleasantly surprising results from last year's indoor track season came from Megan Hasz. The Minnesota runner secured a huge personal best of 15:39 (5k) at the Boston University Season Opener in December of 2019. It was a big result that reminded the rest of the NCAA just how talented Hasz was after she redshirted the 2019 cross country season.
However, that was the only result that Hasz recorded last winter as a rumored injury supposedly sidelined for the rest of the 2020 indoor track season.
Despite that great performance, Hasz's lack of racing over the past year and a half has made it difficult to get a gauge of her fitness and consistency. Availability, after all, is one of the greatest assets that any team can have.
If she can replicate last year's fitness, then we'll happily find a spot for her in our rankings.
It seems fair to say that 2020 was a tough year for most distance runners around the NCAA. However, Fegans was one of the few women who made the most out of a difficult 365 days.
The Georgia Tech runner had a very strong indoor track season where she ran personal bests of 2:54 (1k) and 4:41 (mile). However, seeing her run a national qualifying time of 9:06 (3k) en route to the ACC title validated a clear jump in fitness that she had teased throughout last winter.
Not only that, but Fegans carried that momentum into the 2020 cross country season where she became the top scoring option for Georgia Tech. She guided her team to some big-time performances and secured a handful of a great results individually.
Fegans may not be the same NCAA superstar that some of these other women are, but she is certainly trending in the right direction and it would come as no surprise if she landed in our Top 25 later this winter.
This was a painful name to leave out of our rankings. Logue has been a stud on the cross country course, just ran 32:19 for 10,000 meters in December and proved that she could be competitive on the indoor oval last winter.
Even so, the indoor track season has probably been the least friendly to Logue out of all three seasons of competition. She ran a strong 5k time of 15:50 last year, but when you factor in the return of other top distance talents, top middle distance runners and recent breakout stars, it was hard to find room for Logue in our Top 25.
Could this come back to haunt us? Absolutely, but someone has to make the tough decisions...
Clairmonte is another veteran runner who is looking for that final big breakthrough in her senior year. She has been a consistent presence on a strong NC State team, notching top 70 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2018 and 2019. With only one year left, Clairmonte has started a campaign to leave nothing up to chance.
With no Elly Henes in the lineup, Clairmonte took over as the veteran leader of a strong Wolfpack squad. After a runner-up finish at the Virginia Tech Invitational and a win at the Wolfpack Invitational, Clairmonte had one of her best collegiate races, taking the individual win at the ACC Cross Country Championships. And sure, this cross country season may have been a bit different, but that was a race that included the likes of Amanda Vestri, Hannah Steelman, Michaela Reinhart…in short, Clairmonte is the real deal.
After having a new level of success in cross country, will the NC State senior be able to transition it to the track? Her current personal bests of 4:38 for the mile and 9:19 for 3k are right on the border of reaching the “upper-echelon” tier for indoors. If she carries her fall momentum into 2021, Clairmonte could make her first NCAA track meet.
It's not that we think that Tuohy isn't worthy of a ranking (because she most certainly is). However, not seeing her race this past fall forced us to make the tough decision to keep her out of our rankings until we see her toe the line and record a few results.
With personal bests of 4:33 (mile), 9:01 (3k) and 15:37 (5k) from her time in high school, one could argue that Tuohy is among the NCAA's best of the best when it comes to the distance events on the track.
We just need to see her race first before we can actually give her a ranking.
It took some time for Herberg to get situated in Seattle, Washington after transferring from Oklahoma. However, she has since found her groove and has begun to post some eye-catching performances.
Between time trials and outdoor races, Herberg has slowly moved her 5k personal best down to 15:40 which came at the Sound Running Track Meet in December. She was also the winner of the MPSF Championships last winter in the 3000 meters (running a personal best of 9:19) and added a mile PR of 4:44 to her resume as well.
Between her major improvements and quietly great consistency, Herberg looks like a talented name who is on the rise in the NCAA ranks.
Despite having a relatively quiet cross country season this past fall, Skyring is still a top name to watch in the mile after running a personal best of 4:37 last year. Not only did she run fast and secure herself a spot at the NCAA Championships last winter, but Skyring was also wildly consistent.
The Florida State standout ran under 4:40 for the mile a total of three times (four if you count flat-track conversions). She began to have her best races towards the tail-end of last winter and barely lost the ACC mile title by 0.15 seconds.
There's a lot to like about Maudie Skyring. Don't be surprised if she takes another step up in fitness this year.
The New Mexico women are loaded with a plethora of strong and accomplished distance talents. With both Kelati and Kurgat no longer with the Lobos, it will be up to Cohen to lead this distance squad.
On paper, Cohen is someone deserving of a ranking. However, she struggled a bit last year and failed to match the exciting spark that we saw from her during the 2018 indoor track season. If she can replicate her performances from two years ago, then she certainly has an argument for a Top 25 ranking.
The Michigan State ace had to be one of the more underrated middle distance talents in the NCAA last year. Rudden is one of the top returners this winter in the women's 800 meters and has proven on multiple occasions that she knows how to race for wins.
Not only did the Michigan State veteran run personal bests of 2:04.89 (800) and 4:41 (mile) last winter, but she also won the Music City Challenge and finished 2nd to Penn State star Danae Rivers at the BIG 10 Championships by a slim margin.
Rudden had a huge breakout year during the 2020 indoor track season. Now that she knows how to race at this level, she could be even better in 2021 if she is able to build upon her success from last year.
All things considered, Chmiel had a very strong freshman year. The NC State sophomore came to Raleigh as arguably the top recruit in the country for 2019 and backed those expectations with strong results.
Chmiel was the second freshman at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing 22nd overall and earning All-American honors in her first attempt. She showed excellent consistency for a young runner throughout the fall, finishing in the top-25 in all but one race.
Her indoor season was much of the same, clocking 16:02 (5k) and 9:10 (3k). Both marks placed her at NCAA #19 on the national performance lists and would have sent her to the NCAA Championships after a handful of scratches had the meet not been cancelled.
The question with Chmiel is where her sophomore season is headed. She ran three cross country races during the abbreviated fall season, but her results were less than stellar compared to 2019. Of course, how much weight should be given to those results is up for debate as circumstances were obviously very different compared to previous years.
If Chmiel can bounce back and improve upon her 2020 track results, then she should be a name to watch this indoor season. Until she races this winter, the jury remains out on where her 2021 is headed.
With the Ivy League not expected to have officially competition this winter, we were forced to remove Goldenstein (4:35) and Juul (4:37) from consideration. They made tremendous progress throughout last winter and were on fire as they entered the postseason.
The Washington star broke her femur this past summer, meaning that she will be sidelined for competition for this winter and potentially into the spring. Had she been 100% healthy, Thomas would have been in consideration for the top spot in our rankings.
Fuller is a 4:35 miler and experienced veteran who, according to TFRRS, still has one season of indoor track eligibility remaining. Fuller would certainly be in consideration for a ranking, but she's not listed on Michigan State's 2021 roster. For that reason, we opted to leave her off.