TSR Collaboration
Jan 20, 20217 min
TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...
The Malone veteran had an excellent 2020 cross country season, posting a handful of top finishes in competitive D2 fields and taking home the G-MAC title. Curtis-Collins has always been a strong distance talent and it looks like she is now realizing her true potential. She just ran 4:52 for the mile last weekend and is on track towards a Top 25 ranking in the very near future.
Speaking of women with a lot of momentum, how about Claire McCune? She didn't get enough recognition for her accomplishments this past fall, but that's what happens when you compete in the loaded GLVC. She posted a handful of consistent performances during the fall and recently posted a 4:54 mile (she was also doubling in the 800 meters). Don't sleep on McCune who has been a key name to watch over the past few seasons.
Gruidel is largely considered to be a long distance runner, but the MSU-Denver ace showed off quietly impressive mile prowess with a converted time of 4:56. That's a fairly strong mark for her and it forces us to wonder how that performance will translate to the 3k and 5k.
Grand Valley State is deep. Very deep. Of course, that's something that we already knew. Still, it feels a bit crazy that Olivia Brian could run 9:48 for 3000 meters and not even be the fourth-best distance runner on her roster (based on these rankings).
Given the success that the Lakers have had with developing younger runners over the years, we should be incredibly encouraged by Brian's recent performance. We suspect that she'll eventually crack the Top 25 of our rankings.
The Lee women have had a respectable distance group over the past few seasons, but we weren't necessarily expecting Toni Moore and Olivia McLain to run 9:54 and 9:57 for 3000 meters (respectively) this past weekend. When you factor in Chloe Flora and Celine Ritter, the Lee women now have four runners who have dipped under the 10 minutes for the 3k this season. Keep an eye on their depth moving forward, that was a great sign for the Flames.
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.
Almasri had quite the weekend back in December. In what was essentially a solo mile, Almasri clocked a mark of 5:02.97 while running in Colorado Springs. After an altitude conversion, her time was officially 4:50.55 which now sits at NCAA #2. Her previous personal best (before conversion) was 5:07, an improvement of almost five seconds.
Why was this race a particularly big deal? Well, the mark earns Almasri a provisional qualifying mark. In her three seasons prior, she has only made a national meet once and never as an individual. This race was a huge step for the UCCS senior and it points towards a big indoor season to come.
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O’Malley continues to look like a rising talent as she opened up her season with a 5:00 mile at the GVSU Bob Eubanks Open. Based on the results, it looks like this was largely a solo effort for O’Malley as the only woman who beat her, teammate Allie Ludge, was 10 seconds ahead. Her other teammate, Sydney Nesbitt, was 10 seconds behind.
Only a sophomore, O’Malley looks capable of doing a little bit of everything right now. She has shown flashes of speed in the 800 meters (she ran an open 400 this past weekend), but has also shown off her endurance with a 9:38 (3k) during the 2020 season. Her races over the next month should provide a better indication of which distance she might be headed for come March.
Did not compete.
In her first track race of 2021, Flora ran the nation's fastest mark for 3000 meters and lowered her personal best by six seconds in the event. The redshirt senior took the win in a time of 9:39, finishing six seconds ahead of her teammate Celine Ritter (TSR #7).
It remains to be seen which event best suits Flora. She has run 4:29 for 1500 meters, 16:49 for 5000 meters and now 9:39 for 3000 meters. She appears to be capable of qualifying for Nationals in a handful of events this indoor season and will be one to watch over the coming weeks.
Norton had a huge race back in December, putting down an early-season time in the 5000 meters. Coming off of a strong cross country season which saw the Metro State runner finish runner-up at the RMAC Championships, Norton quickly translated her success to the track.
Her mark of 17:32 was run in Denver, converting down to 16:43. That time would have been listed at NCAA #8 last winter. While it is only one race, if Norton continues to put down times like this, she will quickly rise in our rankings.
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Ann-Beckford opened up her season with a double at the MIAA Rust Buster where she competed in both the 800 meters and the mile. The Lincoln sophomore went two for two, winning the races in times of 2:21 and 5:09, respectively.
Both of those marks were substantially slower than her personal bests, but given the nature of early season competition, coming away with two victories is a strong start to her season. Expect Beckford to start throwing down faster times when the competition heats up in the coming weeks.
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We were a little surprised to see Ritter’s teammate, Chloe Flora, take the win in the 3000 meters on Saturday as Ritter is usually the one taking the head to head victory. Even so, that doesn't take away from the fact that this was Ritter's first race of her senior season and she still posted a strong time of 9:45. That's quite the opening time and it bodes well for races in the future as she has never started out with a time this quick.
The Flames senior will look to continue her momentum next weekend at the Birmingham CrossPlex when Samford plays host.
Did not compete.
We are all used to seeing Burgos running in multiple events over the course a single meet. However, this past weekend was not one of those instances as she went to Pittsburg, Kansas to exclusively run in the mile. With her focus on that one event, Burgos was able to take home the win and start her season off with a bang, earning a victory over Claire McCune (Drury) by two seconds, 4:52 to 4:54.
For reference, this is Burgos' second race of the indoor season as she soloed a 4:55 mile back in December. It looks like she is finding her groove and is prepared to race some of the nation's best during the first week of February at Grand Valley State.
With two meets between now and then, expect Burgos to run in a couple of relay events to get her Bearcat teammates to NCAA's.
Did not compete this past weekend.
*The Stride Report was under the impression that Bailey would finish her eligibility at Notre Dame. However, we have since been informed that Bailey will race for Indianapolis during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
So, here she is at TSR #3 in our rankings. Bailey excelled in the fall, winning every race she toed the line for. Last year, Bailey set personal bests in the mile (4:55), 3k (9:28) and the 5k (16:17). She cemented herself as one the nation’s best distance talents last year and furthered that sentiment during the fall.
There is no doubt that Bailey is among the D2 elites when it comes to the 2021 indoor track season.
Ludge came out swinging in her first race of her 2021 indoor season. Racing on her home track, she easily won the mile in a time of 4:50 to snag the top mile time in all of D2 after the first true week of competition. Like most of her teammates, she also dropped down in distance, running the 400 meters for some speed work.
After one week, Ludge is sitting atop the mile leaderboard which is not much different than last year. She will look to continue her success in the coming weeks, but if this was just a rust-buster, Ludge surely has some more firepower that she will showcase.
Did not compete.
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Lauren Bailey (Indianapolis)
Erin Norton (Metro State)
Layla Almasri (UCCS)
Taylor Hestekin (U-Mary)
Haleigh Reindl (Minnesota Duluth)
Chrisanni May (Lincoln (Mo.))
Mackenna Curtis-Collins (Malone)
Olivia Brian (Grand Valley State)
Taylor Hestekin (U-Mary)
Haleigh Reindl (Minnesota Duluth)
Chrisanni May (Lincoln (Mo.))
Taryn Ceglowski (Sioux Falls)
Carly Rahn (Augustana (S.D.))
Serenity Andrus (Alabama-Huntsville)
Kinga Szarzynska (Harding)
Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)
Alden Gruidel (Metro State)
Malea Teerman (Grand Valley State)
Ukeyvia Beckwith (Embry-Riddle)
Hannaha Ellis (UC-Colorado Springs)