2021 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...

Was not ranked in our last update.
 

First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.

Xiomara Robinson has done nothing but win this indoor season and that's a bigger resume booster than some people realize. Robinson has competed in two meets so far this season on back-to-back weekends. At both meets, she doubled up on her racing duties.

In her opener, Robinson contested both the mile and 3k at the Myrle Hanson Open. She took home victories in both events, winning the 3k by a little over a minute and winning the mile by six seconds. The following weekend at the Dave Little Alumni Open, Robinson raced both the mile and 5k. She won the 5k by about 46 seconds and the mile by 15 seconds.

The Black Hill State junior secured provisional marks with these efforts, securing times of 4:53 (converted) and 17:24 (converted). Robinson is currently listed at NCAA #8 in the mile and NCAA #10 in the 5k.

Between numerous wins, fast times and the ability to double, she checked off enough boxes to earn a spot in our Top 25 rankings.

Mackenna Curtis-Collins found her groove at the end of this past cross country season and she seems to have sustained that momentum during this indoor season. Curtis-Collins has yet to lose a race this winter. She’s only competed twice this indoor season, but it’s worth taking a closer look at those races.

In her opener at the YSU Indoor College Invitational, Curtis-Collins ran a 4:52 in the mile, winning by six seconds. That’s a raw time too, no conversions to be made. The Malone runner followed up that performance this past weekend at the YSU Mid-Major Indoor Invitational, running 17:20 for 5000 meters (also a raw time).

That may not seem like such a crazy fast time at first, but when you consider that she won the race by 45 seconds, it becomes a bit more significant.

Both of those performances gave Curtis-Collins provisional marks in each respective event, and they place the junior amongst the top-10 on the national leaderboards. The Malone ace has clearly elevated her fitness since this past cross country season and she is translating her success from the grass to the track fairly well.

A senior from Lee (Tenn.), Toni Moore has made some big strides this year. She currently has provisional marks for both the 3k and the 5k, having run 9:55 (3k) and 17:11 (5k) this indoor season. In fact, her 5k mark sits her at NCAA #3 in D2 right now.

Moore's most recent 5k effort came at the Samford January Open where she won the event along with running a 4:59 (converted) mile. The senior is coming off of a cross country season in which she cracked the top-five at the GSC Championships, but seems to be not only sustaining her recent success from the grass, but building upon it as well.

One could argue that her best performance this year came as part of a double, so it’s likely she still has more in store this indoor season.

Maryssa Depies has had a breakthrough on the track this indoor season, running 9:46 for 3000 meters at GVSU’s Bill Clinger Classic this past weekend. Depies brought home a win in that race, as well as a provisional mark. The Hillsdale senior currently sits at NCAA #7 on the national leaderboard.

Depies placed 3rd at the GMAC Cross Country Championships this past fall and opened up this indoor season with a 4:59 (converted) mile and a 2:23 for 800 meters. The catch? That mile and 800 time came on the double.

With a bit over a month remaining before championship season begins, Depies has produced a resume which features range, fast times and the ability to effectively double.

GVSU freshman Taryn Chapko has raced only once so far this year, but that singular race produced a 2:13 performance over 800 meters at the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open. Although she narrowly missed the win in that race by a fraction of a second, the time is good enough to stand as a provisional mark. In fact, Chapko’s time currently places her NCAA #5 on the D2 national leaderboard. Not a bad start for the true freshman...

So far this season, no one has broken 2:10 for 800 meters yet, and Chapko’s true career best sits at 2:11. In other words, Chapko is currently in a great position to be a nationally competitive name, but she definitely has some better efforts in store for this season.

We believe that youth gives runners higher ceilings and we feel like that is exactly the case with this rookie.

Brian showed up on our "Just Missed" list last time around when she ran a quietly strong 9:48 for 3000 meters. That time still stands as the NCAA #9 mark in D2. We knew she was trending upwards, but seeing how Brian performed the following weekend left us with very few reasons to not give her a ranking.

Brian recently set another personal best, running 4:54 for a mile. That’s a 19-second improvement and it lists her at NCAA #10 at the time of publication.

The Grand Valley State junior is on a tear right now, just like the rest of her teammates. She's nationally competitive in both the mile and 3k. Admittedly, that is something that other top-ranked distance runners can also boast.

However, what we've noticed with the Lakers is that they are wildly consistent, super reliable and often fare well on championship stages. Historical success from GVSU has led us to believe that Brian will take full advantage of the fitness that she is currently in.

Andrus finds herself inside our Top 25 after an impressive two weekend stint at the Birmingham CrossPlex. During the first weekend, she ran 1:32 for 600 meters at the KMS Invitational which wasn't even a personal best. However, it showed us that her speed wasn't to be overlooked

The Alabama-Huntsville senior came back this past weekend at Magic City and ran an 800 where she finished 5th overall with a strong time of 2:12. That mark currently sits at NCAA #4 in D2.

Andrus peaked at the Gulf South Championships last indoor season and if she follows that same timeline of improvement and championship prowess, then she might end up bettering her current 800 PR of 2:11 a few weeks or one month from now.

After a strong cross country season, we weren't entirely sure just how good Uwajaneza was going to be on the track. After her first weekend, we truthfully weren’t all that impressed when she ran 10:11 (3k) and 5:03 (mile).

Of course, this past weekend was a different story as she shaved eight seconds off of her 3k personal best, running a huge time of 9:41.

It’s clear that the JUCO transfer has found her footing in Canyon, Texas. That time is currently ranked at NCAA #6 fastest on the national performance list and has a very strong shot at qualifying her for the NCAA meet in a month.

Expect Uwajaneza to run faster than her 5k mark of 17:00 in the coming weeks. We might have ourselves one of the best sleeper picks in the nation if she is able to emulate the success of her 3k time in other events and can continue to translate her success from the grass to the track.

O’Malley didn't have the flashiest start to her 2021 indoor track season, posting a respectable, but slightly modest, time of 5:00 in her season opener. However, she reversed course almost immediately as she followed up that run with a very strong performance in the 3k.

The GVSU sophomore recently ran 9:39 (3k) which is just a second off of her personal best, almost six weeks ahead schedule from last year.

O’Malley might have already had her breakout season last year, but that doesn't mean that she's not talented or that she still can't improve this season. The rising Laker distance talent ran 4:54 in the mile last season and her 9:39 suggests that she can probably run a similar time this season.

She has yet to run a 5k on the track, but if she decides to do so, she might find herself in the NCAA's top-12 in more than just the 3k at the end of the season.

Following a personal best of 17:04 for 5000 meters, Chloe Flora now owns the second-best 5k time and the fourth-best 3k time in D2. As the only person to beat teammate Celine Ritter so far this season, she has a very strong case to be considered as an All-American favorite.

Between, Toni Moore, Celine Ritter, Chloe Flora and a few others, the Lee coaching staff is proving that they can develop top-notch distance talents on the women's side who can consistently post nationally competitive times.

Yes, Erin Norton is undefeated so far this season, but has she really raced anyone? Truthfully, an eight second win over Western Colorado’s up-and-coming talent Katie Doucette isn’t going to blow anyone away (yet). However, she still holds the top 5k time in the country and is ranked at NCAA #10 in the 3000 meters. All things considered, we had to give her nod for the TSR #15 spot.

Norton has a vast amount of experience after competing for Iowa State, Western Colorado and now MSU-Denver throughout her collegiate career. However, this is easily the most consistent (and maybe the best) that she has ever looked. We think she would’ve done something special if there was a cross country national meet this past fall.

Parsons has not yet raced this season, and according to the Edinboro schedule, we might not see her until mid-February. Regardless, if she does come back in time to secure national qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships, then she will be one of the nation’s best.

Comastri’s mark in the mile from her opener at Samford is slightly ambiguous. On paper, it’s not a time that is instilling a lot of confidence as a title contender. However, her 4:56.62 is a new personal best for Comastri. Granted, It’s only two-tenths of a second better than her previous best time, but it’s a provisional mark and it throws her name into the hat of All-American candidates.

Her previous best happened around this time last year as well. It technically came a week earlier and is slightly more impressive given it was her first race of the season. Following that mile performance from last year, she she went on to run 9:34 in the 3000 meters.

Based on what we're seeing right now, she's on track to do the same thing this season.

Her fall is largely due to the fact that many others put up stronger times thus far. Comastri will likely hit the track for the second time this weekend and we could see her race in a similar fashion to last season. If she does, then she’ll move back up in the rankings rather quickly.

Almasri has made the big jump from being just inside of our rankings (TSR #25) to being ranked at TSR #12. That is largely due to her altitude-converted time of 9:40 which ranks her at NCAA #5 in the 3000 meters. That is a huge result for her as she continues to make a name for herself .

Yes, she would’ve run both the mile and DMR at the NCAA Championships last March, but at least for the mile, she wouldn’t have had a real chance of being an All American as she was the second-to-last person to qualify in 2020.

However, everything has changed this year for the veteran as she has a legit shot to claim her first top-eight finish and maybe mix it up with some of the best in D2.

The big discussion with Roeske, Baker and Almasri was what time did we value more: an unconverted time or converted time? We will always choose the unconverted time as there is no “what if” factor that needs to be considered. Yes, we know it’s unfair for the runners who compete at altitude, but that’s just how it goes.

Ok, after getting that straightened out, let’s talk about Baker’s first race since winning the RMAC XC Championships in October. A 4:50 converted mile is very solid as we have often considered Baker to be more of a 3k/5k runner.

Will she run the mile at NCAA’s? No, we don’t think so, but as crazy this year has been, anything is certainly possible. We're just happy to see her show off some range that we didn't know she had.

Roeske is new to D2. For all of you who are wondering where she came from, she was previously at Wheaton (Illinois), a D3 program. There, she was a seven-time All-American and despite racing at such a high championship level for such a long time, she still managed to snag a new mile PR this past weekend by two seconds (4:50.77).

The newest distance standout has fit in perfectively for what the Lakers are trying to accomplish. Similar to the men from the Colorado School of Mines, the GVSU women have arguably the same amount of depth when it comes to the distance events on their roster.

That depth has essentially allowed Roeske to go unnoticed despite her having the NCAA's fifth-fastest mile time in D2. That's just half of a second slower than teammate Allie Ludge.

We think she will continue to produce fast times as she gets more experience racing at the D2 level and in a GVSU singlet.

It’s the "same old, same old" for Yasmine Hernandez. She’s still a top-tier 800 specialist who can help her team by running in the 4x400 and DMR. The CSU-Pueblo veteran has run two 800s so far this winter and has won both of them. She’s also been part of two 4x400 teams which have secured wins each time they toed the line.

With a current seasonal best of 2:12 (converted), Hernandez slides right into the third slot nationally. We would expect the Thunderwolves to put together a DMR sometime soon in an attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

This duo from Lincoln University in Missouri had quite the weekend as they shook off the rust and ran the top two 800 times in the nation at the Pittsburg State track. May just barely took the win over Beckford, 2:10.93 to 2:11.24, in what turned out to be an excellent duel.

These two times are a huge contrast to what they had run the last time that we had put our updated rankings out. Still, based on their performances from last year, we knew what this group was capable of and it was nice to see that on full display this past weekend.

No races thus far for either Greyhound star, but when they do compete, they are two of the best runners in D2. We should see these two debut within the next two weeks, if not this weekend.

Burgos recently ran at the Washburn Open and although she didn’t set any personal bests, she did help the Bearcats' DMR earn a D2 national qualifying mark.

This has been a trend throughout Burgos' career as she has developed into a true team player, often running multiple events to score as many points as possible, or helping her relay teams qualify for the NCAA Championships.

This past fall, Southwest Baptist broke through in a big way as they won the GLVC cross country title and Burgos’ scoring was a big reason why.

Burgos is also undefeated on the season and we're not sure if that streak of wins will end anytime soon. She continues to be one of the dynamic and versatile distance talents in the country and that is why we continue to keep her at the TSR #4 spot.

Cotter has not raced yet this season, but it’s likely we see her open up this weekend at her home track when Adams State plays host.

Ritter's performances over the past two weekends has us wondering what coach Caleb Morgan is feeding his Lee athletes.

After Sunday night's 3k where she was able to win in a highly competitive race in a time just two seconds off her best, we have to wonder if Ritter is capable of posing as a serious threat to challenge Ludge in the 3000 meters come March. Before Sunday, we didn’t think she’d be able to close the gap on Ludge, but now, it could be anyone’s race.

Oh, and before we forget, Ritter ran the fastest mile time in Division 2 at the Samford Invite, taking the win in a mark of 4:44. So, in the big picture, Ritter is at sitting at NCAA #1 in the mile and NCAA #2 in the 3k (9:33).

Could we see the Lee star bring home an individual crown come March?

Ludge raced just once since we last updated our rankings, but her performance was a big one. A 9:28 (3k) mark and a win over D1 runner Ashley Tutt of Northern Illinois left us with no choice but to give Ludge our top spot. Her 3k time is also amongst the best in D2 right now and until someone runs faster, we think she’s still the favorite given that she ran 9:19 last season.

We're not 100% sure when she will race next, but the GVSU “Big Meet” is a meet that we at TSR have circled on the calendar as it often fields some of the best distance talents in D2 on an annual basis.

Look for Ludge to race in a (potentially) loaded field during the weekend of the 12th and 13th.

Chrissani May (Lincoln (Mo.))

Hannah Roeske (Grand Valley State)

Florence Uwajaneza (West Texas A&M)

Serenity Andrus (Alabama Huntsville)

Olivia Brian (Grand Valley State)

Taryn Chapko (Grand Valley State)

Maryssa Depies (Hillsdale)

Toni Moore (Lee (Tenn.))

Mackenna Curtis-Collins (Malone)

Xiomara Robinson (Black Hills State)

Nancy Jeptoo (Alaska Anchorage)

Taryn Christy (Illinois Springfield)

Katie Olding (American International)

Brianna Robles (Adams State)

Natalie Graber (Grand Valley State)

Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State)

Liza Kellerman (Lee (Tenn.)

Dania Holmberg (Seattle Pacific)

Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)

Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)

Claire McCune (Malone)

Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State)

Alexa Leppelmeier (Walsh)

Olivia McLain (Lee (Tenn.)

Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)

Taryn Christy (Illinois Springfield)

Brianna Robles (Adams State)

Natalie Graber (Grand Valley State)

Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State)

Liza Kellerman (Lee (Tenn.)

Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)

Shannon King (Colorado Christian)

Heather Keniry (Colorado Mines)

Kayce Rypma (Grand Valley State)

Justine Glass (Montevallo)

Jazmin Hernandez (Mississippi College)

Nancy Jeptoo (Alaska Anchorage)

Katie Olding (American International)

Dania Holmberg (Seattle Pacific)

Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)