TSR Collaboration
Apr 8, 202112 min
These rankings do take some indoor track performances from this past winter into account. However, the introduction of events like the 10k and the steeplechase, as well as the return of certain seniors who have not raced in over a year, has forced us to reshuffle our rankings and leave out some highly accomplished distance talents.
In her recent return to competition, Stefanie Parsons defended her PSAC cross country title, then quickly executed one of the best transitions to the track tat anyone could ask for this year.
Parsons already finds herself continuing her winning ways and is not far off from an auto-bid mark with only one outdoor meet under her belt this year. The household name from Edinboro took home a victory in the 1500 meters at the Dave Labor Invite, clocking 4:26 across the line.
The veteran is just getting started and should have a lot in store for everyone after not racing for almost a full calendar year. If this is how she is going to shake off the rust, then we think she'll be able to peak later this spring. Not only that, but if she's also coming off of cross country fitness, then it may be best to use that upped stamina to pursue a fast 5k.
Toni Moore made huge strides forward this indoor season and brought it all with her to the outdoor oval. The Lee veteran is one of only two steeplechasers to secure a provisional mark so far this season...and she’s not number two.
Moore suited up at the Raleigh Relays, running 10:36 to finish 3rd in her section, placing ahead of a slew of D1 runners. If Moore continues her trend of progression that she’s established this calendar year, she will be dangerous come the end of this spring. Few women at the D2 level have been able to gather the momentum that she has over the last few months.
Roeske has yet not raced this outdoor season.
After a year-long hiatus, Jessica Cusick has made her competitive return this outdoor season. The reliable middle distance runner for Western Colorado has already suited up on three occasions for the Mountaineers this calendar year.
Cusick kicked things off at the CSU-Pueblo Early Bird Meet, securing a win and a provisional mark with a converted 4:26 for 1500 meters. That was just her first time out. Since then, Cusick has added a solid 800 meter mark to her seasonal resume, running 2:13 which puts her within striking distance of the provisional mark for that event. She then toed the line for yet another 1500 meter effort at the GCU Antelope Invite, going head-to-head with a field of Division 1 runners and came out in the upper-tier.
Cusick has already set herself up for a great outdoors with marks early on, but she also has a ton of experience and that’s sure to help her make big things happen as the season runs its course.
Baker has not yet raced this outdoor season.
Most of the readers will expect to see Mackenna Curtis-Collins name here since we're talking about Malone. But no, the Patriots do in fact have another very capable runner and her name is Hannah Thompson. The only reason people don't know her name is because she has taken a bit of a gap in racing as she hasn't competed since the 2019 NCAA XC Championships, a race in which she finished as an All-American.
With that being said, her lack of racing didn’t seem to be a factor in her performance as she ran to a blazing fast time of 34:36 (10k) at the Texas Relays, which was only nine seconds off of the D2 auto mark. With her first race under her belt, in a time way faster than she's ever run, the Malone graduate student looks like she's well on her way to throwing down more fast times in the future. Her experience should also come in handy later this season.
Hailey Streff is a prime example of how to keep a good thing going. Her indoor performances this year have transitioned extremely well to the outdoor arena early on.
Streff has toed the line on the outdoor oval three times for the Thunderwolves, contesting three different open events. The CSU-Pueblo senior started with the 400 meters at the Pueblo Early Bird Open, taking a runner-up finish to teammate Yasmine Hernandez with a mark of 56 seconds, displaying some great leg-speed and turnover.
Streff followed that up by earning a provisional mark in the 1500 meters with her converted 4:25 at the Spank Blasing Open. And if that wasn’t enough, Streff managed to top that performance by finally cracking the 2:10 barrier in the 800 meters the next week, going 1-2 with Hernandez at the Joe Meaker Classic.
Streff forms one of the most lethal 1-2 punches in the NCAA with Hernandez, but make no mistake, the senior is a force on her own. She is quietly one of the best middle distance runners in the country between the 800 and 1500, consistently posting top times and rarely ever faltering.
Ludge has not yet raced this outdoor season.
Ever since she missed the 800 meter final at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Serenity Andrus has been on a mission. In the month following the indoor national meet, she has run personal bests in the 200, 400 and 800.
How fast you ask? Well, her 800 time has dropped four seconds from indoors (en route to a time of 2:08), and a second has come off of both her 200 and 400 times. Two-thirds of the meets she has competed in have been against D1 competition and she has really risen to the occasion.
The women's 800 is still very top-heavy, but it's amazing what a seasonal change can do for some athletes.
The Grand Valley State frosh has proven to be a force this past winter and has only continued to validate that early this outdoor season.
Chapko has toed the line at the Raleigh Relays and put together an excellent weekend double in the 1500 and 800. She raced the 1500m on day two of the meet, running a 4:26 en route to finishing in the top-quarter of a very competitive field filled with high-level D1 names. Then, Chapko came back the very next day and clocked a 2:10 in the 800 meters.
Chapko took home two provisional marks when all was said and done. Based on what she’s shown us this past indoor season, she’s capable of a lot more, although her strength in the 1500 meters was promising and her ability to effectively pull off a respectable weekend double was also encouraging.
O’Malley resumed competition relatively quickly after the indoor national meet, racing in North Carolina at the Raleigh Relays. She had two national qualifying times in mind, but only came back to Allendale with one due to a DNF in the 5k. However, she did hold her own in the 1500 meters, running a 4:24 which roughly converts to a 4:46 mile and a three-second personal best.
The Laker ace has picked off right where she left off in indoor season. With a plethora of meets on the docket, it will be interesting to see what she can accomplish in her first-ever collegiate outdoor season. If her indoor season is any indicator, then the sky’s the limit for this in-state talent.
Formerly of San Jose State, Sandoval took advantage of her unused eligibility by enrolling at Azusa Pacific. In her short time there, she has already made an impact on the program by dropping a new school record and running an automatic qualifying time of 16:01 (5k). Talk about making your mark!
We would expect more fast times from Sandoval and other schools in California as they have been waiting for quite some time for their shot at competing. Sandoval should likely find major success this spring as she has extensive experience (and success) competing in the often top-heavy Mountain West Conference (D1).
Florence Uwajaneza has gotten off to a strong start this outdoor season. She already had a lot of momentum from indoors, but she somehow managed to pile it on early this spring. The West Texas A&M star most recently secured a provisional mark in the 1500 meters, running a converted 4:32. That's a fine mark, but her season debut was far more eye-catching.
Uwajaneza started her outdoor season with a win at the Texas Relays in the 5k. She conquered a field which featured familiar D2 names like Mackenna Curtis-Collins and Madison Brown, as well as a bunch of D1 runners. Her mark of 16:29 gave her a provisional mark right out the gates, but given her performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Uwajaneza can very likely attain the auto-qualifier mark later this season.
At the very least, she definitely still has a lot more in store for this outdoor season. She's an aggressive front-runner who has the rare raw fitness to keep up with the overwhelmingly elite level of talent that we will surely see from Lauren Bailey, Ida Narbuvoll and the Flanagan twins. We also can't help but think that the 10k may be Uwajaneza's best event.
The U-Mary veteran is set to return this spring and by doing so, she could shake up an already loaded 5k and/or 10k field when it comes to the postseason. With personal bests of 4:48 (mile), 9:31 (3k), 16:14 (5k) and 34:46 (10K), Narbuvoll is clearly one of D2's best distance talents.
However, we haven't seen her race since the winter of 2020 and we're not quite sure where she currently sits in our hierarchy after sitting out for so long. That said, she is an aggressive front-runner, and that kind of approach should bode well for her this year when you consider that so many top-ranked women are also willing to make races fast.
The difference between Jessica Gockley and Hannah Thompson so far this season is a single second in a race that is a little over six miles long. With the 10,000 meters being such a bear of a race and these two ladies running fast times, we wouldn't expect either to run another one until Nationals, or at least the postseason in general.
It was a solid outdoor debut for Gockley at the Raleigh Relays as she finished in the middle of the pack in a field that was largely made up of D1 runner. With the majority of her season left, could we see her run in something other than the 5k?
Even if she doesn't, the fact of the matter is that few women have been as consistent and as reliable as Gockley has been in the longer distances. She's an experienced veteran and her recent performances on the indoor oval clearly carried over to the outdoor oval this past year.
Novak is someone who used the indoor season as a building block for this outdoor season as she did not run quite as fast as she might have hoped. However, many runners would love to be in her position as she has one of the top times in the 1500 meters thus far. She lost at the line at the Azusa Pacific Invite to an unattached runner, but still clocked a very impressive mark of 4:22.
To put her new personal best time in perspective, she had a lot of momentum during the 2020 indoor season as she had just run a 4:48 and punched her ticket to the national meet when COVID-19 hit. Since then, she has regrouped and now sits in a better position altogether as she was just a second off of the automatic qualifying time.
The highly-decorated runner from Adams State has made her long-awaited return to competition for the Grizzlies, and she did so in phenomenal fashion.
Roisin Flanagan ran her first official collegiate race since 2019 at the Sound Running College Invitational, competing in the 5k. Flanagan notched a 16:36 to finish just ahead of teammate Brianna Robles and place highly in a quality field. However, what should really catch people’s attention is Flanagan's unreal 15:38 (5k) effort from back in December at the Sound Running Track Meet. There, she ran beat out sister and fellow teammate Eilish Flanagan.
This Adams State veteran has historically contested the middle distances on the track for the Grizzlies, making annual trips to Nationals for the mile during indoors and the 1500 meter during outdoors. While her strength is no surprise given her performances in the past in cross country, her recent results on the outdoor track could truly alter what she pursues in the postseason.
Now, admittedly, it's been a while since she ran that 15:38 back in December, but that is still an unreal level of fitness. That time would typically put most women in the All-American conversation at the D1 level. We're only putting her a bit further back in our rankings (for now) since her recent time of 16:36, while respectable, isn't quite indicative of the title-contending status that we know she is capable of reaching.
An experienced middle distance star and a potential title contender is set to return to the outdoor oval this year. Although she has yet to toe the line for any spring season competition, it's important to keep this Simon Fraser in the back of your mind.
Townsend was one of the nation's most elite talents during the 2020 indoor track season. She owns personal bests of 58 (400), 2:06 (800), 4:22 (1500) and 4:40 (mile). Her mix of 400 meter speed and mile strength make her the ideal half-mile talent. However, she is also someone who is capable of effectively doubling and tripling throughout a season.
We only have her listed at TSR #8 for now, but that's more because we're waiting to see how she shakes off the rust later this season.
Cleyet-Merle has not yet raced this outdoor season.
Hernandez has taken control of this brief outdoor season with two performances that have her near the top of two different events.
In the 800, she ran 2:08 (mid) which is just three-tenths off her personal best time which came at the indoor national meet just a couple weeks prior where she finished 2nd overall. And can you believe this? She had never run a 1500 in her life, but ran a converted 4:23 converted!
Yes, the mile is the closest thing to the 1500 during the indoor season, but really, she had never officially run a 1500 meters until the weekend of March 26-27 and it was impressive to say the least. Hernandez is becoming a far more dynamic and lethal middle distance talent. She's clearly the better half-mile talent, but her recent rise in the 1500 tells us more than her 800 meter performances could, at least for now.
The Mountaineer senior is back for one last go around with this thing they call track and field. She had two very strong performances this past weekend at the meet hosted by Grand Canyon. First, she ran a 2:06 in the 800 meters in a wicked fast field to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She then she doubled back with a respectable 4:32 effort for 1500 meters.
By running the 1500, Sharon is finally comfortable with expanding her range based on all that strength she gained during the fall. Of course, the real development is seeing her run an unconverted time of 2:06. That is quite the mark and she was able to make the most of a very fast opportunity.
That was an unconverted personal best by over a second and with her extensive experience, we have reason to believe that she is the national title favorite, even with Townsend potentially returning and Cleyet-Merle looking incredibly strong this past winter.
Bailey has not yet raced this outdoor season.
Cotter may be venturing to Northern Arizona after this year, but that doesn't make her any less elite at the D2 level. After a convincing win at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile this past year, we have no reason to believe that Cotter will be losing the 1500 meter national title come May. She has won a total of five title between all three seasons and is tactically one of the best to ever do it at the D2 level.
There isn't much more to say here. She has a 4:19 personal best for 1500 meters and truthfully could be listed at the top spot given the dominance that we've grown to used to see from her. We would like to see a little more versatility in her event selection this spring, but truthfully, she doesn't need to prove anything.
Before Eilish Flanagan ran at the Sound Running Collegiate Invite, it was looking like a coin flip between her and Celine Ritter for our TSR #1 spot. However, after Flanagan ran a 15:57 for the win it was no question as she’s also run a 4:17 (converted) for 1500meters. With two number one marks and a personal best of 15:40 for 5000 meters back in December, we weren't sure how Flanagan couldn't be the top name.
That’s not to say that Ritter’s sub-16 (5k) effort at the Raleigh Relays was anything to sneeze at. We bet that if Ritter had the opportunity to run the 1500 meters, she would run a very similar time to Flanagan as she ran a 4:44 for the mile during indoors. Right now, the only difference is that Flanagan has two good races in two opportunities (and a super fast winter 5k) while Ritter has only had one good race in a single outdoor race thus far.
Neither woman’s performances should surprise anyone as Ritter just took home her first national title in the indoor 3k a few weeks ago while Flanagan has just been historically dominant. Both are fit. How much time will it take for these to race each other? Most likely, the D2 world will have to wait until they collide at Grand Valley State, the site of this year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Madison Brown (Dallas Baptist)
Brianna Robles (Adams State)
Frankziska Althaus (Wingate)
Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)
Seselia Dala (West Texas A&M)
Nicolette Schmidt (Augustana)
PJ English (Augustana)
Andra Lehotay (Walsh)
HaLeigh Hunter-Galvan (Adams State)
Kaylee Bogina (Adams State)
Mackenna Curtis-Collins (Malone)
Layla Almasri (UC-Colorado Springs)
Elysia Burgos (Southwest Baptist)
Elizabeth Acheson (U-Mary)
Riley McGrath (UC-Colorado Springs)
Jennifer Comastri (Southern Indiana)
Fatima Alanis (Queens (N.C.))
Kayce Rypma (Grand Valley State)
Haleigh Reindl (Minnesota-Duluth)
Alexa Leppelmeier (Walsh)
Chrissani May (Lincoln (Mo.))
Kelly-Ann Beckford (Lincoln (Mo.))