TSR Collaboration
Mar 17, 202218 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin & Eric Baranoski
Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.
Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.
TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.
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.
Let's get the not-so-great performance out of the way. In the 3000 meters, Almasri did match her time from earlier in the season. However, she faltered in that race, doubling back from the mile and settling for a 13th place finish in a race that did not benefit tired legs.
Still, we can't complain as Almasri is a senior who likely wanted to test her fitness. What did she have to lose by running the 3k?
Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let's talk about how she came away with All-American honors in two out of the three events that she competed in.
Almasri finished 8th in the mile final after an excellent mile prelim and she also anchored her DMR to a 7th place finish after that aforementioned prelim.
A lot of people don’t realize how valuable Almasri is to the Mountain Lion program. She has typically been one of the most consistent distance runners in the country and she has often been able to move up and down in distance.
It also doesn't hurt that younger teammates like McGrath and Hedlund, both of whom had strong weekends, likely learned quite a bit by training and racing alongside a veteran like Almasri over the years.
English has been to the indoor national meet before, producing promising results in her last appearance. That year, she ran the DMR and the mile which made her a two-time All-American when her 2021 weekend in Birmingham had come to a close.
That's why it should come as no surprise when I tell you that English was once again a two-time All-American. And once more, both of her honors came in the mile and the DMR.
It's clear that English's experience last year definitely helped her in this year's events. Oh, and did I mention that she ran a mile PR in the prelim? It's obvious that this Augustana ace has a history of peaking for the national meet at the right time and that was evident this past weekend.
In our "one sentence preview" for the women's 5000 meters, I said that Esvelt should be coming into her first NCAA meet with no expectations, mainly because of her youth and the field that she was facing.
And for the most, that seemed to be proper evaluation.
In that 5k race, the strength-based Seattle Pacific runner sat in 5th place for a good amount of time before fading into 8th place.
Causally taking the final All-American honor in a race that was honest from the gun (and produced the meet record and facility records), should be considered a good result for Esvelt. She didn’t lay down against the best 5k runners in Division Two. Instead, she ran her race and produced a personal best.
Some of us may have predicted her to finish higher, but she wasn't that far off from her ceiling.
This should be a building block kind of race for the freshman as she will be in faster races during the outdoor season. Who knows? Maybe she climbs up to the 10k soon...
I would be ecstatic if I was Katie McCune. In order to make it out of the 800 meter prelims, McCune didn’t hesitate to run a personal best which helped her qualify for the finals. The only downside is that she ran slower in the finals.
But really, who cares about time when you finish as a 7th place All-American in your first trip to a national meet?
By running a mark of 2:09 on day one and a mark of 2:10 on day two, McCune was able to really show off her fitness and her national-caliber consistency. I'm now also under the impression that she can go faster.
In the right conditions and in the proper setting, McCune could be talking about another 800 meter PR this spring. With national meet experience now under her belt, McCune has a chance to ultimately have her best race on the finals of the outdoor national meet.
However, at the very least, we feel a lot more confident about her delivering an All-American honor in the spring given what she did this past weekend.
This past weekend was really was a tale of two days for Hykes.
On day one, she anchored her Grizzlies to a 3rd place finish in the DMR.
On day two, she finished one spot away from being an All-American in the 3k.
Those races will likely offer some value as they can both me huge learning experiences. After all, Hykes is only a freshman and is not used to racing at such a high-level two days in a row.
But as she puts more miles on her legs and gets used to the workload, that double will seem a lot more manageable in a year or two. I mean, after all, this is Adams State we're talking about.
Alas, the undefeated season is no longer for the Winona State rookie.
Even so, Cunningham put herself in contention for much of the race and still came away with a 15-second personal best, as well as a 5th place finish in the 5000 meters. That seems to be fairly on par with our expectations for Cunningham. She thrives in longer, aerobic-centric races and isn't too shocking to see some of these women beat her.
Either way, this was a huge (and beneficial) learning experience for Cunningham as she hadn’t raced anyone above her caliber all season long. Based on her time, that competition proved to be just what she needed.
No, she can’t control what her schedule looks like, but she can control how she approaches each and every meet. And she made the most of her first hopefully many national meet appearances.
I think we have finally seen a glimpse of what Kate Hedlund is capable of.
Coming out of high school with a sub-five mile PR, we were waiting on when she was going to showcase her true ability on the collegiate circuit. Well, after redshirting her first year, it looks like she has figured it out in her second year.
And look no further than the indoor national meet where Hedlund, alongside teammates Riley McGrath and Layla Almasri, took on the mile/DMR double.
All of those women needed to run fast in the prelim to make the final and they all did so, peaking at the right time and clearly benefitting from whatever approach the UC-Colorado Springs coaching staff implemented beforehand.
Hedlund placed 6th individually at her first indoor national meet and was also part of the 7th place DMR. With a new mile PR, Hedlund probably couldn’t have realistically scripted her first national meet to go any better. She showed tons of poise and seemed like a natural at the national meet.
Improved positioning and building upon her fitness will certainly be necessary to get her to the next level, but a top-three finish could very well be in her future, especially if she uses this past weekend as momentum for the future.
Riley McGrath is definitely someone who is overshadowed. Maybe that’s because she finished behind senior Layla Almasri in most of her races during the regular season.That, however, was not the case during championship season as that is where McGrath truly shined.
Running the same two events, the DMR and the mile, as she did last year, McGrath did what she needed to do in the mile prelims to punch her ticket to the finals...even if that meant running a three-second personal best.
That, however, didn’t matter as she was the first Mountain Lion to cross the tape in the mile final. McGrath ended up placing 5th overall, holding her own in the final moments of the race and putting herself in a highly-favorable position throughout.
With a time improvement in the mile and an All-American performance that was clearly the best of her career, McGrath is quietly making a name for herself, steadily rising up the national ranks.
This indoor national meet was definitely different for someone like Taryn Chapko.
Last year, as a true freshman, she was a part of the title-winning DMR team and she also finished 3rd in the 800 meters that year.
However, let's be clear, we're not saying that her most recent national meet was bad, it was just different.
That's because Chapko ran a faster 800 meter time this year and yet, finished in a worse spot at the national meet (but still All-American).
In the 800 meters, the race can go one of two ways. Some years it's tactical and some years they take it hard from the gun. This was a year where you had to close hard and be prepared for an aggressive early-pace and Chapko didn’t have it in the tank.
That’s not because she was faltering, but that was simply because she was in PR territory.
All in all, I would be very pleased if I was Chapko. She can move to the spring season knowing that if she can keep making those tiny jumps in fitness, then she will be moving in the right direction.
Let’s be honest here, had anyone heard of Ukeyvia Beckwith before the NCAA meet?
No? Well, neither had I.
In that case, we both missed a key race that would foreshadow her national meet performance.
Astute readers of the D2 level may remember the 800 meter race at the Grand Valley State “Big Meet” from earlier this season. In that race, Beckwith secured the victory and by winning, she most likely gave herself the confidence to hang on a little bit longer the week after when she finished 4th overall against D1 competition at South Carolina.
There, her 2:10 mark for 800 meters qualified her for the indoor national meet.
The rest is history. A 4th place All-American finish this past weekend in a time of 2:07 in the 800 meters, all while upsetting some bigger names like Grand Valley State’s Taryn Chapko and CSU-Pueblo’s Hailey Streff.
We thought her 400 meter speed would make her a bigger threat in a tactical race, but as it turns out, she thrives in aggressively paced settings. Both the prelims and the finals from this past weekend support that assertion.
By looking at just the places, one might get distracted and say that Baker had a poor national meet. However, I’d argue against that statement, mainly because she ran two personal bests in both the 3k and 5k.
Yes, it's true, Baker finished 10th in the 3000 meters and 6th in the 5000 meters, but the fields were faster than last year when she placed 3rd in the 5k and then 8th in the 3k.
So while the competition has gotten faster, Baker has as well. Not only that, but she was in the top-eight on the national leaderboard in the 3k and was ranked at NCAA #2 in the 5k. In other words, there's still plenty of evidence to suggest that she's a top name.
The true freshman from Newbury Park, California has left nothing to imagination in her second collegiate season. First, she became an All-American in cross country and now, she has a 6th place finish in the 3k at her first indoor meet.
The transition from high school senior to collegiate freshman has been seamless for this D2 rookie and she has ascended to the top ranks quicker than most. She only ran the 3k twice this season and has now broken 9:30, a time that many elite distance women need three or four years to accomplish.
By training with some of the best distance runners in D2 at Adams State, one would think that Hawkins will only find more success as she gets used to the high altitude and workload that collegiate distance running requires.
And the craziest part is that despite her respectable 3k success this past weekend, one could argue that she was significantly better than in mile, making her resume standout that much more.
It's hard to dislike someone who you know is going to be a reliable name on the national stage. That's why you should look no further than the Lakers' senior, Jessica Gockley.
This Grand Valley State veteran always finds a way to be in the mix for an All-American spot and she came away with two more top-eight finishes in her latest indoor national meet this past weekend.
Compared to last year when she ran the same events (3k and 5k), she took nearly 10 seconds off of each PR in order to score seven points (7th place in the 5k and 4th place in 3k) for the team from Allendale, Michigan.
Those seven points contributed to the Lakers taking home the runner-up trophy on the women's side as the distance team did their part, scoring nearly half of the teams points.
Being in the kind of shape that she’s currently in, I’d expect many more head turning performances from the senior in outdoor, mainly in the 10k.
Gockley is easily one of the most experienced distance runners that D2 has to offer and her ability to respond to most aggressive paces, which seems to benefit this new era of women, is impressive.
Leppelmeier has been in the shadows for most of this winter season, but after placing 4th in the mile and 8th in the 3000 meters at the indoor national meet this past weekend, it’s easy to see why she would jump six spots to TSR #12 in our rankings.
Leppelmeier’s consistency and steady improvement have allowed her to excel her senior year. The Walsh veteran was patient in her races this past weekend and hung on to the back of the lead pack.
Her ability to maintain the quick paces and respond to moves by the front-runners earned her two All-American performances, making her one of two athletes that were able to place top-eight during their mile/3k double attempt.
CSU-Pueblo has Hailey Streff to thank for their DMR national title.
Streff was the first leg and was able to create a 10-meter gap before passing the baton off. This fantastic start to the relay gave the team momentum (and the lead) necessary to finish on top.
Streff excels at the 800 meters and the mile, so the 1200 meter distance was the perfect mix of speed and endurance for Streff.
In addition to being a national champion in the DMR, Streff also placed 6th in the 800 meters with a new PR of 2:09.01. These two All-American performances keeps Streff at TSR #11 in our final rankings as she matched our expectations fairly well.
The Adams State freshman has no fear and she made some bold moves in the mile this past weekend which led to her 3rd place finish in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
O’Connor led most of the race despite several experienced veterans (and the Division Two record holder) sitting on her back should.
Luckily, her bravery paid off as she pulled away from the field and forced a few select names to drop out of contention. Had O'Connor not implemented that front-running strategy, then she likely would not have placed as strongly as she did if she sat on the back of the pack.
O’Connor was previously unranked, but finishes the season off at TSR #10, showing us the potential that she has in the years to come.
Kelly-Ann Beckford was on our radar earlier in the season before dropping off. Despite this, she closed out her season strong by finishing runner-up in the 800 meters at the indoor national meet.
Now she sits at TSR #9.
Despite only being classified as a sophomore, Beckford has more experience than most others her age and she raced like an experienced veteran this past weekend. She broke away from the field early-on with Alison Andrews-Paul and Yasmine Hernadez. She was also able to pass Hernandez in the final 150 meters and was not far behind Andrews-Paul.
Of course, maybe the biggest takeaway in all of this was her 2:04 mark which was nearly a five-second PR! Additionally, Beckford anchored Lincoln’s 4x400 meter relay team to a national title. While not a distance event, this performance highlights her speed.
We were so wildly impressed by Beckford. Her experience clearly helped her on the national stage, and she showed us plenty of speed in her relay, but the way she approached that 800 meter race showed a ton of impressive strength that we didn't realize she had.
O'Malley's weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships was highlighted by a runner-up finish in the mile. It was a brilliant race for the Laker standout who positioned herself perfectly throughout the race and only made moves when she had to.
The Lakers’ DMR, however, was underwhelming and came in 5th place with O’Malley as the anchor. While this is still an All-American performance, there was certainly potential to finish higher given who was on the relay.
Unfortunately, O’Malley dropped out of the 3000 meters, but based on her 9:23 performance earlier in the season, she had the talent to be a front-runner in the event on fresh legs.
Despite that 3k race, O’Malley had to run the mile three times in less than 24 hours...and she saved her best effort for last. Her tactical approach was flawless and she showed us why she is clearly one of the nation's best distance talents.
Alanis had a busy and successful weekend in Kansas to finish off a stellar season.
The Queens superstar contested the 5k, the anchor leg of the DMR and the 3k in a span of less than 24 hours. Despite the heavy workload, Alanis was capable of handling it fairly well.
In the 5000 meters, it became clear that Alanis likes to be in control of races as she took the lead early-on. As the front-runner, Alanis ran a quick and consistent pace from the gun. She was not going to give up her position when she responded to a bold move made by eventual winner Brianna Robles.
Her bold and aggressive racing tactics paid off for Alanis, giving her a runner-up finish. She showed tremendous strength and poise. Despite Robles taking over, Alanis didn't falter and instead held strong. That was very impressive.
Alanis would later contest the DMR, but the Queens women were unable to make up the ground on their competition. They finished 10th overall.
It was like groundhog day in the 3000 meters the following day when then gun went off as Alanis took to the front of the lead pack. She maintained her position for a majority of the race and responded to the winning move made by Celine Ritter.
Members of the chase pack overtook her in the homestretch and Alanis ended up finishing 5th place in the event. She didn't maintain her same great strength that we saw in the 5k, but this was still an incredibly valiant effort that suited her strengths as a runner.
Alanis is young, but already has major success in the Division Two scene. She races like a confident veteran and I would expect her to be a recognizable name for seasons to come.
Her two bold All-American performances earned her our TSR #7 spot.
Hernandez finished this winter season with a new mile PR of 4:43 and an indoor PR of 2:05 in the 800 meters. The combination of her fast times, plus her top finishes at the national meet, make her an obvious choice for our TSR #6 spot.
Hernandez moves down two spots in our rankings at no fault of her own, but it could have been a very different situation if we saw Hernandez run her best event this season (the mile).
The CSU-Pueblo veteran had the second-fastest time in the mile this season, but she opted to focus on the DMR and the 800 meters and scratch from her top event. This decision paid off as she anchored CSU-Pueblo’s DMR team to a national title.
While Hailey Streff started off the relay strong and gave her teammates a lead, it was Hernandez who held off one of the best milers in the country (all divisions) and brought her team to a victory.
While she led the mile portion wire-to-wire, she started off strong and finished even stronger. This bold racing style was also evident in the 800 meter finals, where she led the race until Andrews-Paul and Kelly-Ann Beckford overtook her with 150 meters to go.
Hernandez had the experience necessary to be the front-runner of a championship race, but she lacked the foot-speed for closing in the 800 meters, which is likely why the mile, in our opinion, is her stronger event.
The former Baylor runner has had an immediate impact on the Division Two scene. After Berenice Cleyet-Merle scratched from the 800 meters, Andrews-Paul became the clear favorite to win the national title.
The Simon Fraser star benefited from her experience in the BIG 12 and it showed. She breezed her way through the 800 meter prelims and took off with 150 meters to go in the finals to win the title in 2:04.04.
To give some perspective on how fast that time is in comparison to years past, this is the NCAA #3 time EVER in Division Two for the indoor 800 meters. The NCAA #2 all-time mark by Berenice Cleyet-Merle was also run this year.
Andrews-Paul showed her versatility and her strength by earning two more All-American honors with her 4th place finishes in both the DMR and the 4x400 meter relay. A national title and playing a vital role in Simon Fraser’s All-American relays prove that Andrews-Paul deserves to be in the top-five in our rankings.
Maybe it was coming down from the 7000 feet of elevation in Gunnison. Maybe it was tapering. Or maybe it was just championship magic.
Whatever it was, the Mountaineer ace was on fire this weekend.
Doucette stepped into the national spotlight earlier in the season with her altitude converted performances in the mile and the 3000 meters, but her talent really shined when she ran 16:23 in the 5000 meters at the Ichabod Invite.
Even after that performance, I don't think I would have predicted Doucette to finish the indoor season as the runner-up in the 3000 meters and 4th place finisher in the 5k, but she proved me wrong.
Despite her lack of championship experience, Doucette ran some beautiful and gutsy races. If I had to give an award for best finishing kicks, I think Doucette would take the prize after watching her take down Brianna Robles at the end of the 3k and almost catch Celine Ritter at the end of the 5k.
Doucette ran like a true veteran and stayed on the lead pack in both her races. She responded to moves from the front of the pack and then had strong finishes. She ran personal bests in both events as well, with her time of 16:08 in the 5k and her time of 9:20 in the 3k.
Her immense improvement and fantastic championship performances this season earned her our TSR #4 spot in our rankings.
Ritter had a fantastic weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships to end her nearly perfect season for the Flames. She repeated as the national champion in the 3000 meters and earned bronze in the 5000 meters.
Ritter already holds the Division Two record in the 3000 meters with her 9:11 mark from the 2021 season, but now she also holds the NCAA #4 all-time mark (9:18) as well. Additionally, her 16:08 performance in the 5000 meters put her at NCAA #6 all-time for the indoor records list.
The Lee ace used her extensive championship experience to run some of the smartest races of the national meet this past weekend. In the 5000 meters, she tucked-in to lead the pack early-on and had the benefit of running right on the rail.
Ritter was in 3rd place for the majority of the race and ultimately that is were she finished.
The 3000 meters is Ritter’s stronger event and she ran a tactically beautiful race to win. The veteran stayed patient in the first-half of the race and ran on the rail in the middle of the lead pack.
Ritter then made her move with 400 meters to go. While her competitors tried to respond, no one could keep up and Ritter pulled away from the field to win her second national title in the event.
With performances like these, it is easy to see why Ritter comes in at TSR #3. Her dominance is obvious and her ability to handle numerous race scenarios is what comes with her experience.
Brianna Robles arguably had a breakout season. I say arguably because Robles was already a top talent in Division Two, but she really stepped up her game. She finished her season at the NCAA Indoor Championships by winning the 5000 meters in a dominant fashion before placing 3rd in the 3000 meters the following day.
Robles ran a tactically beautiful race in the 5000 meters. She let Fatima Alanis lead before taking over at halfway and then made her winning move with just over 800 meters to go. She set the new Division Two indoor record in the 5000 meters with her time of 16:00, bettering her previous PR of 16:03 from the Husky Classic.
In the 3000 meters, Robles ran a bolder race and fought Alanis for the lead throughout their battle. She made a move with 400 meters to go to move into 2nd place behind Celine Ritter, but she was overtaken by Katie Doucette in the final meters.
With a gold meal and bronze medaal in the distance events at the NCAA Championships, it is easy to see why Briana Robles maintains her position as our TSR #2 runner.
What’s shocking is that Robles is just a sophomore. She already has a Division Two record and a national title, so how much better can she get in her time as a Grizzly?
Berenice Cleyet-Merle maintains her TSR #1 spot following the NCAA Indoor Championships. She ended her season with a mile victory, a 2nd place finish in the DMR and a 7th place finish in the 3k.
While these performances were impressive, what separates Cleyet-Merle from the other runners on this list is her next-level speed and her impact on the Division Two history books.
Earlier in the season, she ran the second-fastest indoor 800 meter time ever in Division Two with a mark of 2:03.89. She also shattered the previous indoor mile record with her time of 4:31.99.
Speaking of Cleyet-Merle’s next-level speed, she used her wicked kick to take over the lead with about 100 meters to go in the mile finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She ran a solid time of 4:52, but it is crazy to think that she has the capability to run a full 20 seconds faster than this.
Cleyet-Merle hunted down as many runners as she could in the anchor leg of the DMR, but CSU-Pueblo’s Yasmine Hernandez was able to hold off everyone.
Cleyet-Merle also ran the 3000 meters where she placed 7th to earn All-American honors. That event wasn't even Cleyet-Merle’s speciality, but she managed to hold her own and score points for Indianapolis.
It is disappointing that we did not get to see Cleyet-Merle in the 800 meters, mainly because she very likely would have won the event, but it is understandable why she scratched with how the meet schedule is set up and her vital importance on the Greyhound’s DMR.
When it comes to the mile and the 800 meters, the field was playing checkers and Berenice Cleyet-Merle was playing chess. Her ability to kick-down the best athletes in the country shows her domination and gives us no other option than to rank Cleyet-Merle at our top spot.
Kelly-Ann Beckford (Lincoln (MO))
Ava O'Connor (Adams State)
Ukeyvia Beckwith (Embry-Riddle)
Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State)
Kate Hedlund (UC-Colorado Springs)
PJ English (Augustana (SD))
Riley McGrath (UC-Colorado Springs)
Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)
Cami Streff (Augustana (SD))
Precious Robinson (Adams State)
Hannah Becker (Grand Valley State)
Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)
Franziska Althaus (Adams State)
Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State)
Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State)
Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)
Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)
Cami Streff (Augustana (SD))
Precious Robinson (Adams State)
Hannah Becker (Grand Valley State)
Franziska Althaus (Adams State)
Taylor Hestekin (U-Mary)
Kayce Rypma (Grand Valley State)
Claire McCune (Drury)
Molly Maskin (Colorado Mines)
Emily Schoellkopf (Adams State)
Jenna Ramsey (Emporia State)
Kylie Anicic (Edinboro)
Stevie Lawrence (Queens (NC))
Eline Pinter (Indianapolis)
Megan Roxby (Simon Fraser)