TSR Collaboration
Jun 14, 202216 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin & Eric Baranoski, additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
Click here to see our Just Missed names, Honorable Mention names and Notes.
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.
McCune was super consistent all season long. She ran a very respectable 4:30 mark for 1500 meters at the beginning of the season and then caught fire in her primary event, the 800 meters.
McCune went from 2:10 to 2:10 to 2:13 (prelims) to 2:07 en route to a GLVC title victory over a high-upside star in Lainy Williams. She then rode her consistency and momentum into the national meet where she navigated through the prelims (2:08) and then placed 5th in the finals (2:09).
This Drury standout has been reliable all year long. She is experienced and thrives in a variety of race scenarios. She knows when to peak and was competitive in a very underrated 800 meter field as a whole.
Sure, she wasn't someone who we expected to compete for national titles, but her reliability as an All-American this year was wildly encouraging this spring.
It was admittedly a strange turn of events for someone like O'Connor, who has been a consistent presence all year long, to not get out of the 1500 meter prelims. But these things happen for a reason and O’Connor probably needed the national meet as a wake-up call given that her freshman year, for the most part, went on without a hitch.
She was your RMAC champion in the 800 meters, but her better event is the 1500/mile as she was your conference champion in the mile during the winter while also finishing 3rd at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She set a personal best in every event that she was entered in this year and she took advantage of living at 7500 feet of altitude.
Oh, and she was ranked at NCAA #4 in the 1500 meters this spring, stemming from a performance in a strong D1-laden field at the Oregon Twilight meet.
O'Connor will be back near the top this time next year. She is far too good to not be in the title conversation in the future. But for now, a rough national meet showing sets her back just a bit.
After an indoor track season where Doucette broke out in a big way, this outdoor season resembled a somewhat quieter sophomore campaign.
Don’t get me wrong, Doucette still had a solid season, but she had two top-four finishes at the indoor national meet this past winter. That's why an 8th place finish in the 5k a few weekends ago seems like she left something on the table.
Either way, Doucette proved that she is a contender in any race that she was in as she was an All-American at every championship she competed in this year (XC, indoors and outdoors).
Getting caught in the back of a national meet final and actually staying in the back of a national meet is the difference between being a national champion (Yasmine Hernandez) and Hailey Streff.
Although, all things considered, that doesn't necessarily mean that Streff had a poor performance.
Hernandez started the 1500 meter finals in 6th place and moved up to 2nd place (and eventually 1st) while Streff sat in 8th place and only moved up to 7th. Race tactics are critical in championship races and although this wasn't Streff's best postseason execution, it still landed her as an All-American.
Streff was in and out of our rankings throughout this spring season, but with seasonal bests of 2:08 (800) and 4:23 (1500), and now another All-American honor under her belt, she did just enough to crack our Top 25.
A middle distance runner for the Warriors, Beyer’s name should look familiar as she qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships this past winter in the mile. If you missed her, then it's probably because she didn’t make the finals.
Her second go-around at the NCAA Championships ended much differently as she did end up making the final and she even took down some more familiar names such as the UCCS trio (Hedlund, Almasri, and McGrath) and CSU-Pueblo’s Hailey Streff.
In the end, Beyer peaked beautifully. She ran 4:22 in the finals (a PR) and earned a 6th place All-American finish. This Winona State standout was excellent this season and her ongoing efforts to refine her 800 meter speed may have helped her on the championship stage.
May was sorely missed at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800 meters as it felt odd to not see her and fellow teammate Kelly-Ann Beckford in the same results list (but that’s okay, as May and Beckford helped their 4x400 team win a national title this past winter).
However, it was definitely worth the wait to see them competing together once again as Beckford won the national title and May placed 4th in the 800 meters at this year's outdoor national meet.
This is more of what we are used to seeing from May as she had a breakout race in the 800 meters last year with a 2:06 mark at the 2021 national meet. And based on her recent progression and postseason peak that she showed, May gave track analysts like ourselves plenty to be excited about in the second-half of this spring season.
Quietly, Esvelt had a season to remember. She earned a PR in the mile, 5k and 10k all while making the national meet, not just in one event, but in both the 5k and the 10k, even earning All-American honors in the latter distance (4th place).
Based on her times in the distance events on the track, Esvelt has put herself in a solid position to run very well in cross country this fall. With that aerobic system, which clearly favors Esvelt the longer the distance becomes, a 6k shouldn’t be too big of a task for her.
After all, she has run 33:51 for 10,000 meters...
Chapko has established herself as a solid pick to finish in the top-eight at almost any national meet she is, that much is for certain.
In my opinion, Chapko is at that certain point in her career where she either takes that next step and is a constant contender for national titles, or is a consistent All-American, but never a major presence up front.
Sure, I think it's a little early eligibility-wise to put that weight upon her shoulders, but she’s appeared at four NCAA Championships now (two indoors and two outdoors). She knows the routines, is familiar with her competition and is with a team that holds itself to a high standard.
Only time will tell for the Lakers sophomore, but at the very least, she continues to be one of the most reliable 800 meter runners in the country. A 6th place All-American result is very solid result, and while her ceiling is arguably higher than that, her consistency on the national stage holds tons of value.
If this was truly Becker’s last time racing, then it's hard to be upset about what she accomplished. She was an All-American in the steeple this spring (placing 5th) and raced on her home track at a national meet.
Did she ever rebound from winning the national title in cross country? Not quite, but the level that she competed at during the indoor and outdoor track seasons was All-American worthy, just not national title-worthy.
I’d be proud if I was Becker as she improved drastically from her time at Wheaton College (IL) and she contributed to the Lakers' ongoing dominance as a distance powerhouse. She consistently improved upon her seasonal bests in the steeple this spring and proved to be competitive in the 5k as well.
Yes, she may be dropping quite a bit in our rankings, but her value is still plenty high.
And that's how you end your time at Queens (NC) on a high note! A new steeple PR (10:14.99) and a bronze medal concludes this Royals' time in the NCAA. It also concludes Queens' time in the Division Two realm as the Royals will be transitioning to Division One later this summer.
Lawrence showed great confidence at the outdoor national meet, going to the front pack and just hanging out before throwing down a strong last lap to get on the podium.
With any other event, Lawrence didn't always have that national-caliber edge to get her to the next level. But the steeplechase? Well, she proved to be a problem for her competitors answer time and time again.
She made improvements, showed consistency and translated the best parts of her fitness to her marquee event at the perfect time.
Kudos to Lawrence for peaking at the right time.
Gockley has got the 10k/5k double down. For the second year in a row, she has come away from the national meet as a double All-American.
The GVSU veteran finished out her career as a Laker by using all of her past experience and career-long lessons to be able to get the most out of a meet like Bryan Clay where she earned a PR in both the 1500 meters and the 5k.
Her national meet double produced a 5th place finish (10k) and a 7th place finish (5k). And while both of those results put Gockley in the backend portion of her first-team honors, she still scored a collective total of six points.
That's more than O'Malley, Ludge, Becker, Chapko or Rypma scored, making Gockley the MVR (Most Valuable Runner) amongst the distance side of things for GVSU.
She has come a long way and to finish out her career like this and she should be considered as a major success story.
Cunningham is in really good aerobic shape. However, being just a freshman eligibility-wise suggests that she still has some things that she can work on.
Cunningham is almost always nationally competitive and will usually put herself in a good position in most high-end fields. The top pack is where you will always find her, but when it is time to wind it up, she isn't always able to hang with he leaders in the final moments.
Would I be upset with a 4th place finish in the 5k if I was her? No, not at all. That's an outstanding result, especially in this year's field.
But now we need to evaluate her overall potential.
In order for Cunningham to be a national champion, she will need to utilize all of the tools in her racing arsenal. Of course, that aerobic armory is rapidly being built after she won a big 5k race at the Drake Relays, won her conference title and earned All-American honors.
Her time is coming very soon.
Almost identical to her performance at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, O’Malley was entered in two events and returned as an All-American in one, proving that the preliminary rounds of the 1500 meters really do take it out of you when the time comes to run the 5000 meters.
One could argue that O’Malley didn’t improve much from last season time-wise, but she got smarter when it came down to her racing IQ. She knew what she needed to do to advance and she always put herself in the best positions to make it through the rounds while conserving the most energy.
I hate to throw in a total recap of the year, but she did PR in XC, indoors and outdoors, so the times and improvements were most certainly there. In addition to that progress, she was the 2nd place finisher at the cross country national meet, the 2nd place finisher in the mile at the indoor national meet and the 4th place finisher (again) in the 1500 meters a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, we're only looking at this current outdoor track season for these rankings, but O'Malley's collective year as a whole is probably the best indicator of her actual talent.
O’Malley is getting close to winning a national title and she reminds me of now-departed teammate Issac Harding. He got 2nd place three times before he won a title. It's similar story for Katelyn Tuohy who got 2nd place twice at the D1 indoor national meet this past winter before recently winning the 5k outdoor title this past weekend.
That is far from bad company to be in.
Ludge placed 3rd in the 1500 meters last spring and had a disappointing end to her indoor track season due to a fall and some setbacks. However, she came around and had a successful finish to her outdoor track season.
The Grand Valley State veteran used her stamina and experience to qualify for the outdoor national meet, setting a new 5k PR in the process. At the NCAA Championships, she placed 5th in the 1500 meters in a tight race and doubled back in the 5k with a 13th place finish.
Ludge had the consistency, experience and balance of stamina and speed this entire season, but she lacked the turnover to match the closing speed of some of her competitors.
Due to her top-five finish in the 1500 meters and her balance of speed and endurance, Ludge comes in at TSR #12. Her overall season as a whole was better than a 5th place finish at the national meet, and even that was pretty solid!
Beckwith bettered her 4th place finish in the 800 meters from the indoor national meet by earning a bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships a few weeks ago. She also set a new PR of 2:05 at the Lee Last Chance meet to qualify for the national meet, showcasing her speed-based talent in the middle distances.
Beckwith’s progression in the 800 meters this season has been a work of art. She opened the season with a 2:12 result and then ran 2:17, 2:14, 2:06, 2:05 and then finished with a 2:08 mark in tactical races at the NCAA Championships.
On top of Beckwith’s talent in the 800 meters, she has also run fairly quick marks in the 400 meters and is a respected high jumper, something that I don’t think we have ever had to mention here at TSR.
Beckwith’s overall improvement and ability to thrive championship settings earns her our TSR #11 spot, although there could be an argument for a better ranking.
Leppelmeier is one of the most overlooked runners in Division Two, and maybe that's because she excels at the often overlooked steeplechase.
The Walsh veteran was a title contender in the event heading into the national meet and she ended up as the silver medalist in an exciting race that came down to the last 200 meters. After finishing in 5th place last year, Leppelmeier's runner-up performance shows solid improvement, although her season as a whole was a better indicator of that.
Leppelmeier also came back from the steeplechase and ran the 5k. She was tucked into a tight pack of runners for the entirety of the race and ended up finishing 11th to complete her gruesome steeplechase/5k double.
The Walsh veteran showed poise, talent and stamina, not just at the national meet, but throughout the entire year. She flexed her versatility, continued to make improvements and became very reliable.
For those reasons, she breaks into our top-10.
While Ritter is an experienced and talented runner, something just didn't click at the national meet as she finished her season with results that were lower than we expected. However, with the immense depth and talent in Division Two right now, Ritter’s performances were not due entirely to her own shortcomings.
The Lee star finished 3rd in the 1500 meters and 5th in the 5k, adding two All-American awards to her already lengthy resume. While not as exciting as her national title from the indoor track season, Ritter still had an incredibly successful season, showing impressive range from the 800 meters up to the 10k.
If there was a versatility award, Ritter would win it without a doubt.
While a consistent and dynamic runner, Ritter just didn't quite have the title-winning edge at the national meet, but she was simply too good this year to fall outside of our top-10.
Alanis has been extremely consistent and successful in her short time as a Division Two runner, a fact that effectively puts her in the top-10 of our rankings.
Alanis ended her Division Two career with a bronze medal in the 10k and a runner-up finish in the 5k. Alanis narrowly missed out on the 5k title after an epic battle with Robles in the last lap, which ended up being the most exciting distance race of the meet in my opinion.
Alanis has an ideal mix of endurance and speed and she is a fierce competitor who likes to push the pace, something that has been beneficial in these D2 national meets.
With more experience, Alanis would have undoubtedly been a national champion in the next year or two. However, due to Queens' upcoming transition to Division One, Alanis will be finishing her NCAA career at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrews-Paul set the D2 record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:01 earlier in the season and was the clear title favorite heading into the national meet. However, the 800 meters proved just how unpredictable it can be in the finals.
The Simon Fraser ace ended up getting out-kicked in the last 50 meters by Beckford and she finished in 2nd place with a time of 2:06. Tactically, Andrews-Paul ran a good race, but to win the title, she would have had to run more aggressively from the start to take out the speed of Beckford.
While a silver medal may not have been what Andrews-Paul hoped for, her turnover, consistency and elite firepower earned her a spot in the top-10 in our rankings.
Sandoval moves up one spot to finish the season at TSR #6. After finishing as the runner-up in the 10k last year, Sandoval unleashed a lethal kick to win the event this year.
Sandoval’s extensive long distance experience showed at the national meet and she ran a tactically beautiful race. She stayed in the pack until a few laps to go and then responded to moves from her competitors with a few laps to go.
Heading into the final lap, Sandoval’s form and turnover displayed a level of strength and desire that showed how badly she wanted to win the title. Her closing 200 meters were the most impressive finish to a 10k I have ever seen.
It was clear that Sandoval went into this season, and the outdoor national meet, wanting to win the 10k, and she simply would not be denied.
That firepower and raw aerobic dominance allowed her to take down the title favorite (Robles) and it also got her into the top-six spot in our rankings, a spot that may be undervaluing her recent win.
Flanagan is an extremely talented runner and she holds a convincing D2 record in the 5k. She has been sitting as TSR #1 for a good portion of the season, but her championship performances were clearly not an accurate display of what she is truly capable of.
The Adams State veteran was the clear favorite in the 5k and one of the top title contenders in the 1500 meters, but she ended up 3rd in the 5k and 2nd in the 1500 meters. For most runners, those results are a dream come true, but for Flanagan, this is not at all what we (or her, probably) were expecting.
The Adams State ace has an incredible level of endurance, but it was the unmatched speed of her competitors that ultimately got the best of her.
While this was maybe not the ideal finish to her college career / season, Flanagan still had an impressive season and solid championship performance, earning her our TSR #5 ranking.
Robles had a very successful weekend at the national meet, earning a silver and gold medal in the gnarly 10k/5k distance double, respectively. She was the clear title favorite in the 10k and a title contender in the 5k, but in a twist of fate, she ended up placing 2nd in the 10k and she won the 5k.
That silver medal finish in the 10k was not due to a disappointing race or a lack of talent, but rather Robles simply could not respond to the fastest last 100 meters I’ve ever witnessed in the 10k from Sanodval.
The fact that she came back and still won the 5k shows just how mentally tough and talented Robles is despite her relative youth eligibility-wise. The last lap of that 5k was a grind for Robles, but in the end, the Adams State star managed to come out on top.
Robles’ endurance, grit and flat-out elite talent gives her a TSR #4 ranking.
Beckford pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the outdoor national meet by winning the 800 meter title over Alison Andrews-Paul.
The Lincoln (MO) ace took down the indoor national champion and the Division Two record holder in the event with a lethal kick. She won with a time of 2:05 after running 2:12, 2:09, 2:06 and 2:06 throughout the season, progression that any middle distance runner would be jealous of.
While not a distance event, she was also part of the silver medal team in the 4x400 meter relay which shows just how much speed Beckford has.
Beckford's turnover, reliability and firepower won her a national title and it also earned her our TSR #3 spot in our final rankings.
Curtabbi is the undeniable steeplechase queen of Division Two.
Curtabbi executed a perfect race at the national meet and she won the title in an exciting race. She eased through the prelims and was very smart in the finals, setting a new PR of 10:07 in the event.
While she only ran a few steeplechase races this season, the two that she finished were incredible performances, proving that quality over quantity is a perfectly effective approach.
If you go back and watch the steeplechase final from the national meet, it is pretty easy to see why Curtabbi ends the season at TSR #2. She displayed more poise and experience than her resume would suggest and she has the winning nature to excel in championship races.
Her versatility is wildly impressive, as well.
Due to her overall success and consistency, Hernandez ends the season at TSR #1.
Riding her success from the indoor track season, Hernandez put together a fairytale ending to a consistent outdoor track season in a nail-biting race to the line. After several silver and bronze medals throughout her career, she finally won her first NCAA title in an individual event.
Using her experience and turnover, she out-kicked her competitors to win the 1500 meters with impressive time of 4:15.72, setting a three-second, non-altitude PR in the process.
Hernandez has had a nearly ideal progression as a middle distance runner throughout her career, and her unique balance of strength and speed make her a lethal competitor in both the 800 and 1500 meters.
She did not move up to the 1500 meters until last spring, and while this was a good move for Hernandez, it was her 800 meter speed that ended up winning her a national title based on how this race played out.
She ends her college career with PRs of 2:03 and 4:15, two national titles and six other All-American performances.
Kudos, Hernandez.
Kudos.
Fiona Hawkins (Adams State)
Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)
Layla Almasri (UC-Colorado Springs)
Riley McGrath (UC-Colorado Springs)
Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire)
Hailey Streff (CSU-Pueblo)
Annika Esvelt (Seattle Pacific)
Chrisanni May (Lincoln (MO))
Kaylee Beyer (Winona State)
Katie McCune (Drury)
Fiona Hawkins (Adams State)
Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)
Layla Almasri (UC-Colorado Springs)
Riley McGrath (UC-Colorado Springs)
Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire)
PJ English (Augustana (SD))
Cameron Hough (Southern Indiana)
Gemma Rebollo (Wingate)
Rachel Sweeney (Cedarville)
Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire)
Isabelle Brezinka (Minnesota-Duluth)
Jana Shawver (Central Missouri)
Kate Hedlund (UC-Colorado Springs)
Hannah Thompson (Findlay)
Zoe Baker (Colorado Mines)
Molly Maksin (Colorado Mines)
Madison Brown (Dallas Baptist)
Marissa D’Atri (Chico State)
Sarah Wills (Adams State)
Amanda Montplaisir (Minnesota State)