Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
May 17, 20197 min
*Honorable mentions below*
Was not ranked during the last update.
First number indicates the change in a runner's ranking from the prior update.
Second number indicates where the runner was ranked during the last update.
There were a handful of women that this spot could've gone to, but after such a successful indoor season where she nearly won the national title, I think Akins deserves to be mentioned. Of course, it's not just because of her performance from Indoor Nationals. Her 2:03.76 from the Tennessee Relays currently has her ranked at #8 in the NCAA and it doesn't hurt that she added a 4:16 PR for 1500 meters to her resume either. After helping Penn to their first ever Penn Relays wheel in the DMR and securing two Ivy League titles, it's safe to say that Akins has brought an immense amount of value to the Quaker's roster.
The PAC 12 rivals haven't been making as many headlines like they were during indoors, but their spring seasons have still been strong. O'Keeffe ran 15:38 at Payton Jordan while Morley ran 15:43 earlier in the season at the Stanford Invite. After finishing 2nd (O'Keeffe) and 3rd (Morley) in the PAC 12 Championship 5k last weekend, it's clear that these two women are capable of finding a podium spot once again in the next few weeks.
Fuller began to show signs of being a national title contender this past winter, but she barely missed an All-American finish by one spot in the mile. However, this spring track season has been where she has really turned on the jets. After running 2:05 at the Sun Angel Classic, she went to the Portland Twilight meet and threw down an NCAA #3 time of 4:13 seemingly out of nowhere. After winning the Mountain West title last weekend, Fuller has established herself as a very real threat to finish on the podium come June.
This pair of Arkansas women haven't been lighting up the track like they were during indoors, but they've quietly produced a handful of nice times and performances. Werner has marks of 15:38 (NCAA #7) and 32:26 (NCAA #6) while Gregory has run 4:15 (NCAA #17) and 15:42 (NCAA #14). It's clear that they are still some of the top talents in the country, but they've lacked the same consistency and tactical acumen (i.e. SEC Champs and Stanford Invite) that we saw from them in the winter.
I really liked the Mountain West title win we saw from Wilson-Perteete last weekend. A hard-charging Kristie Schoffield did not make things easy for the UNLV sophomore who was forced to run 2:03.56 in order to win. Wilson-Perteete didn't back down from the challenge and was rewarded by defeating a respectable middle distance talent in the process.
The Providence senior has stolen the spotlight from teammate Millie Paladino with a total of four wins this season, three of which came in the steeplechase. Her personal best of 9:50 currently ranks #4 in the NCAA right now, and it's hard to imagine her not on the podium come NCAA's. We know she can be competitive, but how will she handle the elite competition from the West Region assuming that she makes it to Nationals?
The Notre Dame ace captured headlines with her 4:13 earlier this season, but her ACC Championship performances left something to be desired. A 4th place finish in the 800 and a 6th place finish in the 5000 meters isn't super exciting, but it's also clear that Harris was sharpening her speed and stamina in preparation for a postseason that will be dedicated to the 1500.
It took some time, but Batt-Doyle has finally secured a spot in our Top 25. The Washington veteran has played an underrated role in the 10k and 5k distances this spring. Her PAC 12 title in the 10,000 meters was an encouraging result and when you look at her season as a whole, she hasn't really had a bad race. Consistency and winning are two strong indicators of potential success in the postseason.
Fun fact: Johnson hasn't lost a race this season and that includes prelims as well as relays. The Oklahoma State ace popped off a monster 4:13 at the Cardinal Classic before she cruised through the Drake Relays en route to a BIG 12 title in the 800 in 2:04. I always thought Johnson was somewhat one dimensional when it came to her racing distances, but seeing her thrive in the 800 is a very encouraging sign for the postseason.
The champ has returned! After battling injuries throughout the winter, Dani Jones made her outdoor debut at Colorado State where she quietly ran a converted 4:14. She later went on to run a 15:54 at the PAC 12 Championships to take home the conference crown. The fact that she was able to run so well after an extended period of recovery time leads me to believe that Jones is still regaining fitness and will be even better in the postseason.
She struggled a bit in the Payton Jordan steeplechase, falling off of the pace set by the leaders and settled for a 9:55. Luckily, she was able to rebound at the Mountain West Championships to post a winning time of 9:47. Her first battle with Ostrander didn't go as planned, but she is still someone who is capable of pulling off the upset at Nationals.
I've been pretty hard on Kurgat this season, but she just hasn't been the same national title contender that we've grown accustomed to seeing. Ostrander has had her number this season and I don't see any signs that say she can win gold come June. That said, she's still posting solid results. Just because she isn't racing at the level that she once was doesn't necessarily mean that she's racing poorly.
I don't think people realize just how good Bissah has been. She won the Virginia Grand Prix in a time of 2:04 before dominating the MEAC Championships with a pair of titles in the 800 and 1500. Her conference title in the 800 yielded a strong result of 2:03.13 (NCAA #3) further solidifying herself as a potential threat to Rivers at the national meet.
I was really surprised to see Norris pursue the 5000 meters over the 1500 when it came to declarations for the regional meet. Although I thought that she was better suited for the 1500 distance, that shouldn't take away from the fact that she continues to be one of the top distance running women in the country. Her 1500/4x800 double gold at the BIG East Championships proved that.
Cohen has continued to put herself in the national title conversation for the steeplechase after narrowly losing to Ostrander at Payton Jordan with a 9:46. Her 15:31 from Bryan Clay isn't half bad either. The New Mexico sophomore has done more this season than most fans of the sport realize.
Three wins (800/1500/4x8) at the Metro Atlantic Championships isn't super surprising, but when you consider the awful racing conditions due to weather, it's an impressive triple. Wilson has seemingly become even stronger since indoors which is bad news for her competitors in the 800.
Her regular season was a bit quiet, but she flipped on the switch at ACC's with a pair of wins in the 800 and 1500. The Virginia Tech veteran has opted to pursue the 1500 at the regional meet and I like the decision. She has a high racing IQ and has enough speed to keep things interesting with Hull in the final moments of an NCAA final.
I was super impressed by Stoner's 32:07 from the Stanford Invite, but I wanted to see what else she could do. Maybe she was reading because she went on an absolute tear since we last discussed her in these rankings. The Syracuse ace went on to run 15:28 (NCAA #2) at Payton Jordan before winning double gold at ACC's in the steeplechase (9:51) and 5k (16:05). She is only running the 10,000 meters at Nationals, but her winning a national title in that event isn't totally out of the question.
The New Mexico sophomore dominated the Mountain West 10k, running a meet record of 32:09 en route to the #3 time in the NCAA. With Monson out for the season with a suspected (but unconfirmed) injury, and Ostrander running the steeplechase before she doubles back in the 5k, Kelati has a chance to not only win her first national title, but to win two gold medals at the national meet.
It was a bit of a surprising decision to see Birk drop the 1500 and 5k in favor of the steeplechase at Nationals, but there is no doubt that she'll be an All-American contender. She's had one of the best regular seasons of any woman in the NCAA and has earned her spot in the top five.
She secured double gold at BIG 10's, defeating the indoor mile champ at 1500 meters in the process. Rivers has phenomenal middle distance range and that strength should be extremely beneficial come NCAA's where she'll face a loaded 800 meter field.
You could make an argument that the Boise State superstar has the been the best distance runner of the 2019 spring track season. She's has finally found a way to earn wins over her rivals from New Mexico and the times that Ostrander is producing are top notch. It will be interesting to see how she handles the steeplechase/5k double at NCAA's
She just won the PAC 12 title in a blistering kick that left the competition in the dust. She hasn't shown the same level of versatility that Ostrander has, but Hull has simply been more dominant on a more consistent basis. She'll be the easy favorite to win the 1500 national title.
Lauren Ellsworth (BYU)
Whittni Orton (BYU)
Cailie Logue (Iowa State)
Susan Aneno (UCONN)
Susan Ejore (Oregon)
Jazmine Fray (Texas A&M)
Jessica Drop (Georgia)
Hannah Steelman (Wofford)
Sarah Feeny (Utah)
Cierra Simmons (Utah State)
Rachel King (South Dakota State)