TSR's 2021 D1 Winter XC Top 50 Individuals (Women): Update #2

The below rankings take performances from this past fall into consideration, but they do not aim to penalize runners who did not compete last fall. The same can be said for athletes who ran last fall, but are not racing in cross country this winter (until the NCAA Championships).

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.

Freyhof hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Guagenti hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Seymour hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Noe falls back in our rankings this week after recording a 4th place finish at the BIG Sky XC Championships a few weeks ago. She was the reigning individual champion, but was unable to keep up with NAU’s Taryn O’Neill, Weber State’s Summer Allen or Southern Utah's Alison Pray this year.

Now, in fairness to Noe, all of those ladies are solid competitors and deserve recognition as top collegiate talents. However, the redshirt sophomore from Montana State was an All-American last year and after not seeing her name called at the NCAA selection show, she will not be able to repeat her honor from last year.

McCabe hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Oklahoma State’s Gabby Hentemann had a strong race at the OSU Winter Open a few weeks ago when she finished 2nd to teammate Molly Born in what was essentially a dual meet between the Cowgirls and Tulsa. Hentemann has a lot of momentum going into the NCAA XC Championships and will have the benefit of competing on her home course for the fourth time during this 2020-2021 academic year. That's a bigger advantage than some people realize.

The sophomore is also coming off of a 3k title at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, as well as a personal best of 9:22 for the distance. A conference title and a new personal best has to give her confidence heading into the national meet, even if we're talking about two separate seasons.

Reinhart hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

After a strong 5th place showing at the Oklahoma State Invitational back in November, Pray had a slow start to the winter cross country season when she recorded a DNF at the Dixie State XC Invitational and later a 16th place finish at the FSU Winter XC Classic. That 16th place finish was actually pretty solid, but it wasn't going to put her into a Top 50 spot in our rankings.

However, since then, things have been trending in the right direction for the Southern Utah ace. Pray joins our rankings this week after finishing 11th at the Battle Born XC Challenge and then 3rd at the BIG Sky XC Championships. That 3rd place finish helped her take down a 2019 All-American in Camilia Noe and a 32:47 (10k) runner in Jessa Hanson.

The top of the BIG Sky XC Championships was much better than some people realize, so it's important that we give Pray the credit she deserves for her bronze medal performance.

The Thunderbird distance standout competed at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships and finished 64th amongst a deep field on a crummy day in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pray is capable of challenging some of the nation’s best and will be right on the cusp of an All-American honor next week.

In her first cross country race of the season, Olivere placed 3rd at the BIG East XC Championships. That wasn’t a bad result, but it didn’t necessarily put her in the All-American conversation that she was in last year.

Olivere was an All-American during the 2019 cross country season when she finished 29th in a deep field. She has the potential to finish amongst the top-40 again, but she will have to bounce back after a solid, but somewhat uneventful, 3rd place finish from the BIG East XC Championships.

The Georgetown duo of Corman and Donahu enter our rankings this week after going 1-2 at the BIG East XC Championships. However, before that lethal display of firepower at their conference meet, Corman took home the win at the Patriot Spider Classic while Donahue was 3rd in that race.

Corman had a respectable race at the 2019 national meet in cross country, but given her recent success, it is very possible that this Hoya will finish as an All-American. Donahue is certainly in the same conversation, especially after taking down a top-tier talent like Lydia Olivere.

While their performances this fall have been very strong, especially for Corman, we can't help but wonder how this duo will perform in a deeper field loaded with a variety of different high-caliber distance athletes.

Weber State’s Allen will be making her first appearance at the NCAA XC Championship since the 2013 season. Injuries, redshirt years and a church mission explains her extended collegiate timeline.

The redshirt senior has been posting respectable marks all season long which started with a big win at the Dixie State XC Invitational. Allen quickly followed up that performance with a clutch 9th place finish at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge, finishing well amongst the best talents from BYU, Washington and Boise State.

Allen will be entering the cross country national meet on Monday after a runner-up finish at the BIG Sky XC Championships where she took down a potential All-American in Allison Pray and a 2019 All-American in Camilia Noe. Not only that, but Allen also ran a 16:19 (5k) personal best at the Iowa State Classic earlier this year.

Allen has been around the NCAA for quite some time now and has the necessary experience, as well as enough encouraging momentum, to make a major splash on the national stage.

Black has made an appearance in these rankings before, but without racing in a cross country meet prior to the Atlantic 10 XC Championships, she was removed from the list. However, just last weekend, Black easily won her second conference title for the second year in a row.

The Rhode Island senior only came up four places shy of earning All-American honors in 2019 when she finished 44th, but after two strong indoor track seasons, an All-American honor is on the line for Black next week. She'll also be toeing the line for the mile at the NCAA XC Championships, so we'll be interested to see how she responds with only a few days rest between the national meets.

Gearing hasn’t raced since our last update. Although she had a stellar abbreviated fall 2020 cross country season, the Kentucky Wildcat wasn’t selected to compete at the cross country national meet.

Chmiel hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update. She didn’t have as strong of a cross country season this past fall, but she has been very solid on the indoor track which should give her some confidence heading into the national cross country meet. A personal best of 15:58 in the 5000 meters a few weeks ago (on a flat-track) has left us encouraged about what we could see out of this NC State sophomore on Monday.

Neglia hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Coggins hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Camp-Bennett has been solid in her two cross country performances this winter, picking up a very impressive 2nd place finish at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge and later a 3rd place finish at the WCC Championships. That second performance came on the heels of Camp-Bennett recording personal bests of 4:33 (mile) and 8:52 (3k) at the UW Invite, unattached.

The BYU runner has the potential to finish amongst the top-40 this year after her 60th place showing at the 2019 national meet. With the BYU senior has majorly improved her times on the track and is showing steady progress on the cross country course, Camp-Bennett should be the much-needed low-stick who the Cougars could rely on if Orton is unavailable.

Frentheway moves up this week following her 2nd place result at the WCC XC Championships. The BYU runner finished behind Portland’s Anna Pataki after the two were together for much of the race. Her 4th place finish at the Silver State Challenge and recent 3k personal best of 9:17 at the UW Invite has set up Frentheway for a potential All-American honor next week.

The redshirt sophomore has been quietly consistent and continues to produce underrated marks which suggests that she is a true low-stick. She's not the same star that a healthy Whittni Orton is, but pairing her next to Camp-Bennett gives the BYU women a wicked 1-2 punch.

The Portland Pilot ace joins our rankings this week after her WCC XC Championship victory where she took down a slew of top-ranked BYU women, including Aubrey Fretheway and Anna Camp-Bennett.

Pataki, who was 11th at her 2019 conference meet, won her first conference title this year by eight seconds. This was her second race of the season after she finished 4th at the Oregon XC Open the first week of February, but she lost to some top-ranked talents in that race, including Carmela Cardama Baez (Oregon unattached), Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State) and MacKenzie Yanek (San Francisco).

A 2019 national qualifier, Pataki placed 57th in her last national meet and looks to be in a position to repeat a similar, if not better, performance this time around. She will again see the BYU women, as well as Yanek, in Stillwater next. However, the biggest question will be how she fares in a larger, more diverse field of talent.

We saw the Portland junior hold her own at last year's national meet, so if she was comfortable-enough in that setting despite her inexperience, then she should be able to come home with an All-American honor this time around.

Since joining the Oregon State Beavers at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year, Mitchell has transitioned incredibly well to the D1 scene after competing for Division 2 Seattle Pacific. Mitchell was a cross country All-American in 2018 and could be a D1 All-American recipient this year.

The redshirt sophomore is coming off an underrated 2nd place finish at the Oregon XC Open, as well as a key 7th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships. She took down some notable Colorado, Stanford and Washington women at her conference meet and seems to be gaining momentum at the perfect time of the year.

Even during her days at Seattle Pacific, Mitchell was known as someone who was always producing at a high level and was consistently getting better. That seems to be holding true this winter.

Chapman hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Lawson is slowly rounding into All-American shape and is beginning to peak at the right time of the season with the NCAA XC Championships on the horizon.

The Cardinal senior began her winter cross country season with an unexciting 32nd place finish at the FSU Winter XC Classic and then made a minor improvement to finish 21st place at the Battle Born XC Challenge. Truthfully, those performances weren't exactly encouraging, especially for a top distance talent who was the 11th place finisher at the 2019 cross country national meet.

However, the Stanford star just recently she finished 9th at the PAC-12 XC Championships, showing that she is slowly rebounding into the front-runner that we saw her become almost a year and a half ago.

Even though Lawson was 19 seconds out from the top-five women in that conference meet, a top-10 showing was still promising. With her past history of success and her clear upwards trajectory, we still have high hopes for Lawson when she arrives in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

We had to drop her in our rankings based on the fact that she hasn't been close to replicating her success from 2019, but we like to think that she'll continue to carry her recent momentum into the national meet for yet another All-American honor.

Making a big jump in the rankings this week is Stanford's Julia Heymach following two excellent performances. The Cardinal senior had already secured a 10th place finish at the FSU Winter XC Classic to begin her winter season, but what she has continued to do is impressive.

Heymach, who is primarily a middle distance runner who owns personal bests of 2:04 (800) and 4:33 (mile), has become a solid cross country athlete for Stanford right when they needed her the most.

At the Battle Born XC Challenge, Heymach once again impressed with her 13th place finish. That was a solid result, but the performance that really stands out for Heymach is her recent 4th place result at the PAC-12 XC Championships. This was a nine-place improvement off of her 2019 conference race, taking down some high-level names such as Rachel McArthur, Kaylee Mitchell and Poppy Tank in the process.

Just like Lawson, Heymach is beginning to peak perfectly as we head into the national meet. She has been super consistent this year and recently showed us what she is capable of when she hits her true potential.

Boise State has greatly benefited from the addition of Tyler Beling to their roster this year. The Broncos were a team with plenty of depth, but they needed a true low-stick to give them a scoring spark, and they got a spark in Beling.

The Boise State junior has yet to finish outside of the top-four in any cross country race this season and since our rankings were last updated, Beling has finished 4th at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge and 3rd at the Mountain West XC Championships.

Beling held her own amongst the likes of Stanford, New Mexico and Colorado women in las Vegas and was only three seconds shy of finishing in the top-three in that race. On the same course for her conference championship, Beling was right with Mahala Norris of Air Force and Adva Cohen of New Mexico for the first 5k before ultimately finishing 3rd.

If she continues to remain consistent, Beling should be an All-American next week where she once again gets to face some of the NCAA’s most talented distance runners. And based on what we have seen from her this year, we have no reason to believe that she will falter during Monday's race.

Koskei hasn’t raced on the grass since our last update.

Cohen jumps up in our rankings this week after her 6th place finish at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge and runner-up finish at the Mountain West XC Championships. In Las Vegas, Cohen competed well against many of the mainstays and up-and-comers in the NCAA. At her conference meet, the Lobo was running alongside eventual meet winner Mahala Norris through 5k and was only five seconds off from the title.

Cohen will be instrumental in leading the New Mexico women to the podium this next week at the cross country national meet. She has been on the cusp of All-American honors twice since joining this historic New Mexico program.

What we like about Cohen is that she is putting together consistent regular season performances and is taking down top-ranked names on numerous occasions. That is usually a recipe for success at the national meet if you're someone who is as experienced as her.

The Utah veteran continues to rise in our rankings after earning 5th and 6th place finishes at the Battle Born XC Challenge and the PAC-12 XC Championships, respectively. Her performance at her conference meet matched her highest finish from the 2019 season before she placed 74th at NCAA's.

The Utah veteran has held her own against the likes of Stanford and Colorado runners and earned herself a spot on the starting line in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She is looking just as strong as she was in 2019 and has rebounded surprisingly well from an injury that she sustained earlier in 2020.

If Tank can sustain her progress into next week's national meet, then she'll be able to earn the All-American honor that she was likely gunning for back in 2019.

Johnson hasn’t raced since our last update.

Forbes hasn’t raced since our last update.

Born was noticeably absent during the abbreviated fall 2020 cross country season for the Cowgirls. However, during the winter cross country season, she has slid back into the results.

The 2019 All-American began her winter cross country campaign with a solid 15th place finish at the FSU Winter XC Classic. That was a solid result, but it was clearly a rust-buster as she eventually went on to win the OSU Winter Open by four seconds over top-ranked teammates like Taylor Roe and Gabby Hentemann.

Not only that, but the junior also raced at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, recording 3k and 5k personal bests of 9:26 and 16:32, respectively. With Oklahoma State qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships as a team, Born will get the chance to prove that her breakout 2019 cross country wasn’t a fluke and based on her recent results, we have no reason to believe that that is the case.

Magness hasn’t raced since our last update.

Gitahi finished 6th at the FSU Winter XC Classic after having a strong abbreviated fall 2020 cross country season. The junior hasn’t competed at a cross country national meet before, but she was the bronze medalist in the 5k at the outdoor national meet in 2019.

The Alabama runner will be entering the NCAA XC Championships following a recent 15:54 (5k) outdoor effort which is only three seconds off her current personal best. Gitahi will benefit from having her Crimson Tide teammates with her next week and with the rise of Mercy Chelangat, Amaris Tyynismaa and Jami Reed, Gitahi will have great women to work with in an effort to achieve All-American honors.

Lumberjack ace Taryn O’Neill has been consistently at the front of each of her three races this winter cross country season. Since our last update, O’Neill has finished 3rd at the Battle Born XC Challenge and won her first BIG Sky XC title over a top-heavy field which featured numerous national qualifying talents.

In Las Vegas, O’Neill kept pace with the Stanford duo of Ella Donaghu and Zofia Dudek for much of the race until the final stages. At the BIG Sky XC Championships, the Lumberjack junior won the race by nine seconds over three women who has previously (or have currently) individually qualified for the NCAA XC Championships.

O’Neill has experience competing on the national stage after toeing the line in Terre Haute during the 2019 season. However, she faltered a bit during that 2019 postseason. Now, the Northern Arizona star is showing no signs of slowing down and seems ready to deliver on her true potential at the national meet.

After sitting out of the Battle Born XC Challenge for precautionary reasons surrounding a minor injury, McArthur went on to have her best showing at the PAC-12 XC Championships. The senior led the Buffaloes to a 2nd place team finish with her 5th place individual finish. That result was 13 places higher than her 2019 PAC-12 performance and it further solidifies the idea that McArthur is the true low-stick that her earlier races indicated.

This will now be McArthur's fourth cross country national meet, so she is likely comfortable (or at the very least, familiar) with racing in these large, national-caliber fields. When you consider McArthur's extensive amount of experience and pair it with her recent uptick in fitness, we have every reason to believe that the Colorado ace will be a top finisher at the NCAA XC Championships on Monday.

Joining our rankings for the first time this season is Washington’s Haley Herberg following her stunning upset win at the PAC-12 XC Championships. A few weeks prior to her conference meet, Herberg finished 20th at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge which didn’t put her in the conversation for a conference victory (or even a TSR ranking). However, Herberg had different plans on her home course.

The Washington senior established an aggressive pace early on and ran away from Stanford’s Ella Donaghu in the final meters of the race. It was a stunning upset victory as Herberg hadn't shown that she was at that level prior to the PAC-12 Championships.

The Washington Husky was 116th at the NCAA XC Championships in 2019, but after a year of training under Coach Maurica Powell and beating some of the NCAA’s best distance talents in a powerhouse conference, Herberg looks like a dangerous runner to watch heading into the national meet.

But which version of Herberg will we see in Stillwater? The version who finished 20th in Las Vegas? Or the version who upset Donaghu for the PAC-12 title?

Gregory hasn’t raced since our last update.

Vestri hasn’t raced since our last update.

After winning the “B” race at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge, Norris was prepared to take on the top-tier women from New Mexico and Boise State at the Mountain West XC Championships.

When the dust settled, Norris had won her first conference title by five seconds over New Mexico standout Adva Cohen. This performance came after Norris recorded a big 5k personal nest of 16:00 at the Iowa State Classic

Norris was an All-American in 2019 when she finished 39th. However, this time around, she will not be joined by her teammates. Even so, Morris looks like she is the strongest she has ever been and her past experience should only benefit her apparent rise in fitness.

Clairmonte hasn’t raced since our last update.

Roe was strong throughout the course of the abbreviated fall 2020 cross country season, racking up solid individual finishes meet after meet. The Oklahoma State Cowgirls recently competed on their home course one final time before the cross country national meet at the OSU Winter Open and Roe once again gave us a solid finish.

Although she finished 4th behind teammates Molly Born and Gabby Hentemann, as well as Tulsa’s Caitlin Klopfer, this is no point of concern. That was a small dual meet that the Cowgirls were going to win and her main competition came from her own teammates.

The young Cowgirl star proved in the fall and at the FSU Winter Classic that she can keep pace with some of the top ladies of the NCAA. She will be entering the NCAA XC Championships with a recent mile win at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, so that has to give her confidence.

Roe’s ceiling is high and the growth that she has displayed this year makes us believe she is capable of a top-15 finish on her home course.

VanderLende had one chance to prove that she was still a top cross country contender in the NCAA at the FSU Winter XC Last Chance and she did just that. The sophomore dominated the race and led her Michigan teammates to a perfect 15-point score, as well as a qualifying selection for the NCAA XC Championships.

VanderLende won the race by 40 seconds and appears to be in a position to earn her second All-American honor after placing 25th at the 2019 national meet. Her 9:12 (3k) and 15:48 (5k) performances on the track this winter and recent solo effort in Florida proves that she is still capable of being in the upper-echelon of women's collegiate distance runners.

Steelman hasn’t raced since our last update.

Chelangat hasn’t raced since our last update.

Hertenstein hasn’t raced since our last update.

Hasz hasn’t raced since our last update.

Logue hasn’t raced since our last update.

Stanford freshman Zofia Dudek continues to impress in her first NCAA season. Since our last update, Dudek has picked up a 2nd place finish at the Battle Born XC Challenge and a 3rd place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships. She is finishing within spitting distance of star teammate Ella Donaghu and is beating numerous other women who have stellar career resumes and extensive experience.

Dudek is very capable of placing amongst the top-10 women at the cross country national meet in Oklahoma given her recent performances. A lack of collegiate experience hasn't fazed Dudek so far this season and based on her recent results, we don't have a reason to believe that her inexperience will catch up with her at the national meet.

Orton hasn’t raced since our last update. The senior didn’t compete at the WCC XC Championship which can lead us to assume she is still healing from a foot injury. We're unsure if she'll be competing at the NCAA XC Championships, but since she did race at the Oklahoma State Invitational in the fall, she is still eligible to be listed in our rankings.

Although Donaghu placed 2nd at the PAC-12 XC Championships, she still moves up in the rankings given her consistency. Leading up to that conference meet, the Stanford ace had placed 1st at the FSU Winter XC Classic and the Battle Born XC Challenge. Both of these wins were won by at least five seconds over some of the best women in the NCAA. On paper, no one has had a better cross country season this year, winter or fall, than Donaghu.

Seeing Donaghu finish 2nd at PAC-12 XC Championships to Washington’s Haley Herberg was a surprise, but it’s nothing to be concerned about. In 2019, Donaghu also finished 2nd at her conference meet before finishing 8th at the NCAA XC Championships.

The Cardinal senior knows what it takes to compete on the biggest stage and given her resume over the last year and a half, one could argue that she is the overall national title favorite.

Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)

Alison Pray (Southern Utah)

Summer Allen (Weber State)

Lotte Black (Rhode Island)

Maggie Donahue (Georgetown)

Sami Corman (Georgetown)

Anna Pataki (Portland)

Haley Herberg (Washington)

Joyce Kimeli (Auburn)

Melany Smart (Washington)

Maria Mettler (Air Force)

Egle Morenaite (Iona)

Bella Williams (Utah)

Christina Rice (UCLA)

Katelyn Tuohy (NC State)

Allie Schadler (Washington)

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