TSR Collaboration
Nov 7, 20229 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin & Eric Baranoski
Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at the NCAA XC Championships or at a singular meet.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.
The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.
It feels weird not to see Celine Ritter at the top of the Gulf South Conference XC Championship result. It feels like she was there forever. However, her absence didn’t mean that the Flames lost a beat. In fact, they still won the team title just like when she was there.
Nowadays, it's Aria Hawkins and Liza Kellerman trying to recreate the dynamic scoring that Ritter and Toni Moore had. And while the Flames still put all of their scorers (Lily Hare, Olivia McLain and Danielle Horter) in the top-10, this team still has a long way to go to be a podium contender.
Regardless, they have been much better than we anticipated them to be this fall and their recent momentum has been very promising.
Their finish at the Louisville Classic seems to best represent their talent this season. This team is built just like Cedarville, although with a few more limitations in the backend of their lineup. Even so, they have some promising varsity contributors and a handful of women who are better than we initially thought.
The Wildcats' varsity lineup didn’t exactly perform how they needed to at the CCAA XC Championships. The final score was 39 points to 52 points in favor of Stanislaus State, leaving Chico State with some room to improve.
Part of that is because the Warriors didn’t leave the door wide open for an upset while the other part is because the Wildcats didn't have enough firepower.
Touching on their depth, senior Marissa D’Atri led the way with a 4th place finish while a slew of fellow teammates followed suit. Iresh Molina placed 10th, Gracie Dupuis 11th and Hannah Tiffany 12th.
And that’s not all! The Wildcats continued to pile in as they went 15-16-17-18-19 in the overall results. So how did they lose? Well, they went 4-10-11-12-15 while Stanislaus State put four women in the top-10 and had their fifth runner place 19th.
Even so, Chico State's depth is very impressive. Our only wish is that they could get a few more front-runners to counter the All-American scoring potency from other top teams around the country.
Somehow, the Yellow Jackets have managed to fly under the radar even though they have won multiple invitationals this year. They were champions at the All-Ohio XC Championships, the Lucian Rosa Invite and the Alabama-Huntsville Festival Year Showcase before winning the G-MAC title this past weekend.
The Yellow Jackets flat-out dominated at their conference meet, totaling a mere score of 20 points to win their second consecutive G-MAC title.
Pack running was the Cedarville staple the other weekend and it has been all year long.
Bursting onto the scene this season is Savannah Ackley. She won her first individual G-MAC grown this past weekend. And the other scorers on this team have been just as impressive. Naomi Herman, Hannah Rhem, Remington Hobson and Alayna Ackley all finished in the top-seven two weekends ago.
The only concerning part of their season thus far has been their performance at the Louisville Classic, the largest field that they faced all season and the one where they struggled the most in.
Their top finisher in that race was only 50th overall and although they had a reasonable time-spread, that type of running isn’t going to help them improve upon their 11th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
Even so, their overall scoring looked fairly compact the other weekend and they seem to have a balanced lineup that could be sneaky-good at the national meet next month.
Should we hit the panic button?
The Vikings only beat Minnesota State by a difference of 12 points. Considering the history and dominance over the years, that was not what we expected. Yes, Augustana hasn’t looked quite as dominant this year by any stretch of the imagination, but the Northern Sun Conference doesn’t boast a crazy number of quality teams like the RMAC does.
That's why we were surprised that their margin of victory was "only" 12 points.
To be fair, they did win and maybe they just had an "off" day, but it was something that we couldn’t ignore as the competition and stakes only get higher from here on out.
We've admittedly been a bit surprised to not see Megan Means firing on all cylinders this fall. After being a top All-American last fall, she finished outside of a scoring position as the sixth woman in Augustana's lineup. She placed 20th overall.
Luckily for the Vikings, their depth came through in the clutch. Both Minnesota State and Augustana had two women in the top-10 and the Mavericks were actually tied with the Vikings at 13 points. But with their final three scorers going 12-15-16, the Augustana women were able to put the race away.
Yes, sometimes you have to win ugly. I get that. But trust that we will be looking at the Central Regional XC Championship results much closer now (assuming that the Vikings run for the win and not just to qualify).
We think finishing 4th at the RMAC XC Championships is an appropriate finish for the Big Red Machine. Since the beginning of the season, they have been led by Katie Doucette and Allison Beasley, two low-stick standouts who have been the focal points of their team.
And this past weekend, that didn’t change.
Doucette place 6th overall which seemed a couple spots from where we could have seen her while Beasley was 9th which is roughly where she has been all year long. She is a consistent top-10 finisher, even at the bigger meets like D2 Pre-Nationals.
Now, the rest of the squad would be the ones to worry about. Leah Taylor was 24th, Gretchen Slattum was 31st and Emma Kjellsen was 44th to round out the scoring. Those lineup gaps aren't entirely ideal.
At the same time, these were probably the best results that we've seen from these three backend scorers this season.
In fact, if you compare their finishes from this past weekend to their Pre-Nationals results, you'll find that Taylor was 24th at RMACs and 13th at Pre-Nats, Slattum was 31st at RMACs and 23rd at Pre-Nats and Kjellsen was 44th at RMACs and 45th at Pre-Nats.
Those are pretty similar finishes considering the difference between the two fields.
So despite placing 4th at their conference meet, we see the Western Colorado women moving up one spot.
Stanislaus State managed to hold off Chico State to win the CCAA XC Championship title with 39 points, although that was fully expected.
Front-runner Kaela Dishion took home the individual title and led three other women into the top-10. Najwa Chouati placed 3rd, showing her increasing fitness level and experience. Kayden Legan and Yahaira Zuniga also had solid performances with their 7th and 9th place finishes, respectively.
The biggest question mark heading into this meet was if the Warriors could rely on Haleigh Humble as their fifth scorer. While not spectacular, Humble placed 19th which was enough to keep the Warriors’ score low enough to beat Chico State. Katarina Borchin placed 31st and Isabela Moreno came in 46th as their sixth and seventh runners.
Stan State has the firepower in Dishion and Chouati, but their lack of depth and consistency in their fourth and fifth scorers has been a concern. Luckily, Humble brought back some reliability and improved placement, but the scoring could play out differently in a larger field.
Regardless of the concerns, Stan State has some of the best low-sticks in the country and has had solid performances throughout the season. They continue to showcase their talent and are looking to have their best finish at the NCAA XC Championships this season.
Due to this, they move up to TSR #5.
UC-Colorado Springs remains at TSR #4 after their 3rd place finish at the RMAC XC Championships. The Mountain Lions went 5-8-19-26-30-31-33 to score 88 points while displaying firepower from their front-runners and depth at the backend of their lineup.
Layla Almasri had a fantastic day with her 5th place finish and Anna Fauske continues to show improvement with her phenomenal 8th place result. Riley McGrath cracked into the top-20 with her 19th place finish and Jessica Madrid placed 26th as the team's fourth scorer.
Molly Breuer led a tight trio across the line with her 30th place finish with Rachel Ritchman and Rachel Goodrich in 31st and 33rd, respectively.
Their usual second or third scorer, Kate Hedlund, recorded a DNF result, but the results show that she was with the front pack through 3000 meters. If you add her into the results between Fauske and McGrath in 14th place, then the Mountain Lions would have likely taken down Colorado Mines to be the runner-up team behind Adams State.
While not a perfect race for the Mountain Lions, they still brought it together without one of their top women making it across the line. They have the firepower in Almasri and Fauske while the backend of their lineup has the necessary depth in a situation that can handle a DNF result.
This performance solidified the Mountain Lions as a top-five team in the country and added to their list of consistent performances.
Colorado Mines remains at TSR #3 after their silver medal result at the RMAC XC Championships. Although they only had one runner in the top-10, they scored 76 points and had a solid pack of four finish in the top-15 to fend off their talented RMAC rivals.
The Orediggers went 10-12-14-15-25 and had a different lineup order than we predicted. Veteran Molly Maskin stepped up as Mines’ top runner with her 10th place finish. Holly Moser was their second scorer in 12th place.
Usual front-runner Zoe Baker finished 14th overall while talented newcomer, Clare Peters, finished 15th. Brin Strouse rounded out the scoring in 25th place. Jenna Ramsey did not race and would have likely been closer to Baker based on her previous performances this season.
While not in their usual order or with a ton of low-stick scoring potency, the Orediggers had a solid race overall and managed to become the RMAC runner-up finishers. The interchangeable scoring shown by Mines theoretically allows them to withstand "off" days and at least gives them some room for error.
Bringing back Ramsey will only help the Orediggers heading into the regional and national meets.
Grand Valley State remains at TSR #2 after their perfect score at the GLIAC XC Championships. The Lakers went 1-2-3-4-5 to score a perfect 15 points and dominate the field.
The runner-up team was Wayne State (MI) with 66 points.
In addition to their perfect score, they also had the 7th and 10th place finishers, taking up seven of the top-10 spots, which shows the incredible depth they have on their roster this year.
Veteran low-stick, Natalie Graber, won the individual title by 21 seconds. True freshman and talented newcomer, Lauren Kiley, was the runner-up finisher. 2021 NCAA XC Championships runner-up, Klaudia O’Malley, earned the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, freshman Abby VanderKooi came in 4th place while middle distance star, Taryn Chapko, rounded out the scoring with her 5th place finish.
In addition to their scorers’ impressive performance, the Lakers had Kayce Rypma in 7th, Madison Ebright in 10th, Landyn Howell in 12th, Grace Pagone in 16th, Sarah May in 18th and Emma Everhart-Deckard in 19th.
While the GLIAC is not quite as competitive as some other conferences in the country, the ability to put 11 women in the top-20 is wildly impressive.
Only one team has more talent and depth than the Lakers, hence their TSR #2 ranking. This performance reiterates the distance powerhouse that is Grand Valley State and solidifies the argument for the Lakers to repeat as the national runner-up finishers in December.
The Adams State women easily won the RMAC XC Championships with a near-perfect 17 points. While not surprising that they won, this performance further validated the overwhelming talent level of the Grizzlies this season.
Adams State didn’t just win the title, they scored only 17 points against three other top-10 teams in the country. Colorado Mines, UC-Colorado Springs and Western Colorado are all highly respected programs who are currently ranked in our top-six. But regardless, the Grizzlies dominated the entire field by going 1-2-3-4-7.
The highlight of Adams State’s lineup was the return of 2019 NCAA D2 cross country individual champion, Stephanie Cotter. She returned to the Division Two scene right where she left -- at the top.
We’ve been patiently waiting for Cotter's season debut and have kept her in our individual rankings based on her history of success and she lived up to our expectations by winning this race. With this performance, she has made a serious case to repeat (although not consecutively) as the individual national champion.
Brianna Robles was the silver medalist and only five seconds behind Cotter, creating a lethal 1-2 punch. Cotter and Robles ran away from the field and finished 40 seconds ahead of the 3rd and 4th place finishers, their teammates Precious Robinson and Emily Schoellkopf.
Nicole Lawrence stepped up after a less-than-ideal race in California a few weeks ago to finish 7th and round out the Grizzlies’ scoring lineup. In addition to having five runners in the top-seven, Adams State had Maggie McCleskey in 11th, Reina Paredes in 18th, Amalia Dorion in 25th and Franziska Althaus in 27th.
This Adams State team has firepower, talent and incredible depth.
They started at TSR #1 and have maintained their position throughout the season. After their dominating win at the RMAC XC Championships, they easily defended their top spot in our rankings.
Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Colorado Christian Cougars
Colorado Christian Cougars
Pittsburg State Gorillas
Biola Eagles
Wingate Bulldogs
Dallas Baptist Patriots
Cal State East Bay Pioneers
Minnesota State Mavericks
Winona State Warriors
CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves
Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles