TSR Collaboration
Nov 27, 202211 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin & John Cusick
Additional edits and commentary by 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.
We could have slid in a handful of teams in here at TSR #10, but we decided to keep the women from Lee (TN) at the final spot in our rankings.
Early in the season, this team was 40 points back of Cedarville (TSR #7) at the Louisville Classic, finishing 11th as a team. And at the UAH D2 Festival Year Showcase, they finished 3rd, only seven points back of Wingate (TSR #9), a group that finished 2nd as a team and 66 points back of Cedarville, who took home the team title.
Winning the title at the GSC XC Championships was expected, as was winning the title at the South Regional XC Championships, which they did so by 18 points over Palm Beach Atlantic.
However, those results have changed since their initial publication.
Aria Hawkins was listed as the 2nd place finisher in that regional meet, although she was later removed from the results with an apparent disqualification. If you factor her result into the team standings, the Flames scored 47 points instead of the official 61 points following her DQ.
Without Hawkins, the Flames’ top-five finished in spots 3-9-12-18-19. That was good enough for the 61 points mentioned earlier, but it also has raised some concerns over the frontend of their scoring lineup.
TSR has learned that Hawkins will not compete at the national meet on Friday, potentially due to a clerical error. The emergence of Hawkins as the Flames' low-stick was massive as this season has unfolded and her not racing will be a very tough loss for this team.
Liza Kellerman, who placed 3rd at the South Regional XC Championships, will have to lead this team after showing improved fitness over the last six weeks. Where she finishes will ultimately cap the ceiling for the Flames on Friday.
But with returners from last year’s national meet such as Lily Hare, Danielle Horter and Olivia McClain gaining another year of experience, it’s possible this team can piece together a top-10 performance on the national stage.
Much like the men of Wingate, the Bulldog women predicate their success on their ability to race together as a team.
Entering this season, we expected to see Lara Orrock and Gemma Rebollo as Wingate's top runners which factored into their early preseason ranking. However, Orrock opted to redshirt this season and Rebollo hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations that we placed upon her.
That ultimately led to the Bulldogs falling out of our top-10, altogether.
Despite all that, the Bulldogs have returned to TSR #9 after strong showings at the UAH D2 Festival Year Showcase (2nd), the SAC XC Championships (1st) and now the Southeast Regional XC Championships (1st).
When the team finished 2nd at UAH D2 Festival Year Showcase, their lineup consisted of Grace Burrell (14th), Amber Scott (17th), Doriane Langlois (21st), Brooklyn Pierce (25th) and Zoe Brickley (28th) all finishing within 16 seconds of each other. That was good enough for 105 points and seven points better than the Lee women.
While the competition level of the SAC and the Southeast region isn’t quite as rigorous as the 34 teams entered in the national meet on Friday, this team still can run as a group to combat the lack of top-end scoring.
If Wingate can come anywhere close to replicating their time-spreads from UAH (16 seconds) or the Southeast Regional XC Championships (22 seconds), then the Bulldogs will be in a very good position to finish inside the top-10 at the national meet for the second-straight year.
The Chico State women are one of the more interesting teams in our rankings.
After an early-season victory over Stanislaus State (TSR #5) at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, we felt confident that the Wildcats would consistently prove that they were a top-10 team. But admittedly, this season has been up and down for the Wildcats. Luckily for them, after seeing their two most recent results, we feel confident that they are moving in the right direction at the perfect time.
The Wildcats finished 2nd at the West Regional XC Championships, just two points behind the Warriors of Stanislaus State. And while it was Mariss D’Atri (3rd) leading the way, their strong finish as a team can also be attributed to Gracie Dupuis (11th), Iresh Molina (21st) and Della Molina (27th) having strong races. Hannah Tiffany (31st) can’t be ignored, either, as all four of these women are major pieces to the Wildcats’ success which limits excessive scoring.
The biggest knock on the Wildcats is -- or was -- their lack of a true low-stick. But if D’Atri continues to race like this, then she fixes that problem rather quickly. After that, the next-biggest challenge is the inexperience that lies within this scoring lineup.
Outside of D’Atri and Dupuis, no one else in this top-five has competed at the national meet. Although, if you bring in Hannah Ryan (45th) and Jaclyn Denham (65th), then that would make it four of these seven athletes who have competed on the biggest stage. The Molina sisters and Tiffany are all freshmen and the pressure to perform well on the national stage will be extremely high.
The Wildcats have shown that they can compete in a large field without an elite low-stick. But now that Chico State has seemingly found their newest low-stick, their success on Friday will simply hinge on execution. If we see performances from Tiffany and the Molina sisters that resemble their early-season efforts, then Chico State will finish inside the top-10 on Friday.
This Cedarville team has quietly risen in our rankings each week and it’s time that we show them the respect that they deserve on the national stage.
The Yellow Jackets have raced five times since the start of October. Their team finishes in those races are as follows: the Louisville Classic (10th, 3rd D2 team), the Lucian Rosa Invitational (1st), the UAH D2 Festival Year Showcase (1st), the GMAC XC Championships (1st) and the Midwest Regional XC Championships (2nd).
It’s safe to say this is a top-10 team in Division Two right now.
The Yellow Jackets' best performance came at the Midwest Regional XC Championships, finishing as the runner-up behind Grand Valley State. Their 73 points is the lowest total score that they’ve posted on that stage as a team since their 2015 regional meet where they tallied 103 team points.
Early-on this season, it was a mixture of Alayna Ackley, Bethany Sholl and Savannah Ackley serving as the low-sticks for the Yellow Jackets. However, Savannah Ackley has since taken the reins of that top scoring position and hasn’t looked back.
This past weekend, Cedarville put five athletes inside the top-20 while maintaining a 21-second time-spread between their five scorers. Savannah Ackley finished 7th place overall, with Naomi Herman (12th), Alayna. Ackley (16th), Bethany Sholl (18th) and Hannah Rhem (20th) all finishing close behind.
The biggest uncertainty that we have for this team going ingto Friday is the time-spread of the first five athletes. So far this season, they’ve amassed time-spreads of 22 seconds (Louisville), 24 seconds (Lucian Rosa), 15 seconds (UAH) and 27 seconds (GMACs).
If they do that again at the national meet, then this team could be the ones who outperform their expectations in a significant way.
Now, this is the Augustana team that we’ve been looking for all season long. It turns out that we just had to wait until Coach Hellman had decided that it was the right time to unleash the full potential of his athletes.
A convincing 58-point victory at the Central Regional XC Championships has us moving the Vikings up a spot to TSR #6 in this rendition of our rankings.
Nicolette Schmidt finished 2nd place overall to give the Augustana women the true low-stick that they’ve been looking for all season long. Megan Means looked more like what we had expected coming into this season as she finished in 7th place and served as the second scorer for this team.
PJ English finished 14th, Mackenzie Gaherty placed 19th and Ella Bakken settled for 21st. All three of those women finished within 20 seconds of each other and their performances helped separate this Augustana team from the rest of the field.
So what does this mean for the Vikings moving forward?
The initial response is that the Vikings are a capable top-five team if everything goes right for them at the national meet. Their 5th place finish at the Bradley Pink Classic, where the field was larger than the upcoming NCAA XC Championships, might be a good indicator of what we should expect from them on Friday.
At the Bradley Pink Classic, the Vikings had three inside the top-40 with Means and Schmidt inside the top-30 and English snagging a 39th place finish. If they could replicate those kind of results, then having three All-Americans would go a long way in getting the Vikings back inside the top-five portion of our rankings.
In 2021, this team finished 3rd at the national meet. We’re admittedly not sure if they have the firepower to keep pace with the rest of this national meet field in 2022, but if all things click simultaneously, then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Vikings with another podium finish in 2022.
The Stanislaus State Warriors stay at TSR #5 after holding off Chico State once again to win the West Regional XC Championships title. They pulled it off with a score of 91 points, but Chico State was extremely close with 93 points.
According to one source, members of the Stan State team were “racing sick” at their regional meet, and based on the results, that did seem to hinder their performances, although not enough to lose to the regional title.
Kaela Dishion did not race like her usual self and placed 5th overall. Najwa Chouati continues to show improvement and was 10 seconds back in 6th place. Kayden Legan managed to squeeze in the top-10 and Yaharia Zuniga had a solid day in 18th. Zuniga has been impressive in her development throughout the season and continues to close the gaps within this lineup.
The Warriors’ achilles heel, their fifth runner, continues to be a concern, but they’ve managed so far. Haleigh Humble was back in 52nd as their fifth scorer, but luckily, the Warriors had enough firepower up front to hold off Chico State’s depth and win the title.
Looking ahead to the NCAA XC Championships, the Warriors have the capability to be a top-five team with two, possibly three, All-American runners in their lineup. Their biggest weakness is their lack of depth and the gap between their front trio and final two scorers. Zuniga has done a phenomenal job closing the gap between her and Legan throughout the season which does make us feel better about placing them inside the top-five of our rankings.
Despite their weaknesses, Stan State is still a top team with a lethal trio and immense firepower via Kaela Dishion.
UC-Colorado Springs stays at TSR #4 after earning bronze at the South Central Regional XC Championships with a score of 84 total team points.
Low-stick Layla Almasri has been sneaky-good this season and had a phenomenal day with her 3rd place finish. Anna Fauske continued her streak of solid performances with her 12th place finish. Meanwhile, the last three scorers for the Mountain Lions ran in a tight pack and were an excellent example of their team’s depth. Riley McGrath led the trio in 21st, Kate Hedlund was 23rd and Rachel Richtman finished 25th to round out the scoring.
The Mountain Lions are a reliable, consistent and balanced team. They have firepower up-front and the depth needed to excel in larger fields. They’ve been consistent all season long and have been steadily improving.
While they may fly under the radar in comparison to Adams State and Grand Valley State, the Mountain Lions have made a strong argument for them to be a top team at the NCAA XC Championships.
Colorado Mines maintain their TSR #3 ranking after a runner-up finish at the South Central Regional XC Championships with 72 total team points, just five points behind Adams State.
Molly Maksin was their top runner in 5th place overall with Zoe Baker not far behind in 7th place. Maksin has improved throughout the season and has really strong momentum heading into the national meet on Friday.
Baker has maintained her role as a reliable front-runner and finished right where we would expect her. Meanwhile, Clare Peters continues to have a solid season with her 13th place finish and Holly Moser was close behind in 15th. The Orediggers' team score took a hit with their fifth runner, Alayna Szcuch, finishing 32nd, but they still got close to beating an Adams State team that didn't look super sharp.
Without Jenna Ramsey in their lineup, the Orediggers are not as deep and a bit more vulnerable, but their front-runners have really stepped up to soften the scoring damage.
Ramsey has been absent from competition since her victory at the Roadrunners Invitational back in September and we can assume she is not racing at the NCAA XC Championships, although that is just speculation.
If the Orediggers still had Ramsey in their lineup, then they would be a title-contending team, but their current lineup is still really strong and they're still a top-three squad in D2 in our minds. Baker and Maksin are phenomenal low-sticks while Peters and Moser as supportive front-runners in their own right.
On paper, their fifth scorer in their lineup is their only weakness, but they'll look to cover that up with their consistent top-four.
The Grand Valley State women stay put at TSR #2 despite a dominant performance at the Midwest Regional XC Championships and a rough outing for our current TSR #1 team.
They scored just 31 points, more than 40 points ahead of the runner-up team in Cedarville (TSR #7). And that result should not be ignored, especially since the Cedarville women are proving to be a much more dangerous team than some people realize.
The Lakers took the individual gold, silver and bronze medals. Klaudia O’Malley won the race, Lauren Kiley was 2nd and Natalie Graber was 3rd. Those three women packed up for most of the race, but O’Malley took off with 1k to go to finish nearly 10 seconds ahead of her teammates.
O’Malley was the runner-up at the NCAA XC Championships last year and excelled in the latter-half of the season leading up to the national meet. Knowing that, this regional race may have been a glimpse of what is coming for O’Malley on Friday.
We have reason to believe that Graber was not racing all-out and that she is likely still the Lakers’ top runner heading into the NCAA XC Championships.
The back of their lineup also ran well, but some familiar names were missing.
Madison Ebright continues to be a consistent scorer for the Lakers and showed improvement with her 11th place finish. Kayce Rypma rounded out the scoring with her 14th place finish and Landyn Howell was close behind in 17th place.
Grand Valley State sat out two consistent scorers, Abby VanderKooi and Taryn Chapko, and still won by an impressive margin. VanderKooi and Chapko have been the Lakers' interchangeable fourth and fifth scorers this season which shows how much depth and talent the Lakers have on their roster.
The Grand Valley State women have talent, experience, depth and firepower. They are a balanced and consistent team with low-sticks in Graber, O’Malley and Kiley. Add in a group of reliable women to fill out the rest of their lineup and it's a recipe for success.
Based on the talent they’ve displayed this season and their consistency relative to other teams, they have built a strong argument for them to potentially win the national title later this week.
Adams State maintains their TSR #1 ranking (although not by much) after a sub-par performance at the South Central Regional XC Championships. The Grizzlies won the team title with a score of 67 points, but it was a lack-luster performance given the level of talent on their team.
Brianna Robles placed 6th, Precious Robinson placed 8th and Stephanie Cotter finished 9th. While having three runners in the top-10 is impressive, these women have shown that they are far better than these results indicate.
Emily Schoellkopf and Nicole Lawrence placed in 20th and 24th place, respectively. The Grizzlies showed they still have an incredibly deep team with Morgan Hykes and Maggie McCleskey in 27th and 28th, in that order.
There’s not much else to say about the Adams State women other than the fact they had an "off" day or decided to relax at the regional meet to prepare for the NCAA XC Championships.
Regardless, we know that the Grizzlies will show up when it matters the most and even an “off" day for them is still winning a highly competitive meet.
Wingate Bulldogs
Western Colorado Mountaineers
Biola Eagles
CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves
Pittsburg State Gorillas
Western Colorado Mountaineers
West Texas A&M Buffaloes
Minnesota State Mavericks
Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles
Colorado Christian Cougars
Dallas Baptist Patriots
Nebraska-Kearney Lopers