Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jul 23, 202211 min
Maggie Donahue is basically a different version of Bailey Hertenstein (who we'll get to in a moment). The Georgetown star has risen up the ranks over the years, flexing outstanding reliability on the national stage and delivering strong results in key regular season meets.
A runner-up finish at the BIG East Winter XC Championships, followed by a 32nd place finish at the NCAA Winter XC Championships, certainly validated Donahue as a top-tier name to watch within the NCAA.
Sure enough, she would go on to have a strong spring track season as well as an excellent 2021 fall cross country season.
Last fall, Donahue earned an 8th place finish at Paul Short and later finished an unexciting 26th place at Pre-Nationals. But then Donahue picked up major momentum, winning the BIG East title, placing 3rd at the Great Lakes XC Regional Championships and securing a 30th place All-American finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
Donahue would later post strong personal bests of 15:45 (5k) and 33:05 (10k) during the winter and spring track seasons, validating the success that we saw from her this past fall.
Much like Hertenstein, it's hard to find a flaw on Donahue's resume. She delivered two excellent All-American finishes and has made improvements on the track as well.
Donahue still needs to be better at certain regular season meets, but those results become slightly less important when you have two All-American honors on your resume. That kind of reliability isn't always a given.
The 2022 1500 meter national champion is known for her track prowess, but Vissa holds tons of value on the grass as well.
The Ole Miss superstar was electric on the track this past winter and spring. She ran jaw-dropping marks of 2:01 for 800 meters, 4:32 in the mile, 9:03 in the 3000 meters and 15:56 in the 5000 meters. She also ran 4:04 unattached for 1500 meters earlier this summer.
However, Vissa's 2021 cross country season was also very solid across the board. An 11th place finish at Joe Piane was very strong, although a 19th place finish at Pre-Nationals didn't tell us anything new. A 6th place finish at the SEC XC Championships was an encouraging result.
When you reflect on Vissa's SEC performance along with her regular season results, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she finished as a 33rd place All-American at the NCAA XC Championships.
On paper, Vissa's 2021 fall cross country resume doesn't necessarily blow you away...but it still held tremendous promise. She was consistent, never had a poor race and showed signs of being an elite scorer.
However, after seeing her unbelievable breakout year on the track, it seems fair to say that Vissa is a different (and better) runner now than she was nine months ago. Because of that, we believe that she'll see some natural progression in her results this fall.
That said, we still need her to actually execute on that projected potential. Her cross country resume is strong, but those results aren't the only reason why we have her at TSR #19.
Arguably the biggest women's transfer of the year (so far) has been Bailey Hertenstein to Colorado. The incoming graduate transfer brings years of veteran experience and postseason reliability to a team that just lost tons of firepower.
The former Indiana runner was fantastic during the winter cross country season, finishing a narrow 2nd place at the BIG 10 Winter XC Championships before going to NCAA Winter XC Championships and throwing down a huge 28th place All-American finish.
However, Hertenstein wouldn't race on the grass this past fall. Instead, she would contest the indoor track and outdoor seasons, earning a new 4:35 mile PR and qualifying for the indoor national meet.
But in order to get a full understanding of Hertenstein's cross country prowess, we have to go back to 2019. That year, Hertenstein secured a statement 7th place finish at Joe Piane, placed 16th at the always-loaded Nuttycombe Invitational, earned silver at the BIG 10 XC Championships and then placed 31st at the NCAA XC Championships.
On paper, Hertenstein is one of the more complete distance runners in these rankings. Her reliability as an All-American is extremely valuable and it's not like she's been facing passive competition throughout her years in the NCAA.
It's rare to find firepower that you can always count on, but Hertenstein brings exactly that to the table. Her floor is extremely high (which is a good thing) and it's hard to really find a flaw on her resume.
Admittedly, her national meet results do suggest that she has yet to truly reach the most elite tier of collegiate competition. Placing 28th and 31st on the national stage is extremely impressive, but we opted to put Hertenstein at TSR #18 since her consistency and regular season performances are top-notch.
How can you not be a fan of Samantha Bush? Her meteoric rise over the past year has been beyond impressive and in our opinion, her cross country season wasn't at all indicative of her full potential...and she still had a really good fall season!
A 19th place finish at Joe Piane was a fine (but unexciting) performance. However, Bush then made a major leap at Nuttycombe when she secured a very strong (and very encouraging) 18th place finish.
From there, things only got better for Bush. She landed an 8th place finish at the ACC XC Championships and later went to the cross country national meet where earned a clutch 32nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
But then the track season rolled around and Bush looked like one of the most dangerous runners in the country. The NC State star ran 8:54 for 3000 meters, earned 6th place All-American honors in the event, ran 15:35 for 5000 meters in the spring and placed 10th at the outdoor national meet in the same event.
On paper, Bush's track times suggest that she is going to be a lethal scoring weapon for NC State, so much so that she could outperform this ranking.
There's an argument for Bush to be in the top-15 of our rankings, but we just want to see a little bit more from her on the grass. Make no mistake, her 2021 cross country finishes were excellent, but they weren't quite top-15 caliber.
That, however, is something that we fully expect to change this fall.
If you're a Notre Dame fan, then you're likely not happy with us right now.
Olivia Markezich coming in at TSR #16 is likely not the ranking you were expecting. After all, this is someone who placed 11th at the NCAA XC Championships last fall and later went on to run 9:35 in the steeplechase.
So how on Earth is Markezich not any higher?
Last fall, Markezich finished 74th at Joe Piane, 55th at Nuttycombe and 12th at the ACC XC Championships. If we're being honest, none of those finishes would have put Markezich anywhere near our XC Top 50 rankings.
Yes, it's true, an 11th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships was impressive, but even that result wouldn't have been enough to put this Fighting Irish star in our top-20.
But after seeing Markezich thrive on the track, running times of 9:08 (3k) and 9:35 (steeple), it seems fair to say that she is so much better than her 2021 fall regular season suggested.
Still, we need to actually see Markezich deliver on her potential throughout the entirety of the season. We don't have any concerns about that actually happening, but we think TSR #16 is a good ranking for her until that happens.
Based on last year's results, Calli Doan was expected to be out of eligibility...until Liberty's 2022 cross country roster listed her as a senior for this upcoming year.
Doan may not be the marquee name who you would expect to see in this portion of our rankings, but she is so much better than some people realize. She has steadily produced top-tier cross country results and has been fairly competitive with many of the best women in the nation.
During the winter cross country season, Doan quietly put herself in 13th place at the FSU Winter XC Open, a result which began her string of top-tier performances on the grass. The Liberty standout would later earn silver at the ASUN XC Championships and place 85th at the NCAA Winter XC Championships.
All things considered, that was a pretty good season.
But then the fall season came around and Doan's fitness took a massive leap.
After a solid, but somewhat expected, 7th place finish at Roy Griak, Doan stunned the country by earning a massive 7th place finish at Pre-Nationals. That result validated her past successes and sparked a streak of momentum which she took with her to the postseason.
Doan would go on to win the ASUN title, finish 4th at the Southeast XC Regional Championships and earn All-American honors with a 28th place finish at the national meet.
That was one heck of a season.
Admittedly, trying to rank Doan was a challenge. She is a far better cross country runner than she is a track runner, so we don't have many indicators from the indoor or outdoor ovals to gauge her fitness.
And truthfully, when you look at Doan's breakout season, Pre-Nationals and the NCAA XC Championships are the only significant meets that she contested (depending on how you feel about Roy Griak).
But at the same time...what's not to like?
Sure, her national meet finish could have been a little better for this portion of our rankings, but it was still better than where Donahue, Vissa and Bush finished. Her regular season was also notably better than Markezich and Denner.
Is this the right spot for Doan? Honestly, we're not entirely sure, but we don't have any reason to not put Doan at TSR #15.
When you think about Alabama, you probably think about Mercy Chelangat or Amaris Tyynismaa...and understandably so!
However, this year, the third head of Alabama's "Big Three" could also be one of the flat-out best cross country runners in the nation.
Florema Asekol, a former JUCO runner, began her NCAA cross country career with a pleasantly surprising 2nd place finish behind teammate Mercy Chelangat at Joe Piane.
In the process, Asekol took down the entire NC State program, the entire New Mexico program and numerous names who we have ranked in our XC Top 50.
The rising Alabama star wouldn't race again until the SEC XC Championships. Once there, Asekol wouldn't necessarily match the prestige of her runner-up result from Joe Piane, but a 7th place finish was still very respectable.
Fast forward to the national meet and Asekol would end her season with a 29th place All-American finish. For an Alabama team that was returning (most of) their key scorers in 2022, seeing Asekol's ability to be nationally competitive was a major plus.
The Alabama ace, to our surprise, would then focus on the 1500 meters during the spring. In the event, Asekol would find success, running 4:12 and ultimately qualifying for the outdoor national meet.
For someone who was contesting their first NCAA cross country season, Asekol was pretty darn good. She never had a poor race (which is huge in our eyes), she showed superstar potential and she delivered on the national stage.
Now, admittedly, a 29th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships wouldn't always put someone in the top-15 portion of our rankings, especially when they weren't even top-five in their conference.
However, finishing 2nd at Joe Piane is a flat-out incredible performance. The competition that Asekol took down in that race was/is elite.
While we would certainly like to see Asekol compete at that high of a level more consistently, we at least know that she can reach that point. That's not something that we can say about everyone in our top-20.
Fun fact: A TSR reader recently informed us that Tori Herman and Sam Gilman (TSR #23) were not only high school teammates, but they also lived on the same street in elementary school.
Can you imagine how fast those childhood games of tag were?
One of the biggest breakout runners of the past year has been Tori Herman, a Kentucky star who has flexed star-caliber potential.
Last fall, Herman won the Commodore Classic before finishing a respectable, but somewhat unexciting, 21st place at Joe Piane. Herman's 22nd place finish at Pre-Nationals, while solid, didn't necessarily tell us anything new.
But then Herman earned a pleasantly surprising 5th place finish at the SEC XC Championships followed by a 3rd place finish at the Southeast Regional XC Championships.
Was Herman building momentum at her conference and regional meets before she entered the national meet?
The answer to that question was a resounding, "YES!" as Herman stunned everyone at The Stride Report, dropping a huge 17th place All-American finish at the national meet. Sure, Herman had been solid all year long, but seeing her post that kind of result blew us away.
The indoor and outdoor track seasons were also very kind to the Kentucky star. Herman recorded personal bests of 4:14 (1500), 9:00 (3k) and 15:52 (5k). She individually qualified for the indoor national meet in the 3k and helped her team earn All-American honors in the DMR.
When we look at Herman's resume, it's tough to balance her decent regular season and her incredible national meet finish. However, when you compare her to the other women in our top-20, it's hard to rank them ahead of Herman.
Last fall, Herman beat Asekol twice, had a better regular season and a better conference meet finish (SEC vs ACC) than Markezich and had a better national meet finish than Doan, Donahue, Vissa and Bush.
On paper, Herman has the edge over all of those women.
When she's at 100%, Amaris Tyynismaa is one of the most electric and exciting distance runners in the country. However, over the past year, Tyynismaa has battled injuries.
During the winter cross country season, Tyynismaa stunned the country with an unbelievable breakout performance at the NCAA Winter XC Championships. In Stillwater, Oklahoma, Tyynismaa placed 3rd overall, giving the Crimson Tide a bronze medalist behind Chelangat's gold medal.
The rising Alabama star also validated her breakout season during the winter and spring months. She ran a 15:33 (5k) personal best as well as a 4:09 (1500) personal best. In the 1500 meters, she earned All-American honors.
Going into last fall, all eyes were on Tyynismaa following an incredible stretch of performances. However, a 28th place finish at Joe Piane and an 8th place finish at the SEC XC Championships were her only two results of the season.
After remaining absent for the winter months, Tyynismaa would come back during the spring and slowly rebuild her fitness. She peaked beautifully at the East Regional Championships, running 15:42 and earning a national qualifying spot.
Throughout the year, TSR had noted that Tyynismaa had sustained a minor injury. But as we would later learn, there was nothing "minor" about her injury. In an Instagram post, Tyynismaa explained how a significant ankle injury had hampered her ability to compete.
In her post, she says...
From rolling my ankle I partially tore my anterior talo fibular ligament and calcaneal fibular ligament. I also had severe nerve damage, bone bruising as well as ankle impingement syndrome.
But after a highly promising outdoor track season, it feels like Tyynismaa is back on track...no pun intended.
Still, trying to balance her bronze medal from the NCAA Winter XC Championships and her past year of recovery from an injury (successfully, might we add) is admittedly a challenge.
When you consider that Tyynismaa rallied to qualify for the outdoor national meet this past spring, we feel like she is closer to a truly competitive level rather than a level where she's simply rehabbing. And let's not forget, she has the entire summer to rebuild her fitness.
Yes, we did rank her outside of our top-10, but that's just us waiting to see how she performs and rebounds.
Taryn O'Neill could be a top-five cross country when the fall season is complete.
The Northern Arizona veteran has been flat-out incredible over the last two years. She has risen to an elite tier of competition and has emerged as one of the best overall low-sticks that the NCAA has to offer.
During the winter cross country season, O'Neill broke out in a major way. She won the Silver State XC Challenge, placed 3rd at the Battle Born XC Challenge, won the BIG Sky title and then secured a jaw-dropping 6th place finish at the NCAA Winter XC Championships.
Those results were fantastic...but O'Neill proved to be even better in the fall.
After running 15:36 (5k) during the prior spring, the Lumberjack star took to the grass where she won Paul Short, placed an eyebrow-raising 4th place at Pre-Nationals, won the BIG Sky title and later won her region.
On paper, in just those two cross country seasons, you're probably looking at a top-five name.
But then O'Neill placed 42nd at the national meet, a result that sits just two spots out from All-American honors.
People unfamiliar with O'Neill's resume will look at the 42nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships and assume that a fringe All-American result was on par for her.
But of course, it simply wasn't.
And yet, at the same time, it's not like a 42nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships is a terrible result. To suggest that O'Neill had a total collapse wouldn't at all be accurate.
So how do we rank her? How do we rank someone who had a spotless resume with the exception of her most important race of the year? How do you weigh those results?
At the end of the day, we think this is a fair ranking. O'Neill placing 42nd in the nation is not at all an indication of her true. However, at the same time, a top-10 ranking would feel dismissive of her latest national meet result.
For that reason, we think TSR #11 is a good spot for her.