TSR Collaboration
Aug 4, 20227 min
Written by Grace McLaughlin and Garrett Zatlin
One would be hard-pressed to find a legitimate critique of Layla Almasri with her impressive string performances during the 2021 cross country season. She was consistent, took down big names and peaked in the postseason.
What's not to like?
Last fall, Almasri took home the win at the UCR 40th Annual XC Invitational and later secured a respectable 26th place showing in the loaded "Gold" section of the Louisville XC Classic.
But her postseason? Well, it was far more entertaining.
After a pair of impressive runner-up performances at the RMAC XC Championships and the South Central Regional XC Championships, Layla Almasri placed 12th last year at the NCAA XC Championships. That is a wildly strong series of results given the insane depth at each of those meets.
However, what was even more encouraging was what Almasri did on the track.
The UCCS standout carried her momentum into the indoor season and placed 8th in the mile, 12th in the 3k and 7th in the DMR at the indoor national meet. During the outdoor track season, Almasri ran personal bests in the 1500 (4:23) and the 5k (16:31).
Almasri struggled a bit at the outdoor national meet, but still produced solid performances with an 11th place finish in the 1500 meters and an 18th place finish in the 5k.
For the most part, Almasri is a dynamic runner who excelled last cross country season. Her track success is VERY underrated, but one could argue that she's still at her best when she's racing on the grass.
And when you consider how effective and potent she was in championship races, it's hard to imagine this UC-Colorado Springs star not following that same postseason peak in the fall of 2022.
Now the real question is...how much better can she get?
If the answer to that question is more than just "a little", then we could be looking at one of the most dangerous distance runners in Division Two come November.
Throughout the past year, Katie Doucette has been flat-out excellent.
Last fall, the Western Colorado star made her way onto the national scene with promising performances at the Chile Pepper XC Festival (5th), the RMAC XC Championships (3rd) and the South Central Regional XC Championships (5th).
Those are some of the most competitive meets that a D2 runner can contest, and Doucette thrived in all of them.
That string of results eluded to a top-15 finish at the NCAA XC Championships, but Doucette ultimately faded to 37th, still earning All-American honors and surpassing her 42nd place finish from 2019.
However, the Mountaineer ace came back with vengeance during the indoor track season. During the winter months, Doucette put together elite result after elite result, eventually peaking at the indoor national meet.
At the NCAA Indoor Championships, she placed 4th in the 5000 meters with an impressive time of 16:08 and then earned a runner-up honor in the 3000 meters with a blistering time of 9:20.
These were two massive PRs for Doucette who clearly peaked for her championship races better than she had before. And while she was not quite as sharp in the spring, Doucette still had a solid outdoor track season, placing 8th at NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000 meters.
If a 37th place All-American finish is the "worst" result that someone has on their seasonal resume, then that's a very good problem to have. This Western Colorado veteran was still very strong throughout most of last fall and one could argue that she wasn't even racing at her peak fitness at that point.
Doucette’s amazing indoor performances and numerous All-American finishes suggests that she can be one of the most elite D2 talents that the country has to offer this fall. For that reason, she jumps into our top-five.
Lindsay Cunningham was undefeated throughout last fall until the national meet.
Oh, and it was first year of collegiate cross country competition.
Not bad, huh?
One might assume that Cunningham's non-national meet success was because she was facing limited competition. That, however, would be incorrect.
Last fall, Cunningham won the "Maroon" race at the Roy Griak Invitational and took down similar high-caliber D2 stars at both the NSIC XC Championships and the Central Regional XC Championships.
In other words, she was tested early and often.
At the NCAA XC Championships, Cunningham placed 7th as just a freshman, proving to the country that her monstrous inaugural fall campaign was no fluke.
The Winona State ace would continue her phenomenal streak of performances on the indoor and outdoor tracks. At those respective national meet, Cunningham earned two top-five All-American finishes and beat several well-established veterans, further cementing herself as an elite D2 star.
During the indoor track season, Cunningham posted a stellar mark of 16:14 in the 5000 meters (at the national meet). She also won the 5k at the historic Drake Relays in a personal best of 16:05. She later ran a 10k PR of 34:08 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Cunningham clearly has the “it” factor. However, maybe more importantly, she has a significant amount of momentum heading into the upcoming cross country season. She is still fairly young and doesn't have an extensive history of collegiate results...which might actually be a good thing.
If Cunningham was so good throughout last year despite being so inexperienced, then what can she do this fall if she delivers on her extremely exciting upside?
This Winona State star has been unafraid to challenge other D2 elites and as she grows more comfortable with her competition, it will be hard to find flaws in her resume.
For that reason, Cunningham sits at TSR #3.
When looking at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships, Klaudia O’Malley is the top returner in Division Two after her runner-up performance.
And of course, when you look at her 2021 cross country season as a whole, one has to think that our TSR #2 spot was the perfect position for her.
Last fall, O'Malley won the Lewis XC Crossover, a quietly strong regular season meet which featured some of the best individual talents in the midwest. That victory made up for her solid, but unexciting, 44th place finish at the Louisville XC Classic.
The Grand Valley State star was later the runner-up finisher at the GLIAC XC Championships and then the 4th place finisher at the Midwest Regional XC Championships.
Although her performances suggested that she could be a top-10 finisher at the NCAA XC Championships, seeing her earn silver was certainly on the higher-end of that spectrum, meaning that O'Malley peaked better for the postseason than we were expecting.
Fast forward to the indoor national meet and the Laker superstar was the runner-up in the mile. She also placed 5th in the DMR, but recorded a DNF in the 3000 meters despite running 9:23 earlier that season.
O'Malley's outdoor performances weren’t quite as strong, but they were still solid results, nonetheless. She ended the spring season with a 4th place finish in the 1500 meters and a 14th place finish in the 5000 meters, both at the national meet. And in our opinion, we don't think that latter result is an accurate display of O'Malley's true talent given her PR of 16:14.
On paper, it's hard to argue against O'Malley. She has marquee wins on the grass, has gained valuable experience over the last few years, has thrown down upper-echelon times on the track and was simply the best returner from last year's national meet.
All in all, O'Malley might have the most complete resume of anyone in our rankings.
However, the only question is, can O'Malley develop enough firepower to the point where she is defeating our TSR #1 runner come November?
Winning the indoor and outdoor national titles in the 5k and being the runner-up in the 10k at the most recent outdoor national meet usually makes any athlete the automatic title favorite heading into cross country season -- and Brianna Robles is no exception.
The best part is that she has even more reasons to be our TSR #1 runner than just those performances.
Robles, the newest Adams State superstar, won the RMAC XC Championships and South Central Regional XC Championships last fall against some of the best athletes that Division Two has to offer. Her 21st place finish at Paul Short, a large meet featuring numerous top D1 programs, was also an encouraging result.
Robles was on an absolute tear last year. And although she didn't have quite the same edge in the Florida humidity at the cross country national meet, ultimately securing a 6th place finish, it's hard to say that she was anything other than outstanding that season.
Sure enough, during the indoor track season, Robles' true dominance began to emerge. The Adams State star won the 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships in a time of 16:00 and later earned bronze in the 3k with a time of 9:20.
The Grizzly ace carried her momentum to the outdoor track season where she ran a remarkable PR of 32:50 in the 10,000 meters and later beat some of the best middle distance runners in the 1500 meters at the Maverick Invite, showcasing her impressive range.
Robles would on to win the outdoor national title in the 5k and settle for runner-up honors in the 10k at that same national meet.
And from that point, it was clear: Brianna Robles is the best D2 distance runner in the country.
It's impossible not to rank Robles at TSR #1. She was clearly the best D2 runner in the best D2 conference throughout last fall. She was still somewhat young, at least eligibility-wise, and that should theoretically allow for her to find even more growth this fall.
And when you begin to factor in her success on the indoor and outdoor ovals, one has to ask...will anyone come even close to beating Robles this fall?