TSR Collaboration
Feb 711 min
Written by Conor Daly, Kevin Fischer & Gavin Struve
Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.
Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.
TFRRS is used as a general, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the individual has moved in our rankings.
The second number indicates where the individual was ranked in our last update.
20. Sara Stephenson, Senior, Johns Hopkins (Unranked)
Over the last few weeks, we were waiting for Sara Stephenson to produce a truly impressive result and find her way back into our top-20.
Well, lo and behold, it came towards the end of January in the form of a 16:58 (5k) mark. In the process, Stephenson earned an outright victory by nearly a full minute. A 5:02 mile win a week later didn't hurt her case, either.
At risk of shifting our focus towards the postseason too soon, it's seems fair to say that Stephenson's "off" day at last year's indoor national meet was an outlier compared to the rest of her recent history. We anticipate her fortune changing next month, especially if she is climbing towards her peak fitness like her recent results would suggest.
19. Libby Ranocha, Senior, Emory (Unranked)
Make no mistake, Libby Ranocha was already a competitive name at the national level entering this season. She did, after all, qualify for the past two NCAA Championships on the track, both over 800 meters, despite not reaching the finals.
But in 2024, Ranocha appears to have entered a new tier with greater control of her fitness in what appears to be her final indoor track season. We got hints of that improved fitness with 1k and 600-meter PRs to open her season alongside a few relay efforts.
However, a 2:11 (converted) half-mile puts Ranocha right up there with anyone else fighting for silver behind Emma Kelley -- and she hasn't even matched her PR yet this winter.
18. Cyna Madigan, Senior, UW-Oshkosh (+1 / 19)
Cyna Madigan has raced frequently since our last rankings update after roughly a month-and-a-half on the shelf. She finished January with a triple (the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay) before moving on to the 800 meters and the mile.
The UW-Oshkosh standout was competitive in both of the latter events despite not producing seasonal bests in either. And truthfully, it's hard to blame someone who ran so frequently in a short span and already appears to be a safe qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships field in the half-mile, her primary event.
17. Deyanneira Colon Maldonado, Junior, Aurora (-1 / 16)
Not unlike the woman ranked directly behind her, Deyanneira Colon Maldonado did not shy away from racing or experimenting with different events in recent weeks.
The Aurora distance star opened February with a 400-meter effort while also running a leg of the 4x400-meter relay. More impressively, she put herself in the thick of a Division One 3k field a week earlier, producing a 9:43 PR to pair with already-impressive mile and 5k marks from earlier in the season.
That was important for someone who wasn't a shoe-in to reach the indoor national meet in either of those events. And it's that 3k distance where Maldonado seemingly has the best chance of qualifying and likely the best chance of succeeding.
16. Hope Murphy, Junior, Baldwin Wallace (-1 / 15)
Hope Murphy has a dilemma on her hands. The Baldwin Wallace star was an All-American over the half-mile distance at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships. But before then, she was a bronze medalist over 1500 meters at the 2022 outdoor national meet and has contested that distance (or the mile) more frequently than the 800 meters on the national stage.
And while Murphy held a strong 800-meter mark from this January, she just produced what was arguably an even better mile effort with a 4:54 win on Saturday. She won the mile at a much slower pace the previous week and doubled with the 800 meters this past weekend (but struggled).
All of this potentially sets up Murphy for a tough choice between two events that she's adept in (assuming she doesn't throw herself into a notoriously difficult double).
15. Genna Girard, Senior, Williams (-4 / 11)
It doesn't necessarily feel right to move Genna Girard down in our rankings. She is, after all, one of few Division Three women to twice dip under 17 minutes for the 5k this winter. However, at the same time, she hasn't displayed the elite singular marks or dynamism that most of the women ahead of her have.
After a 16:58 (5k) effort in early December, Girard improved her seasonal best to 16:54 in a one-minute win on January 28th. She ran the first effort in a loaded Boston University race and the latter against a far less star-studded field almost two months later.
We're eager to see Girard toe the line against some of her true peers, whether that be at the indoor national meet or before then. And based on recent history, there's a good chance that she'll have us regretting this four-spot drop when that happens.
14. Maddie Hannan, Senior, UW-La Crosse (-4 / 10)
Despite not being able to take home a win in her first race of the season, it’s safe to say that Maddie Hannan returned to her winning ways in short order. In a tightly contested 800-meter race against Division One competition in late January, Hannan just barely edged out her competitors to earn a solid 2:13 mark for 800 meters.
While that was certainly a strong outing, we’re still left wanting a little more from the UW La-Crosse star who began this season at TSR #4. By this point last year, she was running a bit faster. And truthfully, Hannan does not yet have a mark that we feel especially confident will absolutely qualify her for the indoor national meet this year.
To be clear, Hannan is still producing solid performances -- her talent is very much present. However, we’re just hoping to see more of the firepower that she showed in abundance last year.
13. Allison Sibold, Junior, St. Lawrence (-1 / 12)
This past weekend, Allison Sibold took a trip to Boston University to compete with some quality Division One and professional competition in the mile, a distance that she has experienced some newfound success in over the last few weeks. There, she clocked a very fast, but not surprising, 4:54 mile time.
While that outing did not result in a personal best, it solidified Sibold as one of the top milers in Division Three. Her latest effort was a really encouraging sign of consistency which backs up her jaw-dropping 4:49 (converted) mile from earlier in the season.
Despite what this ranking movement may suggest, we actually think and view Sibold slightly higher than we did a fortnight ago.
12. Aubrie Fisher, Senior, Wartburg (-4 / 8)
Aubrie Fisher hasn’t been afraid to race in recent weeks. What's more, she has even stepped out of her comfort zone in her recent competitions.
The Wartburg veteran closed January with a 4:54 (converted) mile to finish just behind fellow star teammate, Lexi Brown. Her raw time of 4:57 was a personal best by two seconds and it showcased some impressive speed for someone who rarely dips below 3000 meters.
The following week, Fisher led off a red-hot DMR which produced an 11:44 result, helping the Knights earn the nation's leading time. A 2:21 (converted) 800-meter double the next day was a sufficient run on tired legs.
Those seemingly “less serious” races show that Fisher has as good of leg speed as we have seen her possess in the past. At this point, we have zero worries that this Knights' veteran will be ready for big-time racing in the next five weeks. However, with a few other women making significant jumps, we ultimately had to move Fisher back a bit.
11. Brigid Hanley, Junior, Emory (-4 / 7)
This Emory veteran is stamping her mark over the longer distances, as if to tell her opponents that she is a new force to be reckoned with after transferring from Division One program, Arizona, ahead of this past fall.
At the Camel City Invitational, Brigid Hanley opened up her 2024 indoor track campaign with a converted 9:43 (3k) mark which was still a bit short of her PR. That, coupled with a fantastic 2023 cross country season, makes her 17:08 (5k) effort from December look a bit soft given that her 5k PR sits at 16:41.
At any rate, Hanley's recent 3k effort was a step in the right direction. She’s showing all of the signs that she’s going to be a problem for her competitors down the line, specifically in March.
10. Megan Johnson, Junior, Central College (+7 / 17)
While Megan Johnson has yet to produce a win this season, it would be unfair to hold that against her. Defeating teammate Caroline McMartin is no small task.
Johnson followed McMartin in a pair of races since our last update. The first was a 3k which resulted in a very strong 9:47 (converted) mark. The second was an equally impressive 4:53 (converted) mile. Those are excellent efforts in back-to-back weeks!
Johnson finds herself with a wealth of options at this point in the season, holding top-10 marks in three different events. That’s a level of scary-good range that very few women in Division Three can match.
9. Maddie Kelly, Senior, U. of Chicago (-3 / 6)
Maddie Kelly left us on the edge of our seats as we awaited for her season opener. And when she took to the indoor oval for the first time, we were certainly entertained. Kelly took home a win over 800 meters, a race that is on the shorter end of her proven range, with a solid 2:14.95 mark.
No, that performance didn't blow us away by any means, but it’s a nice season opener. Not only is it faster than Kelly has ever run this early, but it’s also just over a second off of her personal best.
When Kelly ran her 800-meter PR last spring, she was dropping some really quick metric mile marks. As such, we're led to view her recent half-mile effort as a positive sign, especially as she moves up to her ideal racing distances, the mile and the 3k.
8. Grace Richardson, Senior, NYU (+6 / 14)
Upon seeing a wildly impressive 4:49 mile mark attributed to her name, we knew that Grace Richardson would shoot up our rankings.
Sure, we already knew that Richardson was a national-level competitor in the longer distances, although we would be lying if we said that we saw this performance coming over that distance. After all, it’s only the second mile (or metric mile) effort of her collegiate career.
Richardson now holds the nation's second-fastest time in an event that projects to be somewhat wide-open compared to other distances. When you couple that newfound turnover and opportunity with her cross country successes and a 16:44 (5k) mark from December, Richardson has just as good of a résumé as you’re going to find.
7. Lexi Brown, Senior, Wartburg (-2 / 5)
Wartburg senior Lexi Brown has put together some solid races in the shorter distances since our last rankings update, something that gives her some staying power in our top-10.
Competing at home in two consecutive weeks, she first put up a converted 4:53 mile effort for a win at the Friday Knight Lights. Then, at the Wartburg Indoor Select meet, she had a nice double, anchoring Wartburg’s DMR to an NCAA #1 mark on Friday night with a 4:51 split. She then came back on Saturday with a negative-split 800-meter win for a converted time of 2:15.
It's likely that Brown will contest the 3000 meters at the indoor national meet, so her mile and half-mile results from both this season (and previous seasons) give her an edge over some of the other contenders who might not have as much leg speed.
6. Caroline McMartin, Senior, Central College (+7 / 13)
Caroline McMartin finds herself posted all over the national leaderboards after some big mile and 3000-meter results over the last two weeks. She earned a converted 4:51 mile time at the Wartburg Indoor Select meet last weekend as well as a converted 9:41 (3k) effort the week before to complement a strong 5k result from December.
The versatility that McMartin has established isn’t exactly a surprise given her prior success on both the grass and the track. Even so, it's still nice to see and it serves as a reminder to the whole country that McMartin is extremely dangerous in any distance event. Just ask her teammate, Megan Johnson.
5. Natalie Bitetti, Senior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (-1 / 4)
A 5:03 outdoor mile effort in California (yes, you read that right, and yes, you should be envious of the warmer weather) was Natalie Bitetti’s only race since our last rankings update. And given what she has done over the longer distances, along with her 4:33 (1500) mark from 2022, that 5:03 mile effort appears to be an underwhelming result on paper.
But reality can often differ from what you see on paper.
We also have to consider that Bitetti won that race by 22 seconds. So in retrospect, it's not exactly reasonable to expect an eye-popping mark from that meet. All things considered, while she hasn’t made any big splashes since a 16:33 (5k) effort in her season opener, Bitetti is still very high on our radar and in our rankings.
4. Grace Hadley, Senior, WPI (+5 / 9)
After some really good 5000-meter performances this season, Hadley got her 3k breakthrough to match, running 9:35 at the Boston University Scarlet and White Invite last Saturday. That performance was roughly on par with her 16:39 (5k) mark from the previous week, but it was still a 15-second personal best which you can’t undersell.
We're curious to see if she contests another mile soon. She displayed some serious speed last spring with a 4:30 (1500) result and she looks to be in the best shape of her life at this point.
With the right competition, Hadley will blow her 4:57 mile personal best out of the water and could potentially end up in the top-five, nationally, over three separate distances.
3. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Junior, U. of Chicago (0 / 3)
As can be expected by most athletes in this range of our rankings, Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel enjoyed great success over the last two weeks. She ran a 9:37 personal best over 3000 meters at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic. That was followed by a respectable 4:54 mile mark to finish 2nd overall at Lewis.
Her 4:23 (1500) PR from last spring suggests that she's capable of even more in the mile, but her strength this winter (and this past fall) has been super impressive to observe. And in theory, that puts her in a great spot as we enter the nitty gritty of the season.
2. Emma Kelley, Senior, Washington U. (0 / 2)
Emma Kelley’s last two performances, a 57.12 (400) effort in Terre Haute and a 2:07 (800) win at the IWU Keck Indoor Select meet, don’t exactly tell us anything new about her.
That, of course, isn’t a bad thing. Those were solid races (they would be "great" races for anyone else), and Kelley is showing a level of consistency that will make it extremely difficult for any 800-meter runner in the country to upset her in March.
All in all, our assessment of her stays the same: She’s really, really good.
1. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (0 / 1)
Similar to Kelley, we haven’t learned anything new about Fiona Smith...but we haven’t exactly needed to.
This past weekend, Smith came down in distance to comfortably win both the 800 meters and the mile at the Gopher Classic, although she did so in times that didn’t necessarily jump off the page by her standards (converted marks of 2:18 and 4:50, respectively).
Regardless, we know who Fiona Smith is, and both the 5000 meters and the 3000 meters likely belong to her this winter, barring catastrophe.
Libby Ranocha (Emory)
Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)
KICKED OFF
Riley Capuano (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Rachel Hirschkind (SUNY Geneseo)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Riley Capuano (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Rachel Hirschkind (SUNY Geneseo)
Dale Leonard (Ramapo)
Penelope Greene (SUNY Geneseo)
Hannah Preisser (Carleton)
Audrey Maclean (Middlebury)
Lexi Fernandez (MIT)
Julia Howarth (MIT)
Shaelyn Hostager (Wartburg)
Mckayla Felton (UW-Stout)
Annie Huang (Johns Hopkins)
Elisabeth Camic (U. of Chicago)
Caitlin Jorgensen (U. of Chicago)
Rachel Krouse (UW-Stevens Point)
Rebecca Markham (Hope)
Alessia Sarussi (Washington U.)
Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw (Goucher)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Kate Sanderson (MIT)
Molly FitzGibbons (Williams)
Amelia Lehman (UW-Oshkosh)
Ella Webster (Wittenburg)
Sarah Conant (Johns Hopkins)
Lauren Iagnemma (Case Western)
Elizabeth Csikai (Emory)
Elle Marsyla (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Ellie Meyer (Wartburg)
Kayla Werner (Lynchburg)
Helen Cross (Carleton)
Lucy Gagnon (Williams)
Cat Wimmer (U. of Chicago)
Danielle Schultz (Washington U.)
Faith Duncan (Wilmington (OH))
Kirsi Rajagopal (MIT)
Vivian Kane (NYU)
Chrissy Aman (Bates)
Annessa Ihde (Bethel (Minn.))
Caroline Echols (Washington U.)
Julia Schor (Amherst)
Phoebe Ward (Carleton)
Sophie McManus (Carleton)
Laura Zimmer (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Notes
- N/A