TSR Collaboration
Mar 1411 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 previous update.
20. Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw, Sophomore, Goucher (Unranked)
Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw had an up-and-down regular season that reflected her youth. And despite seeming to have the upside of a top-five half-miler in the nation, her underclassman status meant that she was hardly guaranteed to reach that status in the postseason.
What's more, Thornton-Fillyaw only produced her national qualifying mark in late February and recorded a "DNF" in her last meet ahead of the NCAA Indoor Championships. Even so, she followed Hope Murphy to a 2nd-place finish in her prelim heat and a 2:10.18 PR before finishing within a half-second of that time en route to a 5th-place result in the 800-meter final.
Thornton-Fillyaw finally broke through for a finals appearance and top-end result in her third national meet showing. And now, with tons of momentum in her hands, it appears that the sky is the limit for her with several seasons of eligibility ahead.
19. Shaelyn Hostager, Junior, Wartburg (0 / 19)
You may notice that Shaelyn Hostager's ranking remains unchanged from our last update over three weeks ago. That's a good sign for someone who finished one spot outside of All-American placement in the 5k at last year's indoor national meet.
Hostager broke through on Friday for her first top-eight national meet result in a distance below 10,000 meters (placing 6th) and her fifth overall All-American result. Given that she's even better in the longer distances, we're eager to see what Hostager can do in the 10k (and the 5000 meters on an outdoor track with more space to operate for that matter) later this spring.
And at the very least, the core value of why Hostager sits at TSR #19 is because of how reliable and steady she was this winter. Of course, that's a reputation that she has largely maintained over the last few seasons.
18. Alessia Sarussi, Senior, Washington U. (Unranked)
As one of the more known commodities in the women's 800-meter field this past weekend, it made sense that Alessia Sarussi would produce a top-half finish in the half-mile final.
The Washington U. veteran has been rock steady as of late, losing only to women who reached the indoor national meet over 800 meters in her seven different attempts at the distance this season.
Not only that, but Sarussi has also consistently been at her best when the pressure is highest (on the national stage) dating back several seasons. And now, with a huge 4th place All-American finish on her resume, we can confidently say that this is the best that she has ever peaked for the postseason.
17. Penelope Greene, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked)
Even if Penelope Greene's indoor national meet showing didn't quite match her bronze medal from the 2023 cross country national meet, her previously unranked status suggests that she wasn't necessarily expected to.
Rather, she should be quite happy with a 5th-place finish over 5000 meters after moving up each of the final three laps. That served as her second All-American honor and the continuation of a breakout academic year.
Of course, at the end of the day, the fall months told us that aerobically, Greene is one of the most talented distance runners in all of Division Three. When she channels her best performances, she's very challenging to defeat.
16. Lexi Fernandez, Sophomore, MIT (Unranked)
Despite last weekend being her first-ever double on the national stage, Lexi Fernandez emerged as one of the more valuable scorers among all distance runners at the NCAA D3 Indoor Championships. The sophomore easily advanced to the mile finals where she moved up in the latter-half of the race to finish 5th and near her PR of 4:53.
A day earlier, she split a 4:52 on the Engineers' anchor leg (albeit losing some ground) to help MIT finish 4th in the DMR. And a year earlier, she helped her team finish 10th in the DMR in her debut track campaign. That linear progression should leave Fernandez's competitors scared about the level that she could be at this time next year.
15. Dale Leonard, Freshman, Ramapo (Unranked)
Dale Leonard lost a bit of ground in the back-half of the mile finals, slipping from 2nd place to 4th place over one 200-meter lap midway through. But frankly, we'd probably rather have that outcome than her moving up a couple of places to land in the same position.
The latter scenario may have implied that the freshman left something on the table. Instead, it appears that she put herself at the front of the race early-on and held on for a still-excellent result that she can build on moving forward.
She also maintained composure and held her position after being passed. Talk about uncanny poise for a rookie...
14. Genna Girard, Senior, Williams (Unranked)
The arc of Genna Girard's indoor track season played out in an opposite fashion to her preceding cross country campaign. This past fall, Girard looked like perhaps the best distance runner in Division Three outside of Fiona Smith. But after compiling four-straight wins entering the NCAA XC Championships, she faltered a bit on the national stage with a 33rd-place result.
After a quiet indoor track campaign that was still filled with several wins, Girard produced a strong 4th-place national meet finish in the 5k. She entered the winter with a clear focus, contesting the 5000-meter distance in five of her six races this season and outperforming all but three distance superstars when it mattered most.
That, of course, is what you get from an accomplished veteran.
13. Lexi Brown, Senior, Wartburg (-1 / 12)
Lexi Brown’s indoor national meet was more or less in line with our expectations. A nice 4:51 anchor leg in the DMR moved Wartburg up from 7th place to 5th place, and a 5th place 3000-meter finish the next day (in a personal best of 9:35) was an impressive performance, if not a surprising one.
We didn’t learn too much new about Brown this winter -- we have known the caliber of athlete that she is for a while. However, what we have continued to see is that she more often than not has performed like one of the top talents in Division Three.
And considering that she fell outside of the top-150 at the most recent D3 cross country national meet, that's something that is easier said than done. Her general relaibility deserves a lot of credit in and of itself.
12. Ellie Rising, Junior, George Fox (Unranked)
We’ve known Ellie Rising to be a gutsy racer for a long time and she took that to an extreme on Friday, taking out her 800-meter prelim in 59 seconds. That strategy caught up with her as she closed in 72 seconds, but she managed to hang on just enough to get into the finals.
Rising ultimately finished a very solid 3rd place over 800 meters on Saturday. After not racing on the indoor oval until February, ending up with a bronze medal is a mark of a pretty successful campaign and a lot of momentum heading into the outdoor season.
11. Caroline McMartin, Senior, Central College (-3 / 8)
A 3:35 lead-off leg in the DMR and an 8th-place mile result both seem slightly underwhelming for Caroline McMartin given how successful her regular season was. Of course, the fact that a double All-American finish is leaving us with this feeling is a mark of just how high she has raised the standards for herself.
Even so, she did help the Dutch earn silver in the DMR and there appear to be bigger things on tap for this Central College star in the spring, especially as the steeplechase is added to the fold.
10. Aubrie Fisher, Senior, Wartburg (+1 / 11)
Just like McMartin, Aubrie Fisher will benefit from the steeplechase being added as an event this spring -- perhaps to an even greater extent as she is a two-time national champion in the event.
Even so, Fisher has shown time and time again that she can be just as competitive in the flat events on the indoor oval. Her 4:50 effort for 3rd place in the mile final on Saturday was not only a PR, but represented the highest individual (non-steeple) national meet finish in her illustrious career. It was also her 11th All-American honor in total, further cementing Fisher's status as a legend of Division Three distance running.
9. Megan Johnson, Junior, Central College (0 / 9)
In taking on the classic DMR/3000-meter double, Megan Johnson did quite well for herself. Her 4:48 anchor leg would have been enough to give the Dutch the DMR national title if she hadn’t run into the unstoppable force that is Grace Hadley.
In the 3000 meters, Johnson used a 3:07 split in the final 1000 meters to move up from 11th place to 6th place. She has seen success in every distance from 800 meters up to the 5k this season, and her double All-American weekend is a fitting cap to the winter.
8. Hope Murphy, Junior, Baldwin Wallace (+2 / 10)
This middle distance specialist was as good as any over 800 meters this past weekend. Thanks to a seasonal best in the prelims, Hope Murphy held the fastest qualifying time for the finals. And there, she maintained a strong hold on 2nd place for the entire race with her second red-hot 2:09 half-mile performance of the weekend.
With Emma Kelley considered nearly untouchable, a silver medal was the best finish we could have hoped to see out of Murphy or anyone else. Murphy then looked to add to her national meet success with an unconventional 3k appearance later that day. While that didn’t go exceedingly well, a pair of 2:09 efforts for a runner-up result was plenty to earn a spot in our top-10.
7. Allison Sibold, Junior, St. Lawrence (0 / 7)
After easily advancing out of the mile prelims, Allison Sibold looked as ready as ever in the final. Positioning herself well, Sibold was able to close with the fastest final 200 meters out of anyone in the field and earn a runner-up finish. That’s really impressive for someone competing in their first national meet on the track.
Sibold's 17th-place 3k effort was far from the desired result, but that’s not uncommon considering she ran a mile personal best earlier in the day.
After posting consistently great mile performances throughout the regular season as well as a really strong 3k effort, Sibold's national meet performance was largely to be expected. It was a nice way for her to round out a winter campaign that saw her take a significant step forward.
6. Natalie Bitetti, Senior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (0 / 6)
This Athena ace put her team first this weekend, opting out of the 5k in favor of running the final leg on her team’s DMR on Friday. For much of the race, Natalie Bitetti looked like she was going to run away from the field to take the win, although she was ultimately caught by a pair of women.
That aggressive front running was highly commendable, and while it didn’t work out in the form of a national title (CMS finished 0.31 seconds behind Hadley and WPI), Bitetti was still rewarded with a 4:48 anchor split.
Bitetti returned to the track the following day for the 3k in search of an elusive national title. After leading the first kilometer of the race, Bitetti fearlessly chased Fiona Smith. Although she never caught the cross country national champion, Bitetti was able to grab silver in the event to match her best-ever national meet finish and cap off an impressive weekend.
5. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Junior, U. of Chicago (-1 / 4)
Traditionally seen as a miler, Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel thrived when contesting the 5k/3k double this past weekend. Doing a lot of the leading behind Fiona Smith in the the former event, Battleson-Gunkel finished an impressive 3rd place in that event.
The following day, Battleson-Gunkel matched her 3000-meter bronze medal performance. While that effort was really impressive, we knew top finishes in both events were possible considering she successfully completed the same double a few weeks ago at the UAA Championships.
And frankly, Battleson-Gunkel has a case to be listed at TSR #4 from a points value perspective.
4. Grace Richardson, Senior, NYU (+1 / 5)
While we were a bit surprised to see second-seeded Grace Richardson opt out of the mile at the indoor national meet, she proved that the decision to run the 5k/3k double was a prudent one. With Fiona Smith out of sight for almost all of the race, Richardson began to gain on her in the latter stages, cutting Smith's lead to a mere six seconds with 400 meters to go.
And with a 34-second final lap, Richardson snuck up on Smith, going around her on the final straightaway and nearly grabbing an upset national title. Had she timed her move 30 meters later, Richardson may have pulled it off. The fact that she was so close to doing so is quite impressive in itself.
With that heavy effort in her legs, the NYU ace was unable to challenge for a 3k title the following day in a distance that she is arguably better over. Nonetheless, salvaging the final All-American position marked a very solid double for her.
3. Grace Hadley, Senior, WPI (0 / 3)
This WPI senior had such an impressive weekend that we considered dethroning Emma Kelley from her season-long TSR #2 posting, although we were ultimately unable to justify moving her down.
After cruising through the mile prelims, Grace Hadley got the baton in 11th place out of 12 DMR teams, a whopping 14 seconds away from the lead. She then did the unthinkable, splitting 4:40 over 1600 meters to power her team to a national title.
The following day, Hadley ran away from the mile field to take an eight-second win in a fantastic championship record time of 4:42. While we thought she would surely be tired by that point, Hadley proved this was not the case with a very strong 4th-place effort over 3000 meters.
With four phenomenal races and two national titles on the weekend, it’s easy to see that Hadley’s fitness was monumental enough to handle such an aggressive schedule.
2. Emma Kelley, Senior, Washington U. (0 / 2)
This past weekend was a phenomenal one for Emma Kelley.
The highlight will be her dominant 800-meter victory in a personal best 2:04.13 for her third national title in the event. But she also came through for her team in both relays, running a 2:05 (800) split in the DMR and a 54.40-second anchor leg on her 4x400-meter relay, earning the Bears 6th place and 2nd place finishes, respectively, in those events.
It wasn’t any surprise that the superstar delivered when the lights were brightest, but that doesn’t change how impressive it was that, in her last indoor track race in this uniform, Kelley very nearly willed Washington U. to a team title.
1. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (0 / 1)
Coming in as the heavy, almost untouchable, 5k national title favorite, Fiona Smith ultimately won the event, but not as smoothly as we had expected.
After going to the front from the first lap, the St. Benedict star pulled away from the field by a wide margin. In the latter stages of the race, the 2nd and 3rd-place runners were gaining on her, but seemingly not fast enough to make a bid for the win.
That was, until Smith was surprised by Grace Richardson passing her in the final straightaway. But luckily for Smith, she had time to react and hold off Richardson for the title. The 3k, on the other hand, was much less eventful. That’s to say, it went much more smoothly for Smith. She began to gap the field 1000 meters into the race and did not look back as she took a comfortable six-second win.
It shouldn't come as a surprise at this point that this double national champion maintains our top honor.
Ellie Rising (George Fox)
Genna Girard (Williams)
Dale Leonard (Ramapo)
Lexi Fernadez (MIT)
Penelope Greene (SUNY Geneseo)
Alessia Sarussi (Washington U.)
Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw (Goucher)
KICKED OFF
Deyanneira Colon Maldonado (Aurora)
Libby Ranocha (Emory)
Danielle Schultz (Washington U.)
Brigid Hanley (Emory)
Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)
Cyna Madigan (UW-Oshkosh)
Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Deyanneira Colon Maldonado (Aurora)
Libby Ranocha (Emory)
Danielle Schultz (Washington U.)
Brigid Hanley (Emory)
Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)
Cyna Madigan (UW-Oshkosh)
Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)
Riley Buese (Lewis & Clark)
Paige Phillips (Coast Guard)
Rachel Hirschkind (SUNY Geneseo)
Pria Parker (Smith)
Maddie Kelly (U. of Chicago)
Riley Capuano (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Amelia Lehman (UW-Oshkosh)
Haley Schoenegge (Vassar)
Elisabeth Camic (U. of Chicago)
Rachel Krouse (UW-Stevens Point)
Faith Duncan (Wilmington (OH))
Kayla Werner (Lynchburg)
Megan Bell (Rochester)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Kate Sanderson (MIT)
Caitlin Jorgensen (U. of Chicago)
Helen Cross (Carleton)
Lucy Gagnon (Williams)
Annessa Ihde (Bethel (Minn.))
Julia Schor (Amherst)
Phoebe Ward (Carleton)
Sophie McManus (Carleton)
Laura Zimmer (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Alexa Estes (Connecticut College)
Julia Howarth (MIT)
Mckayla Felton (UW-Stout)
Annie Huang (Johns Hopkins)
Rebecca Markham (Hope)
Emme Koutz (Adrian)
Peyton Steffen (Central College)
Estelle Snider (U. of Chicago)
Allison Dell (Lynchburg)
Kate Cochran (NYU)
Lara Kallem (Simpson (IA))
Janie Cooper (NYU)
Jules Bleskoski (RPI)
Abby Fernald (Connecticut College)
Helena Teixeira-Dasilva (Washington U.)
Notes
- N/A