TSR Collaboration
Jan 3110 min
Written by Marissa Kuik & Garrett Zatlin, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
Interested in contributing to our NAIA coverage?
Let us know by sending us an email at contact@thestridereport.com
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.
There admittedly isn't much to talk about when it comes to Jessica Kampman. Her recent 3000-meter effort produced a time of 10:08. And while that's a solid mark, it's not necessarily nationally competitive.
However, Kampman's fantastic 17:20 (5k) race, which still has her sitting at NAIA #3, gives this Dordt veteran plenty of staying power. And while other women may have produced more exciting marks elsewhere, it would be wrong to leave someone as highly ranked in the 5k as Kampman right now.
The analysis that we have for Mollie Gamble is somewhat similar to that of Jessica Kampman. The Taylor veteran has only raced once this season, although that lone contest came over 3000 meters where she produced a time of 10:09.
That's the only result on Gamble's 2024 indoor track resume right now. And given how outstanding she was on the grass this past fall, placing 4th at the NAIA XC Championships, we expected her to be a bit more competitive on the oval.
Of course, it's that proven fitness that leaves us optimistic about what Gamble could do this winter. In theory, she should be a major name in the 5k, especially if she can improve upon her 17:31 conversion from last year.
There isn't necessarily a ton to talk about when it comes to Ellen Palmgren. She put together a 3k/DMR double this past weekend (on a 400-meter track), producing times of 10:17 and 12:01, respectively.
Those are the only performances on her resume. And truthfully, they don't necessarily give us much to analyze. But this Master's runner is a true middle distance standout, holding a 2:10 PR over 800 meters and a 4:29 PR for 1500 meters. In our eyes, anything over a mile doesn't exactly relate what her bread and butter is.
This Evergreen State sophomore has only toed the line for two races this season, but both efforts have been encouraging. The first was a 3k performance at the University of Washington. There, Alauna Carstens ran an excellent 9:53 mark! She later ran a 5:07 mark in the mile, adding even greater value to her resume.
Simply put, Carsten's 3k time was fantastic and her mile effort was solid. She is now listed in the top-12 of both of those events and has seemingly become a legitimate All-American threat in the 3k. If she can continue to build on her momentum, then this sophomore could be a dangerous name on the national stage, especially with respectable turnover.
At a glance, Kylahn Freiberg's indoor track resume is fairly underwhelming. Her recent 5k performance yielded a flat-track converted time of "only" 17:40 and her team's 4x800-meter relay effort is the only other performance on her resume for this winter.
However, what if I told you that Freiberg soloed that 5k performance in a comfortable win over the rest of her teammates? And what if I told you that her team's converted 4x800-meter relay time of 9:08 easily tops the NAIA leaderboard by a heavy margin?
All of that, paired with the fact that Freiberg ran both of those races on the same day, was enough us to keep this redshirt senior in our rankings.
Alright, here's the thing: Rylee Haecker has toed the line for five races this season. In a handful of those races, she has produced a flat-track converted 2:54 (1k) mark and a flat-track converted 5:09 (mile) result.
However, what I haven't told you is that Haecker won all five of her races! That includes another 1k race from December and two relays: one DMR and one 4x800-meter relay.
This Concordia junior is currently undefeated through five races and three meets. She the NAIA #2 time over 1000 meters and has proven in the past to be one of the best half-milers in the nation, an event she hasn't even contested yet.
If someone wanted to rank her a bit higher, we wouldn't argue.
Welcome to our rankings, Veronica Pinkerton! The Hasting junior has looked really solid so far this winter. In her primary event, the 800 meters, the middle distance talent ran 2:23 and later 2:17, the latter mark coming this past weekend.
In retrospect, we probably put too much stock into Pinkerton's recent history on the national stage. She was a top-tier threat in the winter of 2022, but has been working to rediscover her top-half All-American form.
With a 2:13 (800) PR, she still has some ways to go, but we like the progress she is making and how strong her pedigree is. As such Pinkerton now sits at TSR #14 in our top-20 list.
After a very successful last couple of weekends, Ana Pineda makes a big jump in our rankings. This past weekend, the Saint Francis veteran contested the 1k, putting up a time of 2:58 -- good enough for NAIA #4 on the national leaderboard. She also helped her team run a national qualifying time in the 4x800-meter relay.
However, the more impressive stat was Pineda's performance on January 20th in the half-mile distance. In that race, she ran 2:16 which later converted down to a head-turning 2:14 mark for track size. That time puts her at NAIA #2 on the national leaderboard where the top spot is only a few hundredths of a second in front of her.
Pineda already showed huge improvement in her endurance with a stellar time of 17:22 over 5000 meters. Pairing that strength with her versatility in the middle distance events only makes things more interesting for Pineda in terms of what she will choose to focus on.
All in all, her dynamic talent and range makes her dangerous and a huge asset for St. Francis.
After putting together some great early-season times in December in the longer track events, Alex Ebetino worked on her speed to open up the January portion of the season. The Indiana-based St. Francis ran a converted 5:06 in the mile while also running the mile leg for her team in the DMR. She helped her squad to an "A" standard qualifying time in the relay.
Clearly, Ebetino is more inclined to the longer distances, seen in her PRs and what she has chosen to compete in at past indoor national meets. Seeing her work on her speed and some great middle distance times means she is ready to respond to any surges and fast final laps at the national meet. With so many preliminary rounds, those races always become technical and Ebetino is rounding out her abilities in order to thrive in those technical situations.
Unlike some of the other names on this list, Noel VanderWall opened up her season on January 20th -- and she did so with a bang.
VanderWall ran a blazing time of 5:03 in the mile, only a few seconds from her PR of 4:57. Then, the following week, she ran on the anchor leg on the Trojans' DMR lineup, helping them to a converted time of 12:05 and an NAIA #2 spot on the national leaderboard.
On one hand, seeing VanderWall run this fast in the mile is no surprise. That is, after all, one of her better events and she's run even faster before. However, for her to start off this season running this fast this early bodes well for the rest of her winter campaign.
The Taylor sophomore ran a similar time last year around the same time frame, meaning that she is right on track with her impressive performance from 2023. Add that to a solid cross country season, and VanderWall is due for her best indoor track season yet.
Has not competed since our last update.
Though Hannah Fredericks does move down in our rankings, it is more so because of the performances of the other women in front of her rather than any fault of her own.
Regardless, Fredericks still had a great weekend, including being the anchor leg of a wicked-fast DMR team which produced an overall time of 12:01. During the same weekend, she also raced the 3k, finishing in a respectable time of 10:09 -- it was also a new PR.
Though some of her other performances point to her being able to run a faster 3k time, this past weekend was her season opener for the indoor track season. We can definitely look at this meet as a rust-buster of sorts, although there is a lot of value in her DMR efforts as well.
Though Fredericks does drop a few spots, we believe she will move up again once she gets a few more races under her belt.
In December, Alina Boshchuk took over the NAIA #1 spot on the national leaderboard for 5000 meters with a blistering time of 16:58. Since then, she has backed up that performance with a string 9:56 effort over 3000 meters. That performance puts her right in the top-half of the national leaderboard, making her competitive over both the 3k and the 5k.
Admittedly, when you look at her personal best of 16:58 (5k), we were maybe expecting a faster time over 3000 meters. It would also be nice to see her add a bit more speed to her distance-heavy resume. Regardless, Boshchuk she still ran this time on the earlier side of this season and remains as one of the more competitive endurance-centric runners in the NAIA.
Kylie Sauder decided to open up her indoor track season by (slightly) moving up in distance. We like that approach for someone whose primary event is the 800 meters.
Sauder toed the line for a 1000-meter race on January 20th, running a time of 3:02. Then, the following weekend she went up in distance even more, running the mile in a time of 5:05.
Both of these times confirm that Sauder is ready to put together a great half-mile effort. She is only one second away from both her mile and 1k PR, meaning that Sauder is on track to run a similar time to what she did last year over 800 meters.
A big relay competitor, Sauder actually raced only in the DMR and the 4x800-meter relay at last year’s indoor national meet. However, with the encouraging January progression that we're seeing from her, it seems like she is due for a big-time half-mile performance.
What a weekend for Caitlin Dominy!
The Milligan veteran already boasted an impressive time for 3000 meters of 9:50 which she ran in December. After this past weekend, however, she lowered that time to a fantastic mark of 9:45 which is also a new PR. Not only that, but that performance puts her at NAIA #1 on the national leaderboard with a converted time of 9:40!
And if her improvement over 3000 meters wasn't enough, then we should also note that Dominy ran very well on the fourth leg of Milligan’s DMR team, leading them to a national qualifying time.
All of this racing was done on the same weekend.
What we really like about Dominy right now is her strength. She is proving that she can contest multiple events in one day and do it well (something she also proved last weekend).
That is definitely something that she will have to do come championship season. Hence, Dominy makes a big jump into our top-10.
Just like a couple of other women in our rankings, Abbey Shirts opened up her indoor track season this past weekend, running a great time of 5:06 in the mile. This mark is just three seconds from her PR and it converts down to 5:00 for track size. As such, she now sits at NAIA #2 on the national leaderboard.
Talk about a good season opener!
Shirts will have to make a decision on what she will decide to race on the national stage given how dangerous she is between a variety of middle distance events. And of course, that's a good problem to have.
The veteran has a PR of 2:54 for 1000 meters, making her a top candidate in that event. And given that the College of Idaho has so much dynamic talent, the Yotes could put together a handful of lethal relay lineups which could include Shirts.
All in all, with such a great first race, Shirts is setup to have an incredible indoor track season.
Has not raced since our last update.
Has not raced since our last update.
Ellen-Mary Kearney makes a small leap in our rankings this week based off of her stellar performances from this past weekend. Just like her teammate, Caitlin Dominy, Kearney ran the 3k and was a part of that aforementioned national qualifying DMR lineup.
First, Kearney ran a converted time of 9:43 for 3000 meters which places her just behind her teammate on the national leaderboard at NAIA #2. She also ran the first leg of the DMR team, showing strength in her ability to perform well in both races.
Then, the weekend before that, Kearney ran the 1000 meters in an eyebrow-raising converted time of 2:56. That result puts her at NAIA #3 on the national leaderboard. She also ran a respectable time of 2:20 for the half-mile distance, once again demonstrating her durability to double (somewhat effectively) in a single weekend.
Kearney made some great improvements these past two weekends and will look to challenge Voyles in the middle distance events and maybe even her teammate in the longer events.
Following news of Addy Wiley turning pro, someone new sits atop our rankings. I am, of course, talking about Lisa Voyles, an Indiana Tech veteran who has been incredibly special in the middle distance events.
After a fantastic weekend of racing, it is easy to see why Voyles is worthy of this TSR #1 ranking. She owns the NAIA #1 spot on the national leaderboard in both the mile and the 1k. Her times of 4:50 (mile) and 2:50 (1k) from the week before make her the easy national title favorite for those events.
Plus, the season is just getting started, so who knows how many NAIA #1 spots Voyles could ultimately take! We have yet to see her race the half-mile distance this season, but with how these first two weekends have gone, it seems pretty safe to say that Voyles is ready to run very fast over 800 meters. In fact, even before these past two weekends, she ran blisteringly fast over 600 meters in a converted time of 1:32.
Voyles is definitely the queen of the NAIA middle distance events and will be the one to beat this season in any of those events she chooses to race.
Veronica Pinkerton (Hastings)
Rylee Haecker (Concordia (Neb.))
Alauna Carstens (Evergreen State)
KICKED OFF
Addi Dewey (Indiana Wesleyan)
Addy Wiley (Huntington)
Alyssa Bearzi (Milligan)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Reagan Hiebert (St. Mary (KS))
Kahea Figueira (College of Idaho)
Geraldin Correa (Lewis-Clark)
Hasnae Goulamzi (Texas Wesleyan)
Elizabeth Barrett (Indiana Wesleyan)
Maddy Walter-Sherretts (St. Mary (KS))
Addi Dewey (Indiana Wesleyan)
Cailen Jolley (Oklahoma City)
Suzie Johnson (The Master's)
Riley Hiebert (St. Mary (KS))
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Danielle Allison (Tabor)
Ahna Niedeck (Taylor)
Kahea Figueira (College of Idaho)
Haley Nieuwkoop (Cornerstone)
Kate Madsen (St. Mary (KS))
Maria Tirado (William Carey)
Emilee Heynen (Dordt )
Allison Ramsay (St. Francis (Ill.))
Audrey Brinkruff (Taylor)
Emma Timmermans (Hope Int'l)
Notes
- The Stride Report has learned that Alyssa Bearzi (Milligan) will not be racing this season. As such, we have removed her from our rankings.