TSR Collaboration
Feb 28, 202318 min
Written by Maura Beattie, Scotty Loughlin & Finn Birnie
Additional commentary & edits by Garrett Zatlin
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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 guide when determining eligibility.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the athlete has moved in our rankings.
The second number indicates where the athlete was ranked in our last update.
In arguably the biggest track race of her life, Laura Pellicoro took down an elite national-caliber field at the Ken Shannon Invitational this past weekend where she set a new personal best of 4:32 (mile), good for the NCAA #14 spot.
A signature win over talents like Anna Gibson, Juliette Whittaker and Kaylee Mitchell provides a surge of confidence for the Portland star who has now punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships. It also validates the idea that the Pilot ace can run fast while also implementing winning tactics.
Pellicoro has been an outdoor national qualifier over 800 meters before, but the mile has always been her forte, qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event last winter. And while she didn't advance out of the mile prelims that time, her middle distance speed is now more than refined and she should benefit from a year of experience.
For that reason, we have Pellicoro cracking our top-25.
Britton Wilson is a name you probably didn’t expect to eventually see in our top-25 rankings entering this indoor track season -- and to be honest, neither did we.
In 2022, Wilson flexed elite stardom as a sprinter, capturing All-American honors in the 400 meters during the indoor track season and later winning a national title in the 400 meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Razorback icon then turned heads in her 2023 season debut as she set a new NCAA record of 1:25.16 over 600 meters. While it may have seemed outlandish at the time, two of our writers (Scotty and Garrett) posed the question of what an Arkansas DMR could look like with Wilson on the 800 meter leg in our Arkansas Qualifier Preview.
Although Wilson has not joined the DMR crew, she has now become one of the best women who the SEC (and the nation) have to offer in the open 800 meters. After debuting in the distance with a 2:02 mark that put her at NCAA #6, Wilson ran another time of 2:02 at the SEC Indoor Championships, finishing runner-up to LSU’s Michaela Rose.
Wilson’s acclimation to running an entirely new event has been unbelievably impressive. She appears to be primed for an All-American finish this season (in what event, we don't know) and has the ceiling of someday becoming a true title contender.
After a 4th place finish over 3000 meters at the Mountain West Indoor Championships, Amelia Mazza-Downie slides down a few spots.
Given her recent 15:18 (5k) outburst from earlier this month, it was admittedly surprising to see her not take home the conference crown, but a complete drop from the rankings would be unreasonable given the Lobo’s aforementioned 5000 meter mark which sits at NCAA #4.
Heading into the national meet, Mazza-Downie’s stock is still sky-high. She’s at her best in the longer distances and has the hardware to prove it as a 5k All-American from last winter. It would be a poor wager to bet against a top-eight national meet finish happening again for Mazza-Downie in March of 2023.
To no fault of her own, Washington’s Anna Gibson slips back two spots this week. The drop largely stems from a few other dominating performances that deserve a boost.
The Husky senior has been extremely consistent this season in the mile, something that we saw once more this past weekend. On Saturday, Gibson dropped her fourth sub-4:36 mile time this winter, running 4:33 at the UW Ken Shannon Invitational. In that race, she placed 2nd to Portland’s Laura Pellicoro.
And although she didn’t get the win, Gibson was able to hold off late charges from a loaded field that saw seven women run sub-4:35.
If the Husky middle distance ace can carry this consistency into the indoor national meet, then she will surely make the mile finals and could earn a place on the podium, two things she missed out on last season.
The mile/3k double was contested by Alexandra Carlson at BIG 10 Indoor Championships. And in the end, the Scarlet Knight ace was able to walk away with a 1st place finish over 3000 meters and a 2nd place finish in the mile.
Carlson opened day two of the meet in the mile and took on a tough competitor in Illinois’ Olivia Howell. The Rutgers athlete bided her time, sitting in 3rd place halfway through the race, and then made a push to the front for 300 meters. Carlson wasn’t able to distance herself from Howell and had to settle for runner-up honors in a time of 4:36.
A few hours later, and not wanting to lose out on her first BIG 10 title, the Scarlet Knight sophomore went wire-to-wire in the 3k. Speed came into play for Carlson on the last lap as she was able to take down Penn State's Faith DeMars by a mere half-second.
For the most part, this is roughly what we expected from Carlson, although it did feel like some of her races were tighter than expected and that she could have secured gold in the mile. Either way, neither of these results necessarily alter our still-high opinion of her.
On the national leaderboard, the Rutgers athlete currently sits at NCAA #6 (mile) and NCAA #15 (3k). The mile, an event that Carlson has run 4:31 in, is likely the race where she will have the biggest impact.
Of course, we still expect her to contest the mile/3k double.
It was a fairly quiet weekend for NC State distance standout Kelsey Chmiel as she only competed in the 5k at the ACC Indoor Championships.
As suspected, Chmiel came away with the victory over fellow Wolfpack runner Sydney Seymour in a modest time (by her standards) of 15:55 (5k). Sadly, we didn't get to see her toe the line in the 3000 meters, but a composed victory over 5000 meters doesn't alter our already-favorable view of this NC State veteran.
Yes, she drops a few spots in our rankings, but that's more due to performances from some other athletes. However, Chmiel has made her capabilities known and she will certainly be an All-American contender in both the 3k and the 5k.
Rising sophomore star Silan Ayyildiz has been nothing short of spectacular this winter and that’s why she breaks into our rankings for the first time this season. And admittedly, it's a bit overdue.
The South Carolina newcomer has set the track alight in her first collegiate season of competition. Ayyildiz has thrown down some very impressive times while maintaining terrific consistency which ultimately carried her to an SEC silver medal this past weekend in the mile.
Coming into the meet with a 4:32 (mile) PR from earlier this month, Ayyildiz was certainly one to watch in the mile finals -- and boy, did she give Arkansas veteran Lauren Gregory a run for her money.
Coming into the final lap, Gregory tried to pull away, but the young Gamecock distance talent gave her next to no room as they battled down the home straight. Ayyildiz's hard-fought effort gifted with her a new PR of 4:32.14 even if she had to settle 2nd place.
While she may not have come away with the victory, Ayyildiz did show us that she can not only run fast, but that she can also be in the mix with some of the best mile talents that the NCAA has to offer.
For her efforts this past weekend, and for her consistent showings all season long, Ayyildiz has deservedly entered our rankings and has given us good reason to believe that she can be an All-American.
Ducks fly together and that’s exactly what Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott and Klaudia Kazimierska have been doing in the mile and DMR over the past month.
At the Arkansas Qualifier, these two women began their night in the DMR. The Oregon duo acted as the bookends of their relay lineup with Kazimierska on the 1200 meter leg and Thornton-Bott on the 1600 meter leg.
The former ran a lead-off split of 3:17 and the latter earned a huge 4:30 anchor split, ultimately holding off a charging Arkansas team and running a time of 10:49. That is one of the fastest DMR performances in NCAA history.
Now, yes, these DMR splits are stellar, but what Kazimierska and Thronton-Bott did four and a half hours later in the mile was head-turning.
Together, the Oregon duo dropped new mile PRs of 4:32 (each). Kazimierska outleaned Thornton-Bott at the line to win by just shy of four-tenths of a second. These marks have landed the Ducks at NCAA #9 (Kazimierska) and NCAA #11 (Thornton-Bott) on the national leaderboard.
Kazimierska and Thornton-Bott have strong engines and if they contest the mile/DMR double at the NCAA Indoor Championships, recovery probably won’t be a problem for them. Their consistency, durability and flat-out fast times make them a dangerous duo.
And better yet, they both seem to be peaking at the right time.
It was a difficult weekend for Florida middle distance star, Imogen Barrett.
The Aussie opened up her SEC campaign with a solid 3:22 (1200) opening leg on the DMR to give the Gators the lead. That lineup ultimately finished 2nd overall, beating out a fast-finishing Lauren Gregory of Arkansas in the process, but falling behind Alabama.
However, in her main event, the 800 meters, Barrett struggled to showcase the talent that we have seen from her all season long as she slipped back to 7th place, finishing in 2:06.
Yes, the SEC is stacked when it comes to the women's 800 meters, but Barrett has been one of the best competitors in the nation this year, clocking a time of 2:01 (which currently sits at NCAA #4). Naturally, we expected her to be right in the mix.
Even so, there should be no doubting Barrett's consistency, something that we have seen from her over the last few months. But we'll admit, this was one of those rare “off” days for her. This likely won't make a crazy difference in mid-March, but it is something to monitor.
As a result, she slips down our rankings, but we are sure that Barrett will get back to that All-American form that we have seen her produce countless times again.
After breaking over nine minutes for 3000 meters at the Husky Classic earlier this month, Utah's Simone Plourde popped onto our radar as a “Just Missed” athlete in our last update of these rankings.
But this time around, there’s no denying that she deserves a spot -- and a valuable one at that.
The Ute distance star traveled to Seattle yet again this past weekend, this time for another 3000 meter race at the Ken Shannon Invitational. And on this occasion, Plourde improved upon her PR by four seconds, running an incredible mark of 8:53 (3k)!
In the process, she comfortably took down some top-tier competition including Sadie Sargent, Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Ella Baran, Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Emily Venters.
Plourde now ranks at NCAA #6 in what has been a loaded year for the 3k. Her all-in approach at racing solely 3000 meter races has seemed to pay off quite well, and she’ll be a runner her opponents won’t be looking forward to racing at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Not only is she seemingly peaking at the right time, but her 4:36 mile speed could give her an edge at the national meet if/when the race becomes tactical. And truthfully, we think she could probably run far faster than 4:36 in the mile.
Olivia Markezich continues to climb up our rankings due to her incredible consistency during this indoor track season.
The Irish distance star has anchored Notre Dame’s DMR twice since our last update, leading them to clinch the NCAA #8 spot on the national with a time of 10:50 at Alex Wilson Invite. She also helped Notre Dame earn a runner-up finish at the ACC Indoor Championships a week later.
Markezich paired her 1600 meter leg of the DMR with a strong 9:01 (3k) this past weekend, good enough for bronze in the uber-talented ACC. In essentially a race for 2nd place (after Katelyn Tuohy’s dominant victory), Markezich was ever-so-slightly out-kicked by Duke’s Amina Maatoug by less than two tenths of a second.
Despite Markezich finishing behind Maatoug on this occasion, her ability to compete in a championship setting and hold on until the final stride against a top-five ranked athlete deserve a slight bump in our rankings.
There's truthfully not much to say about Mercy Chelangat. But let it be known that she is quietly putting together strong performances and maintaining great consistency.
This past weekend, the Alabama veteran successfully defended her SEC title over 5000 meters in what was a rather routine performance for her. Without Parker Valby in the field, the Crimson Tide star had a very comfortable ride to victory.
Chalangat sat on the pace for 3000 meters and then used that cross country strength of hers to power away from the field to clinch the title in 15:44 (5k), 20 seconds ahead of her next competitor.
The Alabama ace will be one of the athletes likely to contest the 5k/3k double at the upcoming indoor national meet. It’s safe to say that she will certainly be in the running to add more All-American accolades to her always-growing collection.
Florida’s Parker Valby drops back in our rankings this week after remaining absent from both the 3k and the 5k at the SEC Indoor Championships this past weekend.
Looking ahead to the indoor national meet, Valby will only have the one race that can enter, the 3000 meters. She never contested the 5k during the regular season. The Gator star has an 8:49 (3k) PR, but will need to rely on her strength if she wants to win the indoor national title as many of her competitors have more natural leg speed than she does.
Of course, all of this is assuming that Valby will even toe the line a week and a half from now.
Harvard’s Maia Ramsden had it sort of easy at the Ivy League Indoor Championships over the weekend. The sophomore talent opted to only focus on the mile and the 1000 meters. And to no one's surprise, she did just enough to win.
Ramsden bided her time in the mile, waiting until the halfway mark to make her move. And when she did, the race was over as she slowly began to pull away from the field. Her finishing time of 4:41 (mile), flat-track converted, may be well off from her 4:30 mile PR, but she showed some strong racing tactics in that effort.
Less than two hours later, the Crimson ace won the 1k conference title in a quick time of 2:43, matching her PR. And even though that event isn’t contested at the indoor national meet, it was a good tune-up for Ramsden to work on some speed.
The NCAA Indoor Championships could see Ramsden go all-in on one event. But given that she'll be fresh for the mile regardless of whether or not she enters the 3k, we imagine that Ramsden will give the mile/3k double.
As long as she is fresh for the mile, a race that she could possibly win, that's all that matters.
It was a mixed bag of results this weekend for breakout star Hilda Olemomoi after only coming away from the SEC Indoor Championships with one gold medal.
One day one, we saw her drop down in distance to anchor the Crimson Tide to victory, running a very respectable 4:40 split. And for being one of the NCAA’s more distance-orientated runners, this was an impressive showcase of turnover for the Alabama newcomer. It was also good enough to propel her relay to gold in a time of 11:04 (DMR).
Heading into the final day of the meet, Olemomoi was dubbed as the favorite for the 3000 meter title, especially with the absence of Florida’s Parker Valby. Truthfully, it seemed like her path to the title would be somewhat seamless.
However, Arkansas ace Lauren Gregory had other plans and produced an upset over the NCAA #2 runner over 3000 meters
While a silver medal at the SEC Indoor Championships is still a solid performance, it wasn’t the phenomenal result we have come so used to seeing from the Alabama ace which is why she drops back in our rankings.
We have no concerns about Olemomoi’s raw talent. After all, she is listed at NCAA #2 in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters behind Katelyn Touhy.
But tactics and turnover are still a big question mark for this Crimson Tide ace. And when you consider that this will be Olemomoi’s first D1 national indoor meet of her career, it will be interesting to see how she fares in the infamous 5k/3k double.
What a weekend for Taylor Roe!
The Oklahoma State star contested three events, but raced a total of four times over the weekend, running in the mile prelims, the mile finals, the 300 meters and the 5000 meters. Roe would go onto win gold in the 5k, secure silver in the mile and take bronze in the 3k.
Talk about productive...
The Cowgirl star won the 5k in an altitude-converted time of 15:55, taking down the field by a total of 10 seconds. Roe ran this race perfectly, sitting further back in the pack until the halfway point and then eventually picking people off one-by-one until she was completely alone with 1000 meters remaining.
Patience like that could come in handy when she reaches the indoor national meet, although she'll be contesting the 3k and not the 5k.
The mile saw Roe lead for the entirety of the race before being out-kicked by teammate Billah Jepkirui over the final 200 meters. Roe had to settle for her first loss of the day, but was still able to record an altitude-converted mark of 4:37.
In the 3000 meters, Roe settled into the middle of the pack early-on, trying to save her legs for when she knew she had to kick. And by the 1400 meter mark, the Cowgirl star took over the lead. But in the end, she wasn’t able to shake McCabe or Logue.
The two conference rivals passed Roe with less than 400 meters left, leaving the Cowgirl distance talent to settle for 3rd place in her final race of the BIG 12 Indoor Championships.
Obviously, Roe is one of the favorites to win the 3k at the indoor national meet (outside of Katelyn Tuohy) given her resume from last winter. Her tactics and in-race execution make her one of the best racers in the NCAA, although the women's 3k field has never been stronger. How will she fare in 2023 compared to 2022?
I think we can all agree that Lauren Gregory had a terrific weekend.
The Arkansas star showed us why she is one of the best in the business after completing a very impressive triple between the DMR, the mile and the 3k at this year's SEC Indoor Championships.
On opening night, Gregory produced a heroic effort in the DMR to get her team back among the podium finishers. After receiving the baton in 9th place, Gregory breezed past the field, splitting a magnificence 4:29 on the anchor to give the Razorbacks a bronze medal.
But that was only the start of Gregory’s busy weekend.
The mile was an impressive gun-to-take effort as the Razorback clocked a 4:31 mile time to fend off South Carolina’s newest starm Silan Ayyildiz. While Gregory’s win and 4:31 (mile) clocking doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise to us, showing strength to hold off her conference rival still deserves huge credit.
However, arguably the most impressive result from Gregory came over 3000 meters. And that was the Razorback star’s huge upset over Alabama’s Hilda Olemomoi.
Gregory showed off her textbook front-running style, only relinquishing the lead for a short period of time. Her miler speed came in handy as she dropped a 31-second final lap to pull away from her rivals.
Few women hold the overall value that Gregory does. Her ability to run fast times is well documented, but it's her brilliant racing tactics, fantastic consistency and unbelievable durability that makes her such a nightmare for her opponents.
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, Lindsey Butler was not able to win a third-consecutive ACC title in the 800 meters this past weekend. She ended up fading to 4th place in a solid, but not tremendous, half-mile field.
In years past, the beginning of the postseason has been the time when Butler has ignited her season and burst forth as a national title contender. Last season, she rode that momentum all the way to an NCAA title.
It’s uncertain if she simply experienced an “off” day at her conference meet, but we’re forced to drop Butler a few spots for the time being. The defending 800 meter indoor national champion has yet to run anything faster than 2:03 in her two half-mile efforts this winter.
Although her time won’t jump off the page, Ceili McCabe’s ability to win a tactical 3k over three-time BIG 12 cross country champion Cailie Logue, as well as the reigning 3k national champion Taylor Roe, is extremely encouraging for her prospects entering the NCAA Indoor Championships.
McCabe has been able to pair a rocket-fast time of 8:50 (3k) in December with multiple quick DMR splits throughout the season to tighten the screws on her foot-speed. Extending from those attributes, this conference title should silence any doubts about McCabe’s tactics as they complement her elite fitness.
The 3000 meters is still Katelyn Tuohy’s title to lose on the national stage. But after McCabe’s recent performances, she has to be looked at as the favorite to snag silver.
Once again, we are lumping the Stanford middle distance duo of Roisin Willis and Juliette Whittaker together. However, the order is changing this time.
These two star freshmen focused on getting the Cardinal women into position to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, a task that they completed rather easily.
Between Willis on the 800 meter leg and Whittaker on thee anchor leg, the Stanford women went on to run a school record of 10:49 and the NCAA #6 time on the national leaderboard.
Willis split an impressive 2:01 (800) mark during her leg. She is showing her consistency and prowess over the half-mile distance this season and is gunning towards her first national title in the same event in these next coming weeks.
As for Whittaker, she once again showed her strength over the 1600/mile distance this past weekend. Starting the weekend on the DMR, Whittaker ran a solo 4:35 split to give Stanford a national qualifying time. And less than 24 hours later, the freshman phenom matched her 4:33 mile PR by finishing 3rd in the open event.
Right now, Willis and Whittaker are in the conversation to duke it out for the 800 meter national title. They have run absurdly fast this season (posting times of 1:59 and 2:00, respectively) and have been shockingly consistent/reliable despite being so young.
Their youth is a bit of liability on a championship stage, but when you look at the rest of the women in our rankings, we don't see many others who would be worthy of a top-five spot.
Ever since the end of the 2022 cross country season, we have been high on Duke’s Amina Maatoug. And luckily for us, the Blue Devil superstar continues to impress us with her amazing consistency, better-than-expected poise and her dynamic talent.
At the ACC Indoor Championships this past weekend, the Dutch sophomore completed quite the triple between the 800 meters, the 3k and the DMR, finishing no worse than 3rd place in all three distance events.
That is REALLY hard to do.
On the first day of competition, we saw Maatoug close hard on the DMR, running an incredible 4:29 anchor split to lift Duke to the conference title and a national qualifying 10:49 mark. And that was just the beginning of what would come next for the sophomore.
On day three, after running a qualifying time in the 800 meters the day before, Maatoug ran to a new 2:03 PR to finish 3rd place overall. And although that is an impressive performance, the fact that 40 minutes later Maatoug ran 9:01 to finish 2nd over 3000 meters takes the cake.
The Blue Devil stud is individually ranked in the top-18 on the national leaderboard for the 800 meters, the mile and the 3000 meters. Maatoug could be a national-caliber threat in any of these events, but conventional wisdom says that she'll run the mile/3k double.
In our eyes, she's the favorite for the mile national title assuming Tuohy scratches.
Simply put, no other athlete in the NCAA has dominated the 800 meters at the level that Michaela Rose has this season.
Most recently, the LSU ace took down a formidable SEC Indoor Championship half-mile field that featured multiple All-Americans at the distance (Imogen Barrett and Gabrielle Wilkinson) as well as a middle distance star in Britton Wilson (who is still getting acclimated to the 800 meters).
Rose's victorious mark of 2:01 was another resume-builder for the incredible breakout season that she has been having this winter. This conference title felt like a simple business trip for her, and at this point, it’s feeling more and more likely that she’ll be the 800 meters title favorite heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships.
What more can we say that hasn't already been said?
Katelyn Tuohy continues to leave us in awe -- and this weekend was no exception.
The NC State megastar showed us why she is the best runner in the nation after two stellar performances at the ACC Indoor Championships.
On opening night, the NC State standout threw down an unfathomably fast 4:23 anchor split to help the Wolfpack women earn a 3rd place finish in the DMR. After receiving the baton in 6th place and down eight seconds on the leaders, Tuohy showed serious strength and composure to bring her team right back to the podium.
And while she may not have anchored them to victory, a 4:23 split is truly phenomenal. And frankly, the word "phenomenal" probably doesn't do that performance justice.
On day three, Tuohy produced the most casual 8:51 (3k) that we have ever seen. Her race was simply effortless as she effectively soloed her way to an ACC title in the 3000 meters.
Katelyn Tuohy will never cease to amaze us and we don't think it's a shock to anyone that she is staying as our TSR #1 runner. The strength, poise and tactical awareness that she has shown at such a young age is truly breathtaking and we can't wait to see her at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Britton Wilson (Arkansas)
Laura Pellicoro (Portland)
Silan Ayyildiz (South Carolina)
Izzy Thornton-Bott (Oregon)
Klaudia Kazimierska (Oregon)
Simone Plourde (Utah)
Emily Venters (Utah)
Carley Thomas (Washington)
Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Samantha Bush (NC State)
Wilma Nielsen (Bradley)
Emily Venters (Utah)
Carley Thomas (Washington)
Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Samantha Bush (NC State)
Wilma Nielsen (Bradley)
Kelly-Ann Beckford (Houston)
Natalie Cook (Oklahoma State)
Valery Tobias (Texas)
Flomena Asekol (Alabama)
Gabija Galvydyte (Oklahoma State)
Grace Fetherstonhaugh (Oregon State)
Elise Stearns (Northern Arizona)
Ella Baran (Colorado)
Sophie O’Sullivan (Washington)
Riley Chamberlain (BYU)
Olivia Howell (Illinois)
Isabella Giesing (UMass Lowell)
Aurora Rynda (Michigan)
Katherine Mitchell (Boston College)
Annika Reiss (Northern Arizona)
Margot Appleton (Virginia)
Aubrey Frentheway (BYU)
Claire Seymour (BYU)
Esther Seeland (Virginia)
Sadie Sargent (BYU)
Brynn Brown (North Carolina)
Cailie Logue (Iowa State)
Jasmine Fehr (Tennessee)
Taylor Rohatinsky (BYU)
Ruby Smee (San Francisco)
Alena Ellsworth (BYU)
Madison Martinez (Villanova)
Marlena Preigh (Washington)
Hayley Kitching (Penn State)
Sydney Seymour (NC State)
Mia Barnett (UCLA)
Sarah Carter (Colorado State)
Katy-Ann McDonald (Georgetown)
Gracelyn Larkin (New Mexico)
Gabrielle Wilkinson (Florida)
Jenna Schwinghamer (Kentucky)
Bronwyn Patterson (Penn)
Melissa Riggins (Georgetown)
MaLeigha Menegatti (Boise State)