TSR Collaboration
Jan 23, 202311 min
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for D1 women's writers, high school writers and potentially NAIA writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
Written by Marissa Kuik & Grace McLaughlin
Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
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 the rankings.
The second number indicates where the athlete was ranked in our last update.
It is always impressive when you have a runner who can put herself on the national leaderboard in multiple events. And it's even more impressive when a runner does that in the same meet.
Caroline Cunningham ran an impressive double at the 2023 Northwest Open where she posted a mark of 4:56 for the mile and returned later to run 9:54 in the 3000 meters. She currently sits at NCAA #3 for the mile and NCAA #16 for the 3k.
These times will most likely need to be improved upon, but the fact that she ran strong times like that this early in January (on the same day) shows us that Cunningham is incredibly strong. That strength will definitely serve her well if she contests multiple events at the national meet.
Oh, and let’s not forget, Cunningham ran a fast 5k in December and currently sits at NCAA #6 in that event with a time of 16:52. With that kind of aerobic capacity and range, Cunningham could continue to be dangerous throughout the rest of this indoor season.
After a great first weekend of competing -- where Kaylee Beyer ran a respectable time of 5:00 in the mile and earned a small conversion of 4:57 -- the Winona State runner returned this past weekend and ran 2:13 over 800 meters.
That time would earn her a small track-size conversion and drop her time to 2:12, currently landing her at NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard. Her early-season mile time was promising, but we had hoped to see a little more from her in that race given her history in the middle distance events.
However, she delivered this past weekend with an indoor PR for the half-mile distance. She is now just two seconds away from her outright PR of 2:11, increasing our confidence in her moving forward.
With the 800 meter national title wide-open this year, Beyer has a shot at not only making it to the NCAA Indoor Championships, but potentially finishing as an All-American if she chooses to contest (and improve upon) the half-mile event. That improved speed is also promising for her mile time as some added turnover for a 4:50 miler is always a welcomed development.
If you do not recognize Vanessa Aniteye, it is probably because you usually find her competing in the sprint events.
Aniteye finds her way into our rankings this week because of her stellar performance in the 800 meters, recently running a time of 2:10 at the 2023 UW Preview. That mark currently puts her at NCAA #1 on the national leaderboard. It's not too often that you find an athlete who has fast times in the sprint events and the enough strength to put together a nationally competitive effort over 800 meters.
Of course, in Aniteye’s defense, she is no stranger to 800 meters races and has toed the line for that event on a handful of occasions throughout her time on Seattle Pacific’s team. However, this fall was her first time competing in cross country, improved strength that clearly benefitted her in her season opener.
The jump in her 800 meter time this winter definitely could be attributed to this Falcon ace putting together in an aerobic base from the fall months. Aniteye is definitely someone to keep an eye on as she has all of the makings to become a talented 800 meter runner with the upside to battle for a top-eight honor on the national stage.
Natalie Graber has not raced since our last update.
Precious Robinson has not raced since our last update.
Nicollete Schmidt has not raced since our last update.
Lauren Kiley has not raced since our last update.
Molly Maksin has not raced since our last update.
After kicking off her indoor track season in December with a wicked fast 16:26 mark over 5000 meters, a time that has since placed Kylie Anicic at NCAA #1 on the national leaderboard, the Edinboro star returned from winter break by contesting a shorter event.
This time, it was the mile.
Anicic ran a very respectable mark of 4:54 at the YSU Indoor Track & Field Invitational this past weekend. There, she bested the field to secure the overall win. Granted, 4:54 doesn’t necessarily jump off the page compared to other top results around Division Two, but when you remember that Anicic is more of a 5k/10k runner, having sub-five minute mile speed is pretty impressive (and highly valuable).
That speed will greatly help her if any of the races that she contests becomes more tactical, specifically on championship stages.
We knew Anicic was going to be someone to watch this winter, but seeing her back up her cross country success and later post a monster 5k time, we feel confident about moving her up a good bit in our rankings.
Coming off of the best cross country season of her career, Helen Braybrook opened up her indoor track season back in December with a modest time of 5:09 in the mile. That mark was later converted to 4:57 for altitude and track size.
That's a fairly solid result when you consider that she was coming off of a high-aerobic base from the cross country season and is typically better over 800 meters.
After what must have been a productive training block for Braybrook, she officially opened up her indoor track season with a time of 2:13 over 800 meters at the Dr. Martin Luther King Invitational. That result was eventually converted to 2:12 for altitude. She now sits just behind Kaylee Beyer on the national leaderboard at NCAA #3.
Similar to Aniteye, seeing this Thunderwolf middled distance talent run so well on the grass suggests that she has improved her aerobic base. And given her 2:08 PR from the spring months, it’s safe to say that Braybrook will most likely improve in the 800 meters yet again this year...but when and by how much?
With a good base, Braybrook has potential to be an effective miler, meaning that she will likely play a factor in CSU-Pueblo’s DMR team depending on how certain teammates develop. There is also potential for her to move up individually if she continues to progress in the mile.
Going forward, Braybrook should be considered one of the better middle distance talents in the country and so far, she has proven us right.
PJ English has not raced since our last update.
Amanda Montplaisir competed in the 3000 meters this past weekend at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa City. There, she posted a highly encouraging time of 9:41. The Minnesota State standout finished runner-up in that race, settling behind only Wisconsin’s Leah Willemse who out-leaned her at the line.
Seeing Montplaisir open up her season with a 9:41 mark shows us that she is ready to roll this season and that her most recent outdoor and cross country campaigns were no fluke. And more importantly, we know that she can run well on the big stage given her incredible 9th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall.
But for as good as that result, it encouraging to see her back up that cross country fitness with this 9:41 (3) result on the indoor oval. Those two performances may not be the same in terms of caliber, but they're both nationally competitive efforts.
Montplaisir will likely need to improve on that mark by a considerable margin to make a legitimate run at the 3k national title this winter. However, after seeing her set a new personal best by 14 seconds in January, the idea of her being an All-American seems very likely, at least at this moment in time.
This new 3k PR also suggests that Montplaisir can run faster than her current 5k PR of 17:20, potentially making her a two-event athlete at the indoor national meet come March. Of course, how she handles her next 5k race will be the next big test to see where she stands within the Division Two ranks.
Chrissanni May has not raced since our last update.
Zoe Baker has not raced since our last update.
Kate Hedlund has not raced since our last update.
Riley McGrath stays put at TSR #10 in this round of rankings after running an altitude converted time of 2:18 in the 800 meters for a 3rd place finish at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite.
Additionally, in December, McGrath ran an altitude converted mark of 10:15 in the 3000 meters at the UCCS Pre-Holiday Multi.
While these performances are not anything crazy exciting, we can't forget that McGrath is coming off of a 32nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships and was extremely successful on the track last year.
She was 9th in the 1500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and 5th in the mile at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships. She has PRs of 4:47 in the mile, 9:43 in the 3000 meters, 16:36 in the 5000 meters and 2:14 in the 800 meters.
Her season openers were not on par with the talent that we know McGrath has, but as the season progresses, we should see impressive performances from her in the mile, the 3000 meters and even the 5000 meters.
If anything, she's just shaking off some rust.
Ava O'Connor has not raced since our last update.
Katie Doucette does not have a performance for us to analyze in this round of rankings. She recorded a DNF in the 3000 meters at the Western Colorado Open, but we understand that she was pacing her fellow Mountaineer teammates in that event.
Florance Uwajeneza moves down one spot to TSR #7 in this round of our rankings. The West Texas A&M ace ran 5:03 in the mile at the Texas Tech Corky Classic for a 5th place finish in the event. That time would receive a slightly minor altitude conversion to put her at 5:00.
For Uwajeneza, this performance wasn’t necessarily good nor bad, especially since she is a more of an endurance-based athlete. Uwajeneza has also proven that she is more talented than her recent mile time shows, although her overall PR sits 4:59, so this latest result is actually fairly in-line with our expectations.
Not only that, but it's still early in the season, so ultimately, this performance does not tell us much about how the rest of her season will go. If anything, this was just a nice way for the Buffalo ace to work on her turnover and speed.
Uwajeneza was absent last winter, but was 4th in the 3000 meters and 2nd in the 5000 meters at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships. She has been extremely successful on the indoor oval and has momentum from her 5th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
In theory, she's in the best shape of her life and she's firing on all cylinders, she is one of the last people who we would to challenge.
Based on this, it will be much easier to gauge her fitness after seeing her in a 3k or 5k race later this season. Until then, the Buffalo ace sits at TSR #7.
Taryn Chapko moves up two spots in our rankings to TSR #6 due to the versatility and middle distance prowess that she continues to show in her recent performances.
At the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open, Chapko won the mile with a time of 4:56 and was the runner-up in the 400 meters with a time of 1:01. Previously this season, Chapko ran a new 3k PR of 9:41. She currently sits at NCAA #7 in the mile and NCAA #8 in the 3000 meters on the national leaderboard.
Chapko’s main event is the 800 meters and it seems like she is strategically waiting to make her season debut for that specific distance. Still, her performances in other events indicate that she will be even better this year -- and that's a scary possibility for her competitors if that turns out to be true.
The rising Laker star had a phenomenal season last year, placing 5th in the 800 meters at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships and 6th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She currently holds a half-mile PR of 2:07.
With the absences of former heralded middle distance athletes such as Berenice Cleyet-Merle, Alison Andrews-Paul, Yasmine Hernandez, Kelly-Ann Beckford, Katie McCune and Ukeyvia Beckwith, the 800 meter national title race is currently wide-open.
Chapko is the top returner from the NCAA Indoor Championships and based on recent performances and momentum, the Laker ace is the somewhat clear title favorite in the event. She sits at TSR #6 at the moment, but her 800 meter season debut could easily propel her to a better ranking.
Eleonora Curtabbi moves up two spots to TSR #5 after an impressive mile performance to open up her indoor track season. The West Texas A&M veteran ran a new PR of 4:55 at the Texas Tech Corky Classic. Her altitude converted mark of 4:51 currently holds the top spot on the national leaderboard.
The steeplechase star has momentum coming off of her top-10 finish at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall, something that we clearly saw by her recent mile effort. And if she's able to have that kind of success in an "off" distance, then what can she do when she moves up to the 3000 meters and 5000 meters?
Curtabbi is a dynamic runner and given her recent success across a variety of distances, she could pick from a variety of events to focus on this season. She holds personal bests of 2:08 (800), 9:42 (3k) and 16:55 (5k), but based on her improvements shown on the cross country course, she should lower these times substantially this winter.
Despite not appearing at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, Curtabbi earns a top-five spot in our indoor rankings based on her recent performances and the momentum that she has built from season to season.
Klaudia O'Malley has not raced since our last update.
Lindsay Cunningham remains at TSR #3 in this round of rankings after running 9:35 for 3000 meters to win the event at the Bearson-Gathje Classic. Her flat-track converted mark of 9:30 currently sits at NCAA #6 on the D2 national leaderboard.
This was a solid performance for Cunningham considering that she won the race by almost 25 seconds and set a 13-second PR. But based on her performances from last spring and this past cross country season, we think she can run substantially faster.
That being said, it's still early in the season and she will likely focus on the 5000 meters given her talent and success in the longer events. And truthfully, this performance does not tell us much that we do not already know about how talented Cunningham is.
The Winona State ace has improved immensely over the past year and is coming off of an impressive runner-up finish at the NCAA XC Championships. She placed 5th in the 5000 meters at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships and was 4th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Few women have the same incredible momentum propelling her into this current indoor track season that she does.
Brianna Robles has not raced since our last update.
Stephanie Cotter has not raced since our last update.
Caroline Cunningham (NW Missouri)
Vanessa Aniteye (Seattle Pacific)
Emily Schoellkopf (Adams State)
Ukeyvia Beckwith (Embry-Riddle)
Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire)
Aryelle Wright (Colorado Mines)
Madison Brown (Dallas Baptist)
Michelle Kuipers (Colorado Christian)
Anna Fauske (UC-Colorado Springs)
Kayce Rypma (Grand Valley State)
Fiona Hawkins (Adams State)
Morgan Hykes (Adams State)
Courtney McAlindon (Westminster (UT))
Alyssa Becker (U-Mary)
Emily Schoellkopf (Adams State)
Lina Hanich (Academy of Art)
Marian Ledesma (Western Washington
Liz Wamsley (Cedarville)
Maggie McCleskey (Adams State)
Jenna Ramsey (Colorado Mines)
Reina Paredes (Adams State)
Elise Leveel (Charleston (WV))
Megan Means (Augustana)
Lara Murdock (Pittsburg State)
Abby Vanderkooi (Grand Valley State)
Sarah May (Grand Valley State)
Margot Thomas (CSU-Pueblo)
Kira MacGill (Colorado Mesa)