TSR's 2023 D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): Update #3

Written by Marissa Kuik & Grace McLaughlin

Additional edits and commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve

NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria.

Was not ranked in our last update.

First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.

Western Washington has slowly been on the rise throughout this season and now they finally enter our rankings after an impressive victory at the West Regional XC Championships.

Ashley Reeck has consistently led this squad as a true low-stick, but what has made this team truly dangerous is the rest of the scorers closing the gap toward Reeck.

When the Vikings placed 6th overall at the Lewis XC Crossover, the rest of the scoring five was over 30 seconds away from Reeck. But in their victories at both the GNAC XC Championships and the West regional meet, that gap shrunk to 15 seconds and 25 seconds, respectively.

The improvement of their latter-four scorers, specifically Ila Davis and Marian Ledesma, has catapulted the Vikings into the top-10 portion of our rankings. That collective scoring development has also raised their ceiling during the most important stretch of the season.

9. Cedarville Yellow Jackets (Unranked)

The Yellow Jackets' collective performance at the Midwest Regional XC Championships was the showing that we have been waiting to see from them all season long. On Saturday, they took home a runner-up finish ahead of the highly-ranked Lewis women and were behind only Grand Valley State (TSR #1).

Cedarville was led by a stellar performance from Hannah Rhem who finished 2nd overall and beat all of the very talented women from Grand Valley State (who may not have been going all-out to preserve themselves for the national meet).

To be fair, this performance should not be a total surprise considering that Cedarville did easily win the G-MAC XC Championships with a complete effort. However, we still wanted to see a bit more from this team after they were a ways behind the top Division Two squads early in the season at the Louisville XC Classic.

Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, this performance provided just that. Abby Drosdak and Corinne Lynch have been surprisingly great as of late, complementing the scoring stability of veteran teammate Savannah Ackley.

This is starting to look more and more like the team that finished 7th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

8. Lewis Flyers (-1 / 7)

All things considered, the Lewis women had a great race at the Midwest Regional XC Championships. While finishing a mere five points behind Cedarville is not ideal, the Yellow Jackets have proven to be a formidable team. Plus, we would argue that the Flyers have been the more complete team throughout the entirety of the season.

Lewis really does not have any blemishes on their record and they boast wins over Winona State and Western Washington from their home meet, the Lewis XC Crossover. And despite their recent loss to Cedarville, they largely move down only due to what the team ranked ahead of them achieved.

The Flyers' track record throughout this fall has been more consistent than some of the other teams in these rankings, and that dependability bodes well for this group entering the cross country national meet.

7. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (Unranked)

When West Texas A&M took home the win at the Lone Star XC Championships, scoring only 20 points, they looked like they could achieve something special in the near future. They then backed up that performance at the loaded South Central Region XC Championships, placing 4th overall, only seven points behind Western Colorado.

Eleonora Curtabbi led the way for the team once again, placing 2nd overall, with newcomers Sarah Koomson and Elise Leveel not too far behind in 8th and 20th place, respectively. With low-stick dynamism like that, it's highly plausible that they have yet another special performance in store to end the season.

The Buffaloes have a stellar top-three, and the improvement of their backend scorers makes this team a force to be a reckoned with on the national scene. If the Buffaloes' top stars continue to perform at a high level and their final scorers can continue to bridge the gap to the rest of the scoring squad, then this team could put forth one of its best-ever seasons.

6. Lee (Tenn.) Flames (0 / 6)

Lee (Tenn.) continues to dominate in every championship race that they toe the line for.

The Flames took home another team title at the South Regional XC Championships, finishing with only 28 points. Ever since their solid 6th place finish at the Louisville XC Classic, this team has seemingly gotten better and better.

Aria Hawkins continues to shine as the team's focal low-stick, taking took home the win on Saturday. But what made Lee's latest showing even more impressive was their top-four spread of just 16 seconds! Their final scoring spot, which was another 34 seconds from their fourth scorer on Saturday, is an area that could potentially limit the Flames from the podium.

However, it's almost important to note that Ashlyn Iliff was the team's second scorer at the Louisville XC Classic. If she return to her early-season form, then this is a reliably strong program that capable of putting it all together for a top-five position at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.

5. Winona State Warriors (0 / 5)

Winona State maintains their TSR #5 ranking after unsurprisingly winning the Central Regional XC Championships. The Warriors went 1-3-8-16-24 for a total of 52 points. National title favorite Lindsay Cunningham easily won the individual race and Kaylee Beyer had a strong bronze medal performance as well.

Sophia Taarud continues to improve with each race and has been vital to the stability of the Warriors' lineup structure. McKenna Taylor’s 16th place finish was solid, although she arguably could have been a few spots higher. Kylie Anderson rounded out their scorers in 24th place, providing adequate backend support for a team that relies heavily on low-stick firepower.

This result did not tell us anything that we did not already know about the Warriors as we head towards the cross country national meet. With Cunningham and Beyer providing one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation, and a reliable trio filling out their scoring lineup, Winona State has shown that they are capable of being a top-five team in Division Two.

Now we just need to wait and see if they can deliver the same results in Missouri…

4. Western Colorado Mountaineers (0 / 4)

Western Colorado continues to post impressive results and their overall success this fall has been even greater than what we expected from them entering this season.

The Mountaineers' 3rd place finish at the South Central Regional XC Championships is on par with the talent that we’ve seen from them thus far and it keeps them at TSR #4 heading into the NCAA XC Championships.

As the Mountaineers clinched the final auto-qualifier in almost certainly Division Two's toughest region, Allison Beasley took home the individual bronze and continues to show the NCAA that she is a force to be reckoned with. Teammate Leah Taylor posted a very respectable 14th place finish to give Western Colorado a nice 1-2 combo.

Lauren Willson (25th) and Peyton Weiss (29th) finished close together while the other members of their usual backend pack, Gretchen Slattum (40th) and Jayda Nix (46th), faded a bit further back in the results.

This was a solid performance for the Mountaineers and their stable lineup structure is promising to see with the cross country national meet on deck. That being said, unless their middle-lineup scorers can move closer to Taylor, a backend podium finish appears to be as high as their ceiling reaches this fall.

3. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 3)

As predicted, Colorado Mines placed 2nd at the South Central Regional XC Championships.

The Orediggers went 6-7-10-21-32 for a total of 76 points on Saturday. Clare Peters (6th), Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge (7th) and Holly Moser (10th) had fantastic top-10 performances and gave their team solid scoring potency. Behind them, Molly Maksin (21st) and Grace Strongman (32nd) rounded out the scoring. Riley McGrath (37th) and Margaux Basart (42nd) closed out the team's top-seven.

It is no secret that this Colorado Mines squad has loads of talent and depth, but we're not quite sure that we have seen them at 100% yet.

Peters, Ramsey-Rutledge and Moser have been really solid this fall, but Maksin and McGrath have shown more ability in the past that we haven’t seen reflected this fall. Strongman and Basart have proven to be reliable members of this scoring lineup as well.

With a few All-American favorites, but seemingly no elite top-10 low-sticks, how good can this team be if everyone runs to their full potential on the same day?

2. Adams State Grizzlies (0 / 2)

There’s not a ton to say about Adams State other than they coasted through (more like dominated) the South Central Regional XC Championships and reaffirmed their status as the nation's second-best team entering the NCAA XC Championships.

The Grizzlies scored just 44 points on Saturday as Brianna Robles unsurprisingly won the individual title. Ava O’Connor also continued her streak of successful races with her 5th place finish, but biggest talking point of this team is Elena Carey’s 9th place showing. The Adams State rookie has been solid this season, but this might have been her breakout performance.

Tristian Spence (13th), Emily Schoellkopf (16th), Reina Paredes (17th) and Morgan Hykes (19th) rounded out the team's top-seven varsity group.

The Grizzlies are in great shape heading into the NCAA XC Championships and have a variety of interchangeable pieces in their lineup with a slew of talented women to rely on. Robles’ firepower and O’Connor’s additional low-stick scoring potency has been great to see and Carey's recent rise gives this team a legitimate x-factor to lean on.

All of that high-octane scoring potential, combined with the overall depth of this program, makes the Grizzlies the undisputed TSR #2 team in our eyes.

1. Grand Valley State Lakers (0 / 1)

Even without any individuals in the top-two, the Lakers easily won the Midwest Regional XC Championships with just 28 points.

Grand Valley State put six women in the top-10 while sitting out one of their top runners which just highlights how dominant they are as a group. Their scoring lineup consisted of Natalie Graber (3rd), Klaudia O’Malley (4th), Ana Tucker (5th), Kayce Rypma (7th) and Abby VanderKooi (9th) with freshman Allie Arnsman also narrowly cracking into the top-10.

Usual scorer Taryn Chapko didn’t have her best day, with a 27th place finish, but she was really strong at the GLIAC XC Championships two weeks ago. Sophomore star Lauren Kiley didn’t toe the line, but we have no reason to believe that she won’t be back at the NCAA XC Championships.

Even with those latter two developments, the Lakers still dominated the race and showcased just how deep their squad is. They continue to look like the best team in the country and will soon get a chance to solidify that title in Joplin, Missouri.

West Texas A&M Buffaloes

Cedarville Yellow Jackets

Western Washington Vikings

KICKED OFF

Chico State Wildcats

UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions

Augustana (SD) Vikings

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions

Chico State Wildcats

Augustana (SD) Vikings

CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves

Tampa Spartans

Wayne State (MI) Warriors

Biola Eagles

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Pittsburg State Gorillas

Wingate Bulldogs

Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles

Dallas Baptist Patriots

CUI Golden Eagles

Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks

Mississippi College Choctaws

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