TSR Collaboration
Nov 25, 202310 min
Written by Conor Daly, Kevin Fischer & Gavin Struve
Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
NOTE: These rankings are based on how an athlete fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at the NCAA XC Championships or at a singular meet. You will notice that these rankings may mirror the national meet results, but not precisely. That is intentional. These rankings are intended to be an aggregate. They are not recency lists.
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.
20. Rachel Hirschkind, Senior, SUNY Geneseo (-2 / 18)
Rachel Hirschkind has been consistent and reliable this season, specifically in the championship portion of the fall months. Finishing 115th at the loaded Paul Short “Gold” race was admittedly not that great, but placing 3rd at her competitive home meet and losing only to teammates at the conference and regional stages was a good step forward.
Luckily for her, that didn’t change at the cross country national meet this past weekend.
Hirschkind's 24th place performance was more or less in line with what we expected from her and her success throughout the fall months ultimately culminated in the first non-steeplechase All-American honor of her career as well as a placement in our final top-20 individual rankings.
19. Shaelyn Hostager, Junior, Wartburg (Unranked)
On what was a really rough day for the Wartburg women, Shaelyn Hostager was one of the few bright spots.
The Knights' top low-stick finished 21st, but moves into our top-20 due to having a better resume throughout the fall than some of the other women who finished just ahead of her on the national stage. After all, she ended up being the most consistent low-stick for what we have ranked as a top-10 team.
The Midwest Regional XC Championships was likely her best race of the season, as she finished 4th overall behind only teammate Lexi Brown, Caroline McMartin (TSR #13) and Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel (TSR #8). And although she had a few other solid days, you could argue that the national meet was her second-best performance of the fall months.
18. Riley Buese, Junior, Lewis & Clark (Unranked)
Riley Buese quietly had a really solid regular season, but didn’t face much high-level Division Three competition until the West Regional XC Championships. There, she placed 6th which still didn't necessarily indicate that a top-half All-American finish was in store.
As such, her 17th place finish at the cross country national meet exceeded any reasonable expectations that we had for her. Buese was at her best when it meant the most, elevating herself against the greatest competition that she'd seen yet.
And as a result, she finds her way into our top-20 rankings just in the nick of time.
17. Phoebe Ward, Junior, Carleton (Unranked)
After spending most of the season floating around the “Just Missed” and “Honorable Mentions” sections of our individual rankings, Phoebe Ward finished her season strong with a 16th place finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships to make an appearance among our top-20 individuals.
We knew that this Carleton ace was an All-American-caliber talent, but she ended up a few spots higher than we anticipated, which ended up being highly valuable in a team title race that was decided by just seven points between the four podium teams.
16. Riley Capuano, Sophomore, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Unranked)
Riley Capuano was arguably the biggest surprise of the Division Three women's cross country national meet, running out of her mind to finish 11th place overall and help the Athenas to a podium finish. Make no mistake, we knew that this sophomore was talented, but she actually finished lower at D3 Pre-Nationals (13th) than she did on the national stage!
Capuano was in 32nd place at the two-mile mark, moved up to 14th place with a kilometer to go and passed three more women in the final stretch. In a super deep field with slim margins, she made every second count and recorded a finish that we didn’t see coming.
The CMS ace was mainly a 1500-meter runner prior to this fall, so it will be interesting to see whether that remains the case given her newfound cross country success.
15. Morgan Uhlhorn, Freshman, NYU (Unranked)
After running 10:43 over 3200 meters in high school, this true freshman immediately stepped into the collegiate distance running scene and held her own against the top of Division Three. Translating prep success that quickly is easier said than done, but Morgan Uhlhorn has managed to do so seamlessly.
This standout rookie was a huge part of an NYU team that made a serious run at the national title and she saved her best individual race for last by finishing 15th in the country when the stakes were highest.
Sure, there were a handful of women who had better regular seasons or lead ups than Uhlhorn, but when adding their national meet performance, Uhlhorn had done enough to get her ranking to match her national meet finish.
14. Hannah Preisser, Sophomore, Carleton (+2 / 16)
Hannah Preisser is the top sophomore on this list for good reason. She was a steady pulse for the national champions throughout the fall months.
Preisser was within our top-20 all season long, eventually making us look smarter than we really are by coming across the line in 14th place at the cross country national meet. No, she wasn't able to replicate the firepower of the now-departed Clara Mayfield, but Preisser emerged as the Knights' new low-stick with a large slew of top-five finishes.
She hasn’t missed a national meet in her first four seasons across the grass and track. Let’s see how long she can keep that streak going for…
13. Caroline McMartin, Senior, Central College (+6 / 19)
Although Caroline McMartin was really good all around this season, she didn’t really get the attention that she deserved until the NCAA XC Championships.
The Central College ace lived in the shadow of her Wartburg rivals for much of the season, finishing 3rd at both the Dan Huston Invitational and American Rivers Conference XC Championships. But once she got to the national stage, she showed the nation that she was the real deal with a 12th place run.
When pair that national meet showing with those performances and a more important 4th place finish at the Connecticut College Invite, you can see that we're more than justified in bumping up McMartin to a ranking that better suits her national meet finish.
12. Maddie Kelly, Junior, U. of Chicago (Unranked)
Maddie Kelly was on a roll right out of the gates this fall. Her first few races were fantastic, and she appeared very fit very early-on.
But come the Augustana Interregional, UAA XC Championships and Midwest regional meet, Kelly didn’t look as sharp. Her 7th, 5th and 6th place finishes, respectively, weren’t bad by any means, but they left just a little bit to be desired.
Come the national meet, Kelly looked like her early-season self once again. A 7th place finish was elite. Not to mention, it was huge result for the podium team battle. Unfortunately, Kelly’s inconsistency in the middle portions of the season was a bit too significant to her overall resume to ignore, so we had to put her a handful of spots behind her national meet finish.
11. Audrey Maclean, Freshman, Middlebury (+3 / 14)
A freshman season can't be much more impressive than the one Audrey Maclean just put forth. She was at the front of several top-tier fields throughout the regular season, holding her own (and then some) each go around.
Runner-up finishes behind only Genna Girard at NESCAC XC Championships and the Mideast Regional XC Championships were some of her finest work, although you could say the same thing about her tremendous 3rd place finish at the Connecticut College Invite.
With a complete resume which flexed consistent upper-tier firepower, a 10th place showing at the NCAA XC Championships was somehow not all that shocking. There, she finished ahead of some NYU stars and Brigid Hanley whom she lost to earlier in the season.
10. Genna Girard, Junior, Williams (-8 / 2)
Genna Girard looked to be in top form heading into the cross country national meet. She was undefeated in four outings, including a jaw-dropping 15-second win at D3 Pre-Nationals over the eventual national runner-up as well as a pair of wins over Maclean.
But despite our high expectations for her, we didn’t get to see Girard’s true capabilities shine through on the national stage. She unfortunately had an uncharacteristic "off" day last Saturday, finishing 32nd.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t take much convincing to see why Girard is still one of Division Three’s finest. Just reread the regular season wins that she has to her name. And the fact that she salvaged an All-American finish on her worst day suggests that she still deserves to be comfortably within our top-10.
9. Brigid Hanley, Junior, Emory (+4 / 13)
This University of Arizona transfer had no trouble adjusting to Division Three in her first season at Emory. In fact, she thrived.
Brigid Hanley wasn’t necessarily taking wins every time out, but she was consistently at the front of high-caliber races. Hanley only finished behind some of the best of the best this fall as the only Division Three women she lost to went on to become All-Americans.
Her 8th place run at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships was by far her best performance of the season, but it's not necessarily an outlier result given that she appeared to be a top talent for much of the fall. It's likely her veteran status and experience at the PAC-12 and Division One regional level helped her navigate the race.
No matter what it was, you may be late to buying Brigid Hanley stock...although it can seemingly go nowhere but up right now.
8. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Junior, U. of Chicago (-4 / 4)
Coming into the season, we really didn’t know what to expect out of Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel. While she had only a single collegiate cross country race to her name, her track times suggested that she could be a top-flight runner on the grass as well.
And as much as we had hoped that she could translate her success to the fall months, it doesn’t always work out so perfectly.
For the most part, this U. of Chicago junior left no doubt that she would fare just fine on the cross country course. She possessed one of the best resumes heading into the NCAA XC Championships, highlighted by a win at the Augustana Interregional and a runner-up finish at the UAA XC Championships.
However, Battleson-Gunkel went on to have an "okay" day at the national meet by her new standards, finishing 13th overall. Ultimately, it’s her high-level consistency in elite D3 fields that keeps her ranking a good bit above that final finish.
7. Sara Stephenson, Senior, Johns Hopkins (0 / 7)
It was comparably difficult to gauge Sara Stephenson's standing among the nation's best throughout this fall. That's because she didn't race at a ton of high-level D3 meets and didn't look her best early-on at Paul Short.
But we had little doubt that this Blue Jay ace would come through in the postseason. And sure enough, the proven veteran did just that, finishing 6th place overall for a second-straight top-10 All-American finish on the grass.
Stephenson sits behind one woman in our rankings who fared worse on the national stage. That's simply because Stephenson's regular season resume, while good, wasn't as fleshed out as some other elite individuals.
6. Grace Richardson, Senior, NYU (-3 / 3)
Grace Richardson is that aforementioned individual who remains above Stephenson by virtue of having a more complete seasonal resume.
Of course, it's not like this breakout star's 9th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships finish was "bad" by any means. It just didn't quite match what her previously lofty ranking suggested she was capable of.
Nonetheless, Richardson put together a season to be proud of. Not only did she reach a new tier of competitiveness, but she was consistent while facing a new level of expectations. Her season was highlighted by a top-10 national meet finish, a UAA conference title, a runner-up finish at the Connecticut College Invitational and 3rd at the Paul Short "Brown" race.
5. Carolyn Shult, Junior, UW-Eau Claire (0 / 5)
It became evident relatively early-on that Carolyn Shult was in store for a special season, not to mention her first All-American honor. And just as we suspected, she delivered upon that expectation while seemingly raising her stock with each passing race.
Shult finished runner-up at the Augustana Interregional, won the WIAC XC Championships and matched her ranking with a 5th place result at the cross country national meet. This Blugold star didn't need to peak for the postseason or build momentum. That, however, was only because she was exceptional from the very start of the season and maintained her fitness across three different months.
4. Grace Hadley, Senior, WPI (+6 / 10)
Grace Hadley enjoyed a very similar breakout season to Shult in that she was excellent throughout and no race was all that much better or worse than the next.
But we're not proud to admit that we we didn't see her as a top-five talent until she stamped her status as just that at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Hadley won her season opener, as well as her conference and regional meets, finished 3rd at D3 Pre-Nationals and capped her season with a 4th place result on the national stage.
What's more, she did so without any star teammates to effectively push her throughout the season. And while we often debate the nuances of regular season results vs national meet efforts, there isn't anything on Hadley's resume to suggest that she wasn't truly the fourth-best runner in Division Three.
3. Penelope Greene, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (+3 / 6)
It's hard not to be happy for Penelope Greene who had one of the best rebounds from last fall to this season one of anyone in the country. The Knight star was nearly an All-American in 2021 before missing the cross country national meet altogether in 2022.
However, this season, she opened her fall campaign modestly before piecing together three-straight wins entering the national meet, including a victory at her competitive home meet. The momentum and confidence that she built seemed to serve her well on the national stage where she snagged the individual bronze medal.
We knew that Green was capable of something similar to that performance, but to see her actualize it was all the more impressive.
2. Natalie Bitetti, Junior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (+7 / 9)
Natalie Bitetti felt due for a top-10 finish after consecutive All-American runs on the grass. And while the back-half of her season — two wins and a runner-up showing at D3 Pre-Nationals — suggested that she was in store for just that, a runner-up performance at the 2023 cross country national meet was still on the higher end of our expectations for this Athena ace.
It's hard to argue with Bitetti's resume or reliability. This experienced star seems just as comfortable leading a race in which she's the top talent or competing toward the front of a highly competitive field.
1. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (0 / 1)
Was there every any doubt?
Fiona Smith was the class of the Division Three cross country, on either the women's or men's side, all fall. She secured her first cross country national title by defeating Bitetti by over a minute (!) and won all seven meets she raced this season despite facing strong competition throughout.
Maddie Kelly (U. of Chicago)
Morgan Uhlhorn (NYU)
Riley Capuano (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Phoebe Ward (Carleton)
Shaelyn Hostager (Wartburg)
Riley Buese (Lewis & Clark)
KICKED OFF
Lexi Brown (Wartburg)
Aubrie Fisher (Wartburg)
Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)
Meghan Owens (Centre)
Gillian Roeder (MIT)
Megan Johnson (Central College)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Megan Johnson (Central College)
Lauren Iagnemma (Case Western)
Elizabeth Csikai (Emory)
Meghan Owens (Centre)
Allison Sibold (St. Lawrence)
Aubrie Fisher (Wartburg)
McKayla Felton (UW-Stout)
Elisabeth Camic (U. of Chicago)
Elle Marsyla (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Vivian Kane (NYU)
Deyanneira Colon Maldonado (Aurora)
Kayla Aalpoel (George Fox)
Rebecca Markham (Hope)
Alexandra Blake (Washington U.)
Lexi Brown (Wartburg)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Ellie Meyer (Wartburg)
Rachel Krouse (UW-Stevens Point)
Kayla Werner (Lynchburg)
Kate Sanderson (MIT)
Sydney Khosla (Wittenburg)
Kate Cochran (NYU)
Olivia Pisacano (RPI)
Lexi Fernandez (MIT)
Kendall Accetta (Colorado College)
Sophie McManus (Carleton)
Sarah Conant (Johns Hopkins)
Katelyn Chadwick (UW-La Crosse)
Paige Phillips (Coast Guard)
Gillian Roeder (MIT)
Claire Semerod (Coast Guard)
Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)
Ella Ball (Williams)
Addy Parrott (Central College)
Annika Carlson (Chapman)
Helen Cross (Carleton)
Emily Smeds (Bridgewater (VA))
Allison Dell (Lynchburg)
Megan Francoeur (Oneonta)
Aliya Larsen (Carleton)
Notes
- N/A