2021 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Women): Update #3

TSR Collaboration
Feb 17, 2021
14 min read

TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.

25. Jennifer Comastri, Senior, Southern Indiana (-19 / 6)

Typically a long distance specialist, Comastri has subtly flexed her versatility this season, but recently moved up to her ideal distance, the 5000 meters, at the Ichabod Invite.

The Southern Indiana Senior placed 3rd overall in that race (and 2nd amongst collegiate competitors) in a solid field consisting of runners such as Drury’s Claire McCune (1st) and Adams State’s Brianna Robles (4th). She ended up running a respectable 16:59. With that, Comastri has three provisional marks to her name this season as well as some encouraging finishes over some accomplished and talented distance standouts.

Despite both of her 5k and 3k times this season still being well off from her overall personal bests, Comastri was able to add some variety to her seasonal resume and secure a mile personal best earlier this year in a time of 4:56. Historically, Comastri has been better at the longer events, so there is potential that the best is yet to come for her with the postseason just around the corner.

24. Alexa Keiser, Freshman, Saginaw Valley State (Unranked)

Alexa Keiser had a big win in her debut for Saginaw Valley two weeks back.

In her first meet, the Saginaw Valley frosh won her mile race in convincing fashion, notching a mark of 4:54 and securing a provisional mark. That time alone was impressive, but Keiser also won by almost 30 seconds, completely outclassing the field despite her inexperience. She didn’t stop there, either.

Keiser proved that she shouldn’t be doubted as a national contender by being the top D2 finisher in the GVSU Big Meet mile a week later, taking 4th overall in a time of 4:52. The very next day, she anchored the Saginaw Valley DMR to a 3rd place finish and a D2 provisional mark to top off a busy two-week stretch.

The SVSU rookie has only just gotten started and has already accomplished a good bit in such a short period of time. She has gained a ton of momentum since the season first began.

Keiser has thrown her hat in the ring for the All-American conversation given the ongoing consistency that we've seen from her.

23. Hannah Ellis, Junior, UC-Colorado Springs (Unranked)

In her first race since December, Hannah Ellis demonstrated that she’s rounding into top form.

Before this past weekend, Ellis' last race was a loss to MSU-Denver’s Erin Norton. In that race, Ellis ran 18:07 (roughly 17:19 after conversion). Then, this past weekend, Ellis ran a pleasantly surprising 16:57 (converted), shooting her back up near the top of the D2 leaderboard. More notably, Ellis took home a convincing win, besting the rest of the collegiate field in the race by almost a full minute.

Ellis just showed off a drastic improvement which is coming at just the right time, although it had also been a good bit since we last saw her toe the line.

The UCCS junior has placed herself more firmly in the national picture, so she has a good bit of flexibility now in terms of future racing choices. How she opts to put the finishing touches on this indoor season will determine a lot, but given the progression that she has demonstrated, her results over the next few weeks are primed to be pretty darn good.

22. Chloe Flora, Rs. Senior, Lee (Tenn.) (-6 / 16)

Chloe Flora hasn’t raced since January, but was too good when she was competing to be kicked off this list. The Lee veteran has fallen in our Top 25 strictly because other runners have been putting up strong results, not by any fault of her own. If anything, one must applaud Flora for how impressive she has been in just two races so far this season.

In the two instances that she has toed the line, the Lee senior secured two wins and two provisional marks. She one-upped teammate Celine Ritter over 3000 meters and is still the only runner to have a win over Ritter this year. It’s worth noting that her times from January are still near the top-tier of D2, even with all of the other races going on.

Upon review, Flora set herself up well early-on in the season and with championship racing fast approaching, it’s best to keep an eye out for her as she has remained quiet, likely priming herself for a big postseason effort.

21. Mckenna Cavanaugh, Sophomore, Southern Indiana (Unranked)

Mckenna Cavanaugh has done well in her first season, stepping into the indoor oval for Southern Indiana. The rising talent started her season in the mile earlier this year, cracking the five-minute barrier twice. Her times were pretty much identical in both races.

However, since then, Cavanaugh has switched gears, running the 3000 meters at the Ichabod Invitational -- and her result did not disappoint.

Cavanaugh finished 2nd overall in a field that included MSU-Denver’s Erin Norton and Southwest Baptists’ Elysia Burgos, both of whom have proven to be top runners who have often emerged as matchup problems for fellow competitors. The SVSU sophomore also secured a provisional mark along the way, locking down a top time of 9:37.

Going forward, we can probably expect Cavanaugh to be focusing on the 3000 meters. If her first 3k of the year is any indication, then she could be someone to watch as a dark horse threat in the postseason now that she has shaken off the rust in the 15-lap race.

20. Claire McCune, Junior, Drury (Unranked)

Claire McCune has silently had a busy indoor track season and, upon review, it was only a matter of time before her name popped up in these rankings. Any more time under everyone’s radar would’ve just been disrespectful to the Drury junior.

McCune started the season off in the middle distances, doubling in the mile and 800 meters. She cracked the five-minute barrier, secured a provisional mark and placed 2nd in her first race of the year, matching up with Elysia Burgos.

Then, she shifted gears to the 3k, taking home the win at the Bearcat Invite by 20 seconds, which also came with a provisional mark. And if that wasn't enough, this past weekend, McCune took home yet another win at the Ichabod Invitational in the 5000 meters, besting names such as Adams State’s Brianna Robles and Southern Indiana’s Jennifer Comastri.

With that, McCune has three provisional marks and a pair of big-time wins to her name. She evidently favors the longer events and her results support that theory. The Drury ace has a ton of promising intangibles on her resume right now, so that's also fairly encouraging.

19. Florance Uwajaneza, Junior, West Texas A&M (-1 / 18)

Uwajaneza seems to have stuck with the 3k so far this season, taking home a win in convincing fashion at the Texas Tech Shootout the other weekend.

Her time was pretty consistent with her 3k effort from earlier this year, as she ran 9:43 this past weekend to win by 30 seconds. It’ll be interesting to see if she decides to move up to the 5k as the season is winding down as that may be her best race when Uwajaneza is at her peak.

The West Texas A&M's promising 2020 cross country campaign also indicated that she has a lot of strength that she could showcase in the 5k, and her marks on the indoor oval this year show that it’d translate well.

18. Kelly Ann-Beckford, Sophomore, Lincoln (Mo.) (-10 / 8)

17. Chrissani May, Sophomore, Lincoln (Mo.) (-10 / 7)

The Lincoln (Mo.) duo has been pretty consistent so far this year, going 1-2 in their last two meets that they contested the open 800 meters while also hovering just around the 2:10 mark.

It’s admittedly hard to fault this duo for their drop in our rankings given how well they've run this year. It’s difficult to find an argument against them when they're taking the top two spots in their main event and have consistently posted similar marks at that distance.

The next time this duo lines up for an 800, don’t be surprised if they put together a breakthrough performance. Beckford and May didn’t contest the open 800 in their most recent competition, instead opting to run relays, taking legs on the 4x400 and DMR where they secured provisional marks in both events.

If anything can be gleaned from their most recent relay efforts, it’s that they’re almost tuned-up and ready to go for the championship season.

16. Jessica Gockley, Senior, Grand Valley State (Unranked)

With the emergence of Roeske, Brian, O’Malley and a few others, it seems like Gockley has become the forgotten GVSU ace. That, of course, is probably an unfair label as she now has nationally ranked times that are very close to her personal bests.

So far this season, she has run 4:55 (mile), 9:45 (3k) and 16:47 (5k). Sure, there are women with faster marks in those events, but Gockley's total range has captured our attention. We're confident that when it's conference championship time, she will show up in a big way given that the Lakers typically peak for the postseason.

15. Yasmine Hernandez, Senior, CSU-Pueblo (-6 / 9)

Something is different with Hernandez as she recently competed in both the 800 meters and the mile at the same meet for the first time in her career. That seems a bit surprising, right?

In retrospect, however, that decision turned out to be a good one as she was in the same race as Stephanie Cotter who pulled her to a very quick mile time of 4:52. With a separate mark of 2:12 in the 800 meters, Hernandez put together what was likely one of the more impressive weekend doubles of anyone in D2.

Unfortunately, with so many women having breakout performances and running top times, Hernandez had to settle for a drop in our rankings. That, however, doesn't make her any less talented.

14. Elysia Burgos, Junior, Southwest Baptist (-10 / 4)

The Southwest Baptist junior helped her DMR secure a national qualifying mark and on the individual side of things, finished 3rd overall behind Erin Norton (MSU-Denver) and McKenna Cavanaugh (Southern Indiana) in the 3000 meters.

Most people will look at that result and be disappointed by a 3rd place finish. But do people know that she raced the DMR the day before at a different meet? And then had to travel to another invite just to run in the 3k?

Her drop in our rankings was warranted given her recent 3rd place result and how fast other women have run over the last few weekends. Even so, she's still a top threat and has proven that she can not only compete with, but also take down, some of the top D2 distance talents in the NCAA.

13. Layla Almasri, Rs. Senior, UC-Colorado Springs (-1 / 12)

Fact: Layla Almasri has yet to lose this season. Yes, she hasn’t traveled to any loaded races like a meet held at GVSU or the Birmingham Crossplex, but staying undefeated isn't any easy feat, especially with teammate Hannah Ellis also have national-caliber success.

This past weekend, running on her home track, Almarsi raced to two wins in two events that she had not yet to run this season. She ran a converted 2:13 in the 800 meters and helped the Mountain Lions to a national qualifying mark in the DMR.

She had made a huge jump in fitness this season, but can she cash-in when the NCAA Championships rolls around? Based on what we've seen from her so far, that seems plenty realistic.

12. Taryn Chapko, Rs. Freshman, Grand Valley State (+9 / 21)

The 800 leg of the record-breaking DMR for GVSU was Taryn Chapko. The freshman has thrown her name into the conversation for not just the 800 meter title hunt (having recently run 2:09), but also for the DMR title hunt.

As a distance powerhouse, the Lakers usually can count on scoring points in the mile, 3k and 5k on the national stage. But the 800 meters? Well, that's more of rarity. That's why Chapko changes the game as the Lakers can now pick and choose an ideal scoring lineup for the national meet thanks to their insane amount of depth.

As for Chapko, we love her progress. Yes, she may be inexperienced, but the consistent leaps that we're seeing in her personal bests and ability to take down top competition leads us to believe that she hasn't hit her ceiling yet.

11. Olivia Brian, Junior, Grand Valley State (+9 /20)

At this point, you can see a growing trend of Grand Valley State runners beginning to dominate the upper-portion of these rankings. But if you look at their credentials, it's hard to argue against them.

That couldn't be more true for Olivia Brian who has run under 9:50 twice this year in the 3k and under 4:55 twice this year in the mile. Her most recent performances ended up being new personal bests for the Laker junior who recorded times of 4:51 (mile) and 9:35 (3k). She also anchored GVSU's "B" DMR to a time of 11:40 which was extremely impressive given that this was the Lakers' secondary lineup.

We have nothing bad to say about Brian. Not only is she consistent, but she's only getting better as the season goes on. She'll be a problem for her competitors as we enter the postseason.

10. Erin Norton, Rs. Senior, Metro State (+4 / 14)

Erin Norton has been flexing her range all season long. Starting with the 5k, and recently securing national qualifying times in both the 3k and mile, she is letting the chips fall as they may as she will now have the luxury of choosing an even that will give her the best chance of postseason success.

The Metro State ace most recently took the dub in the 3000 meters at sea level against a respectable field which included Elysia Burgos (Southwest Baptist), Katie Doucette (Western Colorado) and McKenna Cavanaugh (Southern Indiana) in a new personal best of 9:36. She doubled back in that same meet to run a 4:57 mile.

We knew she was going to be a national contender in the 5000 meters, but now she is beginning to show durability, consistency and quietly impressive range. That should help her if she decides to double in the 5k and 3k at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

9. Klaudia O’Malley, Junior, Grand Valley State (+8 / 17)

Klaudia O’Malley is doing, ya know, Klaudia O’Malley-type things. Ever since she stepped onto campus in the fall of 2019, she has helped elevate the Lakers distance corps. So it shouldn't surprise you that she has continued to shave multiple seconds off of her times as she has gotten more experience.

The GVSU star recently won the mile at the GVSU Snowdown Showdown in a new personal best of 4:49, taking down multiple D1 runners as well as her teammate Olivia Brian. Then, she toed the line this past weekend to add her name to the GVSU record books in the DMR.

The start of her season wasn't anything as strong as this, so her recent rise and major success leads us to believe that she is actually beginning her postseason peak. That's a good thing considering that championship meets are fast approaching.

8. Mackenna Curtis-Colins, Junior, Malone (+16 / 24)

The way Curtis-Collins has been running is without a doubt the best she has ever performed in her college career. She is currently undefeated and is fresh off of a victory in the 3000 meters at the GVSU "Big Meet", running a time 9:33 for 3000 meters.

That was a monumental win for the Malone junior. We knew that she was going to be in the All-American conversation, but running that fast en route to a win over some of the best names in D2 (as well as MAC XC champion Kailee Perry) deserves an immense amount of respect.

7. Hannah Roeske, Rs. Junior, Grand Valley State (+3 / 10)

Roeske has performed like a well-oiled aerobic machine thus far. If you didn't know that she had transferred to GVSU this past year, would you have guessed that she wasn’t on the team for her whole career? Because her transition to the D2 level has been absolutely seamless.

Her two races since our last rankings update were a 3k where she finished just three seconds behind TSR #1 Lauren Bailey and her second race was her being the leadoff leg of the Lakers' "B" DMR team.

To us, she seems to be the D2 equivalent of Reed Brown -- an Oregon miler who owns a personal best of 3:56, but couldn't make the Ducks' top DMR lineup. Even so, Roeseke's times of 4:50 (mile) and 9:32 (3k) are extremely impressive, but her D3 national meet experience and numerous All-American honors is what makes her so dangerous as we enter the postseason.

6. Zoe Baker, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Mines (+5 / 11)

The fitness level and range that Baker is currently exhibiting is off the charts.

Most recently, she ran in the 5000 meters on her home track where she had a pacer and just one other teammate in the race. It was a unique approach, but you can’t knock their strategy given how effective it turned out to be. Baker eventually ended up running a converted 16:33 (5k) which happens to be another PR.

The only distance race left for her to complete the distance trifecta (mile/3k/5k) is the 3k, so we would expect her to run the 15-lapper in the near future, likely under similar racing circumstances.

However, given the depth in this year's women's 3000 meter field, the 5k will likely be Baker's best shot of winning national title -- something that seems fairly realistic given her recent success.

5. Berenice Cleyet-Merle, Senior, Indianapolis (+1 / 6)

Cleyet-Merle looked like she’s in mid-season form in what was only her season opener. Running 2:07 in her first race of the winter is outstanding, but when you're as experienced and as accomplished as this Indy veteran, it isn't as surprising.

The Greyhound ace once again looks like the runner to beat at 800 meters. If you look at the 800 rankings thus far, you could argue that last year's indoor season was deeper, but there is still plenty of running left as conference championships loom ahead on the schedule.

This was also just her season opener, so we're likely in store for a fast mile time as well and potentially an even faster half-mile performance in the coming weeks.

4. Stephanie Cotter, Junior, Adams State (-1 / 3)

A lot of people were wondering when Stephanie Cotter would toe the line after an abrupt ending to her 2020 cross country season. Well, the wait is over folks. She’s back.

A 4:46 mile victory at the Ichabod Invite this past weekend needs no altitude conversion. Nor does it need a conversion for track size. She seems to be near (or at) prime fitness right now and we like the fact that Cotter also been doubling in the 800 meters and 400 meters to improve her speed. That extra turnover may be necessary this year given how strong some of these other top D2 talents look so far this winter.

Not only that, but her mile win this past weekend was over the likes of Yasmine Hernandez (CSU-Pueblo), Delanie Dykes (Northwest Missouri) and Erin Norton (MSU-Denver). She beat that field by six seconds which should be enough to pacify any doubters.

With an entire month left for her to to truly reach her peak, it is extremely likely that this Adams State junior will finish her season better than TSR #4.

3. Celine Ritter, Senior, Lee (Tenn.) (-1 / 2)

Has not raced since our last update.

2. Allie Ludge, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (-1 / 1)

Ludge is the definition of consistency. She's always going to compete at a high level and make her competitors really earn their victory. Sure enough, she did exactly that over the weekend, dropping down in distance to the 800 meters as a mere warmup for the main event, the DMR.

Yes, her 2:12 isn’t setting any records, but it's still a solid time and it was likely used to fine-tune her speed for more tactical races. Don't look too far into that result, the 3k is likely Ludge's best event.

In fact, one could argue that the whole weekend was focused on running a fast DMR time and goodness did they accomplish just that. The team of Klaudia O’Malley, Nicole Sreenan, Tayrn Chapko and Ludge set the school and facility records, running a mark of 11:21.

She drops in our rankings, but only because our top-ranked runner recently became the best combined 5k/3k runner in D2 so far this winter.

1. Lauren Bailey, Senior, Indianapolis (+4 / 5)

Welcome back to the indoor track, Lauren Bailey! Despite being just two races into this indoor track season, she has shown no signs of rust. She opened up her season with a jaw-dropping 9:29 (3k), which is just a second off of her personal best. Then, she came back a week later with a 16:27 (5k) to finish runner-up to Notre Dame graduate student Katie Wasserman (who was running unattached).

This is great to see Lauren Bailey at the top of her game. After a fall where she dominated the competition, it was pretty discouraging that there wasn't a national meet as she would've been one of the overwhelming favorites given the way she was running.

And now, even with Ludge returning to compete, Bailey looks like a distance juggernaught who could realistically win the 5k/3k double at Nationals. Her mile personal best is "only" 4:55, but we would expect her to scare the 4:50 barrier later this season.