2021 D2 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Women): Update #4

TSR Collaboration
Jun 4, 2021
12 min read

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. Haleigh Reindl, Junior, Minnesota Duluth (Unranked)

Haleigh Reindl is a near-perfect display of peaking at the right time.

The Minnesota-Duluth product made a huge breakthrough before the national meet, cracking the 2:10-barrier at NSIC Championships in the 800 meters. Reindl carried that momentum with her to the Big Dance, running under 2:10 again to make the 800 meter final before taking an All-American finish in a career PR of 2:08.

It’s hard to ask for much better peaking with the way things played out for Reindl.

24. Laura Moyer, Senior, Lock Haven (Unranked)

Laurel Moyer earned her spot here with a resilience of steel.

The Lock Haven runner and PSAC steeple champ doubled in the 10k and steeple at Nationals. Her 10k performance on day one left a lot to be desired, but she was clearly hungry to correct that as evidenced by her day two run.

After a rough Thursday night, Moyer came back Friday evening and took 4th in the steeple final, walking away with an All-American finish and a career PR. It’s a lot easier said than done to put a race behind you, but Moyer executed her bounce-back to perfection.

23. Stefanie Parsons, Senior, Edniboro (-11 / 12)

Parsons’ racing mirrored her weekend if that makes sense. The seemingly invincible PSAC champ came down to Earth a bit under the bright lights of the national stage this time around.

Parsons had an excellent 1500 meter prelim, being the 3rd qualifier through to the final. But things admittedly took a bit of a turn in the final. After leading the first half of the 1500 meters, Parsons was overtaken at the start of the second-half and just didn’t recover or respond enough. The Edinboro Scot followed that up in the evening with a lackluster 5k.

Despite the tough performances, it’s important to remember that 1) Parsons still finished as an All-American. 2) That 5k was likely impacted by the 1500 meter final she had earlier on the same day. 3) Parsons didn’t really have a bad weekend at Nationals. By her standards? Maybe, but that just goes to show how high she’s set the bar for herself and for us.

It’s impressive enough to qualify for Nationals in two events. Parsons managed to make a final and snag a top-eight finish. Parsons is undoubtedly elite.

22. Quincy McSweeney, Gr. Senior, NW Missouri (Unranked)

Northwest Missouri’s Quincy McSweeney is yet another example of catching fire at the right time.

After winning the 800 meter to become the MIAA champ, McSweeney broke the 2:10-barrier at the end of the NCAA qualifying window in what was, at the time, a career PR of 2:09. McSweeney topped that on the big stage, surviving and advancing to the national final where she’d run 2:08 to finish 6th. That’s a heck of a hot streak to close a season on.

21. Elizabeth Acheson, Sophomore, U-Mary (Unranked)

We know there’s been a good bit of “peaking at the right time” talk so far, and we don’t mean to be broken records, but it’s hard to not see it. Add U-Mary’s Elizabeth Acheson to the list of runners who caught on fire at the right time. Honestly, Acheson may have done it best.

Acheson broke the 2:10-barrier with a three-second PR to win the NSIC Championship in the 800 meters, running 2:08. Take that all in for a second: a conference crown, breaking a big-time barrier and a three-second PR. All in one go.

Acheson might have had the most momentum heading into the Big Dance, a meet where she notched another PR in the national final to finish 5th place overall. While it may not be ideal from a scoring perspective, Acheson ran the supposed "ideal" 800 meter race with a three-second positive split.

20. Elysia Burgos, Sophomore, SW Baptist (-6 / 14)

After only contesting the DMR at Indoor Nationals, Elysia Burgos returned to the national stage in an open event this outdoor season and did not disappoint.

Burgos swept the 800m and 1500m at the GLVC Championships, then secured her spot at the national meet on the last weekend of the qualifying window. She punched her ticket in the 1500 meters with a mark of 4:20. Burgos made her way into the national final and finished 6th overall, reminding everyone of her place in the national picture.

19. Haleigh Hunter-Galvan, Rs. Senior, Adams State (Unranked)

HaLeigh Hunter-Galvan outperformed the expectations we had for her at the national meet.

After a tune-up at the Portland Twilight, the RMAC steeplechase champ took 3rd in the NCAA steeple final. The Adams State Grizzly veteran made a move in the last 800 meters and held on to secure a podium finish and All-American honors. She made Hannah Roeske (Grand Valley State) work for that runner-up spot and staved off the likes of Walsh’s Alexa Leppelmeier and Queens’ (N.C.) Stevie Lawrence.

18. Michelle Kuipers, Freshman, Colorado Christian (Unranked)

Colorado Christian’s Michelle Kuipers showed us that she learned from her experience on the indoor national stage with her national meet debut on the outdoor oval. Kuipers was not fazed by the high-pressure environment as evidenced by her performance.

Kuipers firmly earned a spot in the national meet at the Mines Last Chance meet and didn’t look back. In the national title race, Kuipers placed 4th overall, even-splitting a 2:07 mark to earn a PR by three seconds and some change.

Kuipers brought her absolute best to the biggest stage. Keep in mind that Kuipers is just a freshman, so she’s only going to keep progressing.

17. Brianna Robles, Sophomore, Adams State (+6 / 23)

Brianna Robles opted for the 5k/10k double at Nationals and cashed-in early.

Heading into the national meet, Robles had one last tune-up at the Portland Twilight meet to get her spot in the 5k. On day one in Allendale, Robles took home a 5th place finish in the 10k. The Adams State product came back on Saturday for the 5k where she fell a little flat, likely in part due to Ida Narbuvoll (U-Mary) pushing the pace early-on.

Regardless of that, Robles closed her season with an All-American finish. Anyone finding issues with that is just pointlessly nit-picking.

16. Hailey Streff, Junior, CSU-Pueblo (-5 / 11)

Streff secured her spot in the 1500 meter title race as the second qualifier through. In the final, the CSU-Pueblo veteran took 5th place. The Thunderwolf ace stuck around the middle-third of the pack for most of the race. Streff lost a few spots in the second lap before immediately gaining them back in the third lap.

At the end of the day, Streff gained another All-American nod to match the one she earned this past indoor season, and notched a career PR in the final of 4:20 to top that off.

15. Chrissani May, Sophomore, Lincoln (Mo.) (+7 / 22)

This was a breakthrough race for Chrissani May. We were so used to seeing 2:11 to 2:12 next to her name, so seeing 2:06 was very nice.

She also proved that she is the top dog in Jefferson City, not teammates Kelly-Ann Beckford or Kimone Campbell. Again, we're so used to seeing Chrissani May and Kelly-Ann Beckford together, so it was very strange to only see one Lincoln (Mo) athlete in the finals. Finishing 3rd in the nation and running 2:06 is one heck of a weekend that instantly pushes her up our rankings.

We’d expect her to be in many more 800 finals over the years as she’s only a sophomore.

14. Franziska Althaus, Junior, Wingate (Unranked)

Before this outdoor season, the last time we saw Althaus race in a Wingate uniform was in March of 2020, right before COVID-19 canceled everyone’s season. She didn’t have the greatest regular season, although she won the Lee Last Chance to punch her ticket to the NCAA Championships in the 5k.

She had two solid races at the national meet finishing in 6th place each time. She hung onto the fast pace set by Narbuvoll and was able to race to career bests. Those were her first two All-American finishes and we would expect to see a bunch more in the future, especially in the South Atlantic Conference where she will be able to race Fatima Alanis (Queens (NC)) for the foreseeable future.

13. Klaudia O’Malley, Junior, Grand Valley State (-4 / 9)

It's been a very productive year for this GVSU standout. She took on the 1500/5k double and really had a solid 1500 race by finishing 4th place overall to become an All-American for the third time. She finished just a second behind her teammate Allie Ludge which is only fitting as it seems like Ludge is passing the proverbial baton to O’Malley.

12. Jessica Gockley, Junior, Grand Valley State (+6 / 18)

Gockley, like her teammate Hannah Roeske, had a terrific National Championship weekend. She was probably comfortable seeing her fans and running on her home track. That led her to two All-American finishes in both the 5k and 10k, a feat that is very similar to how she did in indoor (finishing 6th in the 3000 and 5th in the 5000 meters).

To further prove our point, she set personal bests in both events just like Hannah Roeske. Yes, Roeske did beat her in the 5k, but it was only by a couple seconds and she still finished as an All-American. Props to the Grand Valley coaching staff for not only getting their athletes ready to race fast, but for having their athletes peak right on time.

11. Fatima Alanis, Freshman, Queens (N.C.) (Unranked)

The freshman is also on the Queens (NC) triathlon team, but the way she's been running, you wouldn’t notice or know that. She truly burst onto the scene in mid-April when she won the Flames Invite 5k hosted by Lee by beating eventual national qualifiers like Malone’s Hannah Thompson, Wingate’s Franziska Althaus and Lee’s Toni Moore.

She continued her emergence by sweeping the 5k and 10k at the South Atlantic Athletic Conference in two tightly-contested races with Franziska Althaus of Wingate.

And now she’s a 3rd place finisher at the national meet and an All-American at 10,000 meters. We didn't quite expect that, but if we know anything about triathletes, is that their aerobic system is world class.

10. Allie Ludge, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (+10 / 20)

The Laker veteran finished up her career on her home track. A 3rd place finish and a new PR in the 1500 is one way to go out. Unfortunately for her, Grand Valley State was four points away from winning the national team title.

Either way, she’s had a great career at Grand Valley State. She finished her career as an 11-time All-American and will go down as someone who really elevated the program. She helped the Lakers win the 2018 cross country championship, a year in which GVSU actually swept the men's and women's championships as well as win the 2021 DMR title.

9. Hannah Roeske, Senior, Grand Valley State (+4 / 9)

I thought Hannah Roeske had a similar, if not better, double than Celine Ritter of Lee. Ritter finished 2nd place in the 1500 meters and 8th place in the 5000 meters whereas Roeske placed 2nd in the steeple and 5th place in the 5k.

We really do think a lot of people have been sleeping on Roeske given how deep the Grand Valley State team is. There’s Allie Ludge, Jessica Gockley, Klaudia O’Malley and Taryn Chapko who usually receive the bulk of the coverage. However, Roeske has been flat-out excellent this year and has given the Lakers' another athlete to rally around.

Not only that, but we didn't even mention the times she ran -- marks that ended being two more personal bests. She’s been a great addition to the team as she’s fit right in and has been running great in both the regular season and at the NCAA Championships. With the top-four finishers in the 5k graduating, could we see Roeske emerge as a favorite in the distance events?

8. Celine Ritter, Senior, Lee (Tenn.) (-6 / 2)

Celine Ritter gave her last NCAA meet everything she had and came away with two more All-American performances.

She finished 2nd in the 1500 where she set a new personal best in 4:17 and managed to snag the last All-American spot in the 5k by finishing in 8th place. It was a solid double and we're very happy that she went for it especially after she got her national title in the 3k during indoors.

Ritter didn’t settle by only running one event and came away with a new PR in the 1500. That’s a solid way to go out and proves to us that the risk was worth it.

7. Roisin Flanagan, Senior, Adams State (-7 / 6)

In a perfect world, Adams State would’ve loved to see the Flanagan sisters go 1-2 in the 5k. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Ida Narbuvoll was in the race, so they took the next-best thing by finishing 2nd and 3rd.

I do want to recognize this era of Adams State women’s distance running as the Flanagan sisters and Stephanie Cotter helped the Grizzlies win the 2017 and 2019 cross country titles and the 2017 and 2019 DMR titles. They really helped raise the bar in Division 2 and set numerous records along the way. Let’s appreciate what we have as they depart the collegiate realm.

6. Yasmine Hernandez, Senior, CSU-Pueblo (-2 / 4)

Not much else you could ask from the Pueblo junior as she ran into her kryptonite Bailey Sharon from Western Colorado. She ran sub-2:05, but just didn’t have the same closing speed as Sharon, taking runner-up honors by eight points for the Thunderwolves. For as good as she looked all year, we all knew it was going to be a close race (as it was), and it just so happened that Sharon was better that day.

She may not have won, but don't discount the incredible middle distance prowess that we saw out of this veteran this season. It wouldn't at all have been a surprise if she won the national title.

5. Jennifer Sandoval, Senior, Azusa Pacific (-2 / 3)

Sandoval provided two huge results in the 5k and 10k to earn the Cougars their first national team title regardless of sport. They were able to take home the victory over the host Lakers by a mere four points. For a school that had never won a team national title, it was only fitting for it to come down to the wire.

Sandoval scored 13 points -- eight points in the 10k (she placed runner-up) and five points in the 5k (she placed 4th) to conclude one of the better doubles from the weekend. Only Ida Narbuvoll (U-Mary), who won the 5k and 10k, and Eilish Flanagan (Adams State), who won the steeple and took 2nd in the 5k, could boast better distance doubles.

Not many people can say they ended their career on top, but Jenny Sandoval is one of them.

4. Bailey Sharon, Senior, Western Colorado (+3 / 7)

Sharon showed up in a big way at the NCAA Championships. She ran her best when it mattered the most and took home her first individual national title. A 2:04 is really moving and she was able to take down her RMAC rival in Yasmine Hernandez for the second time this season as she bested her in the 400 meters at the RMAC Championships earlier this year.

In our opinion, Sharon really benefited from her increased prowess on grass as she had her best cross country season to date last fall which set her up for this big outdoor season that she had.

She didn’t compete during indoors which gave her a lot of time to train and put in the work. That showed in a big way as she ran personal bests in both the 800 and 1500 this season to lead the Mountaineers' middle distance corps.

3. Stephanie Cotter, Junior, Adams State (+7 / 10)

We were expecting Cotter to show up and win the national title because a NCAA 1500/mile race is clearly “Cotter time”...but winning in a mark of 4:14? Well, we didn’t see that coming. Just look at the previous three 1500 meter marks that Cotter had run: 4:33, 4:29, 4:37. None of those performances suggested that she was going to run 4:14.

We'll be interested to see how much she will change/improve under Mike Smith's training at Northern Arizona. All we know is that the Lumberjacks are getting one of the best milers to ever come through the D2 circuit.

2. Eilish Flanagan, Senior, Adams State (-1 / 1)

Eilish Flanagan is our second-best runner in these rankings. She was your national champion in the 3000 meter steeple and took runner-up Narbuvoll in the 5000 meters. She broke the D2 national steeplechase record by seven seconds and really had a solid season all-around.

The only thing that could have made it better if she won the 5k national title and if her sister had come 2nd place. Oh well. We guess she will have to live with runner-up since Narbuvoll had other plans...

1. Ida Narbuvoll, Rs. Senior, U-Mary (+4 / 5)

Just WOW! Narbuvoll came to Allendale with one thing in mind: sweep the distance events (5k and 10k) and she accomplished just that. I mean, she shocked everyone. The whole field thought she was crazy to go out that fast and was just waiting for her to burnout. The problem? She never did and she set a new meet record in the 5k while taking the 10k victory by just about 30 seconds.

After both of her races, you felt like she was better than everyone else and not just by a little bit, but by a lot because of the way she approached both races. She was a no brainer to put at TSR #1 in our rankings. She earned it.