2022 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Feb 8, 2022
13 min read

Written by Grace McLaughlin & 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.

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. Kayce Rypma, Sophomore, Grand Valley State (-4 / 21)

A 5:04 mile time back in late January is fine, but that's the only other result that Rypma has on her profile this season. She stays in our rankings for this week, mainly because she is ranked at NCAA #6 in the 5000 meters, but we'll need to see a little more from her before she moves back up in our Top 25.

24. Toni Moore, Senior, Lee (Tenn.) (-5 / 19)

Not a whole lot to talk about with Moore. She had a respectable weekend double at Camel City in the mile and 3000 meters, but even with the flat-track conversion, Moore didn't really make much noise on the national leaderboard.

Even so, it was nice to see Moore taking on a heavy workload this weekend. Hopefully, that high-volume of racing will translate to further success in the 5000 meters, an event where she sits at NCAA #7 in.

23. Precious Robinson, Freshman, Adams State (-7 / 16)

There's an argument to be made that Robinson deserves to be ranked higher. She has an altitude converted 4:53 mile time on her resume as well as a converted 9:31 mark for 3000 meters which places her at NCAA #8.

That's a really strong resume and a nice balance of event specialities. Her converted mile is more of a strength-based result, but that only leads us to believe that Robinson can hang with aggressive paces at the indoor national meet.

Despite all of that, Robinson falls in our rankings to make room for some newcomers.

22. Ines Macadam, Sophomore, Tiffin (-9 / 13)

Since running 2:12 for 800 meters back in January, Macadam has quietly worked on other events. She ran 4:54 in the mile and even did some 400 meter speed work between a relay and an open even this past weekend.

With so much action happening around her, and nothing major to write about her, Macadam falls in our rankings this week.

21. Kelly-Ann Beckford, Sophomore, Lincoln (MO) (Unranked)

This Lincoln (MO) middle distance talent may have sophomore eligibility, but she is truly a veteran of the D2 level, specifically the 800 meters.

Beckford, who sits at NCAA #6 in the 800 meters with a time of 2:10 this season, owns a personal best of 2:09. She is easily one of the most experienced middle distance runners in the country and tends to lean towards the speed-based events like the 400 meters rather than the mile.

Beckford is also super consistent, earning three wins and one runner-up finish in her four tries at the 800 meters this season. The two-time individual national qualifier has also run 4:55 in the mile, giving her more middle distance strength than some may realize.

The women's 800 meters is stacked this year, but that shouldn't faze someone like Beckford who seems primed to navigate through competitive fields.

20. Katie McCune, Junior, Drury (Unranked)

The McCune sisters have been excellent this season, with Katie recently emerging as a top-tier talent. The Drury star just ran a mark of 2:10 for 800 meters this past weekend which puts her at NCAA #5 in the event.

When paired with marks of 4:58 (mile) and 9:48 (3k), it's hard to dislike the all-around greatness that McCune brings to the table. The women's 800 meters, admittedly, is very top-heavy, so trying to standout in the event can be a challenge.

Even so, we very much value a combination of consistency and range which is exactly what McCune has shown us this year.

19. Natalia Novak, Senior, Academy of Art (-5 / 14)

This Academy of Art veteran has been all-around excellent this year. She has run a flat-track converted 2:11 in the 800 meters (NCAA #9), 4:55 in the mile (NCAA #33) and 9:40 in the 3000 meters (NCAA #13).

There isn't one time of hers that stands out in a dramatic way this season, but Novak is experienced, versatile, has proven that she can challenge big-time talents and is tactically excellent.

Expect Novak to go after a faster mile time later this season, an event that has been her marquee event throughout her collegiate career.

18. Jennifer Comastri, Senior, Southern Indiana (-6 / 12)

Not much to say here. Comastri hasn't raced since our last rankings up, leading us to believe that she is preparing for a postseason where she'll mix things up in the longer distances which features a handful of inexperienced names at the top of the national leaderboard right now.

Comastri falls in our rankings as two rookies (by eligibility) leapfrogged her on the national leaderboard in the 5000 meters.

17. Lindsay Cunningham, Freshman, Winona State (Unranked)

After such a strong and successful cross country season, it should come as no surprise that Cunningham has emerged as a long distance threat on the indoor oval. The Winona State standout currently sits at NCAA #3 in the 5000 meters with a flat-track converted 16:43 and also boasts an NCAA #17 spot in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:43.

In back-to-back weekends, this young and inexperienced distance talent has delivered big-time performances that now make her a national-caliber threat. Not only that, but she's winning...a lot!

Cunningham now has four straight wins under her belt, with some victories coming more easily than others.

Cunningham has clearly mastered her tier of fitness and is ready to move up in the national ranks. Even so, how she handles more experienced, accomplished veterans on the indoor oval will be the biggest uncertainty.

Of course, if her cross country season showed us anything, it's that Cunningham is unfazed by who she is facing.

16. Annika Esvelt, Freshman, Seattle Pacific (Unranked)

Esvelt currently sits at NCAA #2 in the women's 5000 meters following an outstanding 5k effort of 16:31. The freshman from Seattle Pacific already had a few solid results on her resume, but none were as good as that 5000 meter result.

One would think that with a time like that, Esvelt would be ranked higher in our Top 25. However, Esvelt's mark, as good as it was, is only one result. Seeing her run anything along those lines later in the season would absolutely help her stock.

The good news for Seattle Pacific fans is that younger talents like Esvelt often have untapped potential and an unlimited ceiling in terms of improvement. If this underclassman gets on a hot streak, then she could be a very problematic challenger for her opponents.

15. Hannah Becker, Sophomore, Grand Valley State (-5 / 10)

Hannah Becker moves down a few spots in our rankings due to several impressive performances from other runners. Becker ran a 4:52 mile at the GVSU Bill Clinger Classic the other weekend to place runner-up behind teammate and TSR #3 Klaudia O’Malley.

The Grand Valley State ace now has the NCAA #18 time in the mile with mark of 4:52 and the NCAA #10 time in the 3000 meters with her mark of 9:35. And of course, we can't forget that she was the 2021 national champion during cross country as well as the runner-up in the 3000 meters and the steeplechase last year.

Becker has been solid this season and continues to produce nationally competitive marks. However, she hasn't had the same elite scoring spark that we a) have seen from her in the past or b) would expect out of a cross country national champion.

None of that means that Becker can't be a star on the national stage come March, but we did have to move her down a few spots because of that.

14. Alexa Leppelmeier, Junior, Walsh (-3 / 11)

Alexa Leppelmeier drops a few spots this time around after her performances at the Ashland Jud Logan Light Giver Open.

The Walsh veteran won both the mile and the 800 meters this past weekend, proving that she has some promising middle distance speed and enough strength to handle that many races in a single weekend.

Leppelmeier has the NCAA #5 time in the 5000 meters with her blazing fast mark of 16:48. She also boasts the NCAA #19 mark in the mile with her time 4:52. She also sits at NCAA #32 in the 800 meters with a respectable 2:14 mark.

In the grand scheme of things, we think Leppelmeier could run an impressive 3000 meter time, especially when you consider her exceptional consistency in the 800 meters and mile so far this season.

That refinement of middle distance speed, paired with her long distance stamina makes Leppelmeier one of the more underrated distance talents in D2, even if she's not ranked as highly in certain events compared to others.

13. Taryn Chapko, Sophomore, Grand Valley State (-5 / 8)

Taryn Chapko had a few solid performances in the 800 meters and 4x400 meter relay at the GVSU Bill Clinger Classic the other weekend. The Grand Valley State middle distance star ran a time of 2:12 in the 800 meters for the NCAA #12 time. She also boasts the NCAA #14 time in the mile with her 4:51 mark.

However, with so many other women throwing down fast times, and the women's 800 meters becoming increasingly more competitive at the top, Chapko falls in our rankings.

Chapko placed 3rd at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year in the 800 meters and she is on track to better that performance based on her speed development through the season, her improved strength as shown by her mile PR and her prior championship experience.

She'll need all of those aspects in order for her to find success when she battles Cleyet-Merle, Andrews-Paul and Hernandez on the national stage.

12. Morgan Hykes, Freshman, Adams State (Unranked)

11. Nicole Lawrence, Sophomore, Adams State (Unranked)

These two Adams State women are being lumped together, mainly because their performances mirror each other fairly well. Lawrence and Hykes currently sit at NCAA #3 and NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard in the women's mile.

With altitude converted times of 4:45 and 4:46, these women have simply extended Adams State's streak of greatness once more this season.

There's not a whole lot to say here. Both Lawrence and Hykes have been solid talents in past seasons, but they are both clearly emerging into true national-caliber threats this winter.

Adams State's has had tons of past success with women's distance runners regardless of their youth and inexperience, leaving us to believe that at least one of these two women will emerge as an All-American in March.

10. Katie Doucette, Sophomore, Western Colorado (Unranked)

We've always known that Doucette was a solid and respectable D2 distance talent. However, there was no indication that this Western Colorado runner would be the juggernaut talent that she has proven to be over the last few weeks.

In the last week of January, Doucette ran an altitude and flat-track converted mark of 9:28 for 3000 meters, a time that completely blew us away. That result currently sits at NCAA #7 on the national leaderboard.

As incredible as that performance was, it was hard for us to get a true gauge of Doucette's actual fitness. She had never run anything as fast as that before and the conversion she received was so significant that it was hard to really take anything away from her raw time.

However, Doucette later toed the line for the mile at Colorado Mines where she ran an altitude and short-track conversion of 4:45, a mark that currently sits at NCAA #2.

That latter performance seemingly validated the greatness that we've seen out of Doucette this season. Not just because she ran another fast time at altitude, but because she also took down a star talent in Zoe Baker as well as an up-and-coming name in Courtney McAlindon.

There is A LOT to like about Doucette this season as she hasn't given us a reason to doubt her or her recent surge in fitness. However, how she responds to entering this new tier of fitness at the indoor national meet will be the biggest aspect of hers to monitor.

9. Brianna Robles, Sophomore, Adams State (0 / 9)

Robles stays at TSR #9 and currently holds the NCAA #6 time in the 3000 meters and NCAA #13 time in the mile from her previous altitude adjusted performances of 9:28 (3k) and 4:50 (mile). Since our last round of rankings, Robles ran the 3000 meters at the New Mexico Open. She led several teammates to NCAA provisional marks and won the event with an altitude converted time of 9:47.

No, it's not a personal best, nor does it change her position on the national leaderboard, but it is another really solid win for Roble which is super encouraging. Developing consistency this late in the season is key as we near championship meets.

8. Allie Ludge, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (-1 / 7)

Ludge has not competed since our last rankings update. She currently holds the NCAA #5 time in the 3k (9:27) and the NCAA #12 time in the mile (4:50). She only moves down one spot due to an impressive performance by our new TSR #6 runner, Fatima Alanis.

7. Hailey Streff, Rs. Senior, CSU-Pueblo (-1 / 6)

Hailey Streff has the NCAA #4 time in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:09 from the Western Colorado Open. She also has the NCAA #10 in the mile with a 4:49 time from the Mines Alumni Classic.

Streff's most recent races were at the New Mexico Team Open and the Mines Winter Classic. At New Mexico, she ran an unconverted 4:56 mile at altitude and was later on CSU-Pueblo’s 4x400 meter relay. At Colorado Mines, Streff helped Pueblo’s DMR team place 3rd overall.

This CSU-Pueblo veteran has had solid and consistent performances throughout the season (and her career). She has set herself up for All-American performances in both the 800 meters and the mile.

While I wish we could say more, there isn't a whole lot else to say. Streff is performing exactly how we expected her to and her performances have been on par with everything we've asked of her.

6. Fatima Alanis, Sophomore, Queens (NC) (+9 / 15)

Fatima Alanis jumps up nine spots in our rankings to improve to our TSR #6 spot after her shocking, flat-track converted 9:26 performance (an 11 second PR) for 3000 meters at the Camel City Invitational for the NCAA #3 time in all of D2 this year.

Prior to this race, Alanis pulled off an impressive double in the 3000 meters and the mile at the Carolina Challenge. Her 4:53 mile is currently the NCAA #22 time in the event.

While Alanis’ 3000 meter performance was phenomenal, we likely haven’t seen her in her best event. She owns a 5000 meter PR of 16:20, earned bronze at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall and placed 3rd in the 10,000 meters at NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring.

All of that shows us that Alanis excels in the longer distance events and that she has the potential to be a title contender in the 5000 meters. However, with some proven 3k turnover, her chances of postseason success in the 5k seem to rapidly rising.

5. Alison Andrews-Paul, Senior, Simon Fraser (0 / 5)

Simon Fraser's Alison Andrews-Paul maintains her TSR #5 ranking thanks to her performances in the middle-distance events over the last two weekends.

Since our last round of rankings, the Simon Fraser ace ran on the DMR and 4x400 meter relay. However, what really caught our attention was the fact that she threw down an outstanding 1000 meter time of 2:44 at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic.

That is a huge time that not even some of the better D1 runners can hit. It also shows us that she has the necessary middle distance strength to combat aggressive paces that we could/will see at the indoor national meet from Hernandez and Cleyet-Merle.

Andrews-Paul has a PR of 2:06 in the 800 meters from her time at Baylor and has been a fierce competitor so far this season. While it is tempting to say she could be a national champion in this event, it is more likely that she will be a contender for the runner-up spot in the 800 meters due to the dominating performances in the event by our TSR #1 athlete.

4. Yasmine Hernandez, Senior, CSU-Pueblo (0 / 4)

Hernandez is the second-half of CSU-Pueblo’s dynamic duo when paired alongside teammate Hailey Streff (TSR #4). Both women are part of the NCAA #5 DMR and are standout middle distance runners.

Hernandez currently has the NCAA #3 time in the 800 meters and the NCAA #7 time in the mile, proving her versatility as one of the nation's most dynamic middle distance talents.

Her altitude converted 4:47 mile mark from the Mines Alumni Classic and converted 2:08 from the Western Colorado Open, along with her several wins this season, show that Hernandez has enough raw talent and enough top-end speed to contend for a national title in whichever middle distance event Cleyet-Merle doesn't run.

Even in a tactical mile setting that could theoretically feature Celine Ritter and not Cleyet-Merle, Hernandez has the experience and necessary speed to keep things interesting late in the race should it come down to that.

3. Klaudia O’Malley, Sophomore, Grand Valley State (0 / 3)

Grand Valley State's Klaudia O’Malley maintains her TSR #3 ranking as she currently has the NCAA #3 time in the 3000 meters and the NCAA #8 time in the mile. Her 3000 meter mark of 9:23 comes from the GVSU Holiday Open while her 4:48 mile was run at the Bill Clinger Collegiate Classic. She started the 3000 meters at Bill Clinger, but did not finish.

After her runner-up performance at the NCAA XC Championships, we really wanted to see O'Malley run an indoor 5k. However, at this point in the season, it seems unlikely that we will see her contest that event.

O’Malley has championship experience and has been consistently been improving throughout her time in college, making her a legitimate title threat and potentially someone who could upset Ritter depending on what the Lee star enters and what Cleyet-Merle doesn't enter.

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

It seems wrong to have Ritter move down to TSR #2 after her NCAA #1 performance and top-tier time of 9:17 in the 3000 meters (flat-track converted) at the Camel City Invitational.

Sadly, we really didn’t have a choice in this ranking drop...mainly because of who our TSR #1 runner is.

Ritter also has the nation's top time in the 5000 meters with an impressive mark of 16:23 and the NCAA #5 time in the mile with a blazing mark of 4:46. On paper, she has a full arsenal of elite-level times which give her some exciting range, although that's something we already knew.

Ritter is amazingly consistent and has proven her talent through the years. She is a serious title contender in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters this winter, which would be an amazing double for her to pull off.

Of course, whether or not she actually goes after those two events is unclear.

Her versatility and dominance across the distance events had her at TSR #1 for the past few rankings updates and only a record breaking performance deserves to knock her down from the top spot.

1. Bernice Cleyet-Merle, Senior, Indianapolis (+1 / 2)

Remember the name: Berenice Cleyet-Merle.

The veteran at Indianapolis has the nation's top times in the 800 meters and the mile this winter, as well as the NCAA #4 mark in the 3000 meters in addition to her share of the NCAA #2 spot in the DMR.

If that doesn’t impress you, then her recent 800 meter time of 2:03 certainly will.

Cleyet-Merle ran 2:03 in the 800 meters to win the event at the Indiana University Relays, a time that was ranked at NCAA #1 across all divisions for a few short hours. She currently has the NCAA #3 time across all divisions.

Her mile time of 4:40 also needs to be emphasized. Both her 800 meters and mile marks are currently five seconds faster than the next runner, an unheard of margin at this level in races that are considered to be on the shorter end of the distance spectrum.

She also showed off her endurance earlier in the season by running 9:26 in the 3000 meters.

Cleyet-Merle is a title favorite in two events and could shake up two other events at the indoor national meet if she surprised everyone and entered the 3k. Unbelievably, she is nearly guaranteed at least one title based off of her recent dominance.

This Greyhound superstar will go down as one, if not the, best middle-distance runners in the history of Division Two. And frankly, I'm not sure there's much more to say other than that.

ADDED

Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)

Morgan Hykes (Adams State)

Katie Doucette (Western Colorado)

Katie McCune (Drury)

Annika Esvelt (Seattle Pacific)

Lindsay Cunningham (Winona State)

KICKED OFF

Claire Eaton (Indianapolis)

Gemma Rebollo (Wingate)

Stevie Lawrence (Queens (N.C.))

Elizabeth Acheson (U-Mary)

Franziska Althaus (Adams State)

Claire McCune (Drury)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)