2022 D3 Indoor Top 15 Rankings (Women): Update #2

Hannah Thorn
Feb 9, 2022
11 min read

Additional contributions by 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.

15. Izzi Gengaro, Junior, MIT (Unranked)

Izzi Gengaro has come storming back this season, opening her winter campaign with a late 16:58 mark for 5000 meters at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston. That was fast enough to have her ranked at NCAA #6 in D3.

It was a pretty late season opener, so hopefully we will get a few more fast races from her this month before the indoor national meet. Does this mean we could possibly see a national qualifying mark in the 3000 meters as well?

Here's the thing. As experienced and as consistent as Gengaro is on the grass, the MIT star didn't have a track time on her TFRRS profile prior to that Boston University race. In other words, there's a lot of uncertainty regrading her track acumen, but there's also a lot exciting potential with her as well.

14. Ana Tucker, Junior, Hope (-6 / 8)

For the first time since December, we got to see Ana Tucker toe the line for a race. She ran 10:06 for 3000 meters at the GVSU Snowdown Showdown.

While that mark is almost 30 seconds off of her personal best, it's still her first race in two months. As a result, we're cutting her some slack because she does still have the NCAA #5 time in the 5000 meters.

She isn’t completely out of our rankings yet, but her latest performance wasn't super inspiring.

13. Claudia Harnett, Freshman, U. of Chicago (-2 / 11)

The D3 level is so good this year that a 5:02 mile is only good enough for the NCAA #12 spot in the country. Talk about depth...

Harnett ran that time at the Windy City Rumble last weekend, finishing runner-up to Trine’s Evie Miller. That 5:02 mark is four seconds faster than Harnett's mile time from three weeks ago. It also pairs well with her NCAA #4 mark of 2:12 from late January.

If she can keep up this trend of improvement, which can often lead to exciting results for youngsters like Harnett, then she’ll have a tough choice when it comes to deciding between the mile, the 800 meters and the DMR at the indoor national meet.

Let’s also not forget that in addition to Harnett, the Maroons have the NCAA #10 miler and NCAA #11 miler in Kaitlyn Van Baalen and Maddie Kelley. In theory, that means a DMR could make sense for Harnett's postseason plans.

12. Kathleen McCarey, Sophomore, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked)

Kathleen McCarey has been rewriting her personal bests all season long and last weekend was no different. The rising SUNY Geneseo star ran 9:54 for 3000 meters at the Bomber Invitational, a mark that currently sits at NCAA #6. That performance pairs nicely with her 16:57 time for 5000 meters which also ranks her at NCAA #4.

McCarey earned a new PR in every race that she has toed the line for so far this year. It will be interesting to see what she chooses to contest in the postseason considering that she has most likely qualified for the national meet in two events.

Will McCary go for even faster times over the next few weeks? Or will she take time to build her fitness? Or could she possibly pursue events that she has yet to qualify for?

Regardless of the answers to those questions, McCary's ongoing improvements, lack of poor racing and multiple national qualifying marks gives us very little to dislike about her.

11. Zanzie Demco, Senior, UW-Oshkosh (+2 / 13)

I guess Zanzie Demco didn't enjoy not having the fastest 800 meter time on the Oshkosh team. That's probably why at the Red Hawk Invite, the veteran bettered her already great 800 meter time by running a new PR of 2:11.49. That time puts her at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard, but at the top spot for the Titans.

And let’s not forget, she also has the NCAA #9 time in the mile with a mark of 5:01.

As you’ll see with our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" names, there are a lot of Titans mentioned in those sections. That fact gives us reason to believe that UW-Oshkosh has the potential to put down a crazy-good DMR.

Normally, we don’t see those top DMR marks until "Last Chance" meets at the end of the season, so only time will tell if Demco can qualify in three events for this year's national meet. However, regardless of whether or not she can, seeing her earn personal bests late in the season has us feeling encouraged about her potential postseason peak.

10. Sadie Heeringa, Junior, Calvin (0 / 10)

Sadie Heeringa’s last race that she didn’t earn a personal best in was the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships back in November.

In her four track meets this year, she has set back-to-back-to-back-to-back personal bests. Her latest one came at the GVSU Bill Clinger meet at the end of January when she ran a blistering time of 9:41 in the 3000 meters. That is the fifth-fastest time in D3 right now.

Heeringa also has the seventh-fastest time in the mile with a mark of 4:56.

Not only is Heeringa running fast, but she's running fast in multiple events. Every time she toes the line, her resume improves. Few women in D3 have the momentum that Heeringa does and as we head into the postseason, that momentum could make this Calvin star one of the more dangerous distance talents in the country.

9. Emma Kelley, Sophomore, Washington U. (-4 / 5)

Since our last rankings update, Emma Kelley ran the sixth-fastest time nationally in the 400 meters with a very solid mark 57.32. However, since we are a distance site, we're going to emphasize some of her performances in the slightly longer events.

Instead, let’s focus on the 800 meter time that she ran at the Keck Select meet last weekend. That result was a very strong and quietly underrated time of 2:11.46. While that is about a half second off of her PR, it would still be the third-fastest time in D3 behind only herself and Esther Seeland.

Her race from last weekend shows us that her 2:10 performance from earlier in the season was no fluke and that she can run fast times on a consistent basis, regardless of what point in the season she is in. That realization has us feeling confident about her postseason hopes.

And yes, we are dropping Kelley a good number of spots in our rankings. However, that's more to reward other runners who had incredible races as opposed to penalizing Kelley for anything that she did.

8. Fiona Smith, Sophomore, Saint Benedict’s (-1 / 7)

We knew Fiona Smith was going to have a good season, but...did we know it was going to be this good? In back-to-back weekends, Smith ran a jaw-dropping time of 9:37 for 3000 meters as well as a very strong time of 4:55 in the mile.

That is nuts. Just absolutely nuts.

She now sits at NCAA #3 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #6 in the mile. That 4:55 mile is extra impressive as it was a five-second PR, her first time under the five-minute barrier. Not only that, but she also ran a 3:02 mark for 1000 meters during the same day.

Smith seems to be building speed which could help her out when it comes to championship racing, especially if the 3000 meters becomes tactical. She may not have beaten Mayfield in that earlier 3k matchup, but she was close enough to keep things interesting at the national meet when they will inevitably meet again.

7. Alex Ross, Junior, Johns Hopkins (Unranked)

Alex Ross just wanted to end January with a bang. At the Patriot Games, the Johns Hopkins ace set a gigantic new PR, running a time of 16:52 in the 5000 meters. She took off over 30 seconds from her season opener back in December, so clearly she’s very fit right now.

However, maybe more importantly, that performance shows us that Ross is beginning to find her peak at the just the right time.

That result is even more impressive when you consider that Ross ran a large majority of that 5k race by herself, as the winner finished with a time of 16:04 while 3rd place ran 17:39.

That 5k mark is also the second-fastest time country right now, only seven seconds (based on conversions) behind Ari Marks from Wellesley.

We'll be curious to see how Ross translates the success from that 5k race to other distances like the 3000 meters or the mile. However, she has always been a long distance specialist, so on paper, we could probably assume that the 5k will be her marquee distance.

6. Evie Miller, Senior, Trine (-2 / 4)

Is Evie Miller going for the mile national title?

After we saw her run a 9:43 (3k) and a 16:45 (5k) back in December, we thought for sure that she was going to stick to the longer distances. However, she has run the mile in back-to-back weekends now.

At the Steemer Showcase during the last weekend of January, she ran an outstanding time of 4:50.76 in the mile. Then, last weekend, she ran 4:53.01 in the same event at the Windy City Rumble.

For those who aren't keeping track at home, Miller is ranked at NCAA #4 in the mile, NCAA #6 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #3 in the 5000 meters. That range so incredibly impressive. Not because she's nationally ranked in three different distance events, but because she's not ranked any worse than NCAA #6 in any of those disciplines!

Miller has a level of versatility and firepower that only the most elite distance talents in the NCAA can boast. She's proven to be super consistent in the mile and her endurance in the longer distances pairs with that mile speed incredibly well.

Simply put...what's not to like?

5. Clara Mayfield, Sophomore, Carleton (+1 / 6)

Clara Mayfield had an outstanding battle against Fiona Smith at the Mark Schuck Open at the end of January. The two D3 elites faced-off in the 3000 meters with Mayfield ultimately coming out on top, 9:35.77 to Smith’s 9:37.36.

Those times put Mayfield and Smith at NCAA #2 and NCAA #3 in D3. It was also impressive for Mayfield as it was almost 20 seconds faster than her season opener from only two weeks earlier.

We had seen Mayfield working on her speed, contesting the 800 meters and a few miles, before this race, so maybe she is hoping for a tactical national meet where she can kick to the victory.

That, however, may not happen as she will have to face off against Smith, yet again, as well as the best 3k runner in all of D3 history, Kassie Parker. Make no mistake, a super fast 3k time and a win over Smith from the other weekend leads us to believe that Mayfield can thrive in these aggressively-paced settings.

However, a race like that would, in theory, benefit Parker even more.

4. Ari Marks, Senior, Wellesley (+10 / 14)

We knew Ari Marks was going to have a special season and boy has she delivered. She has only run personal bests this year, posting marks of 5:12 in the mile, 9:57 in the 3000 meters and 16:38 in the 5000 meters.

Let’s talk about her 3k performance first. She ran it last weekend at the Tufts Cupid Challenge, besting Tufts runner Anna Slager in the process. Marks' time of 9:57 currently ranks at NCAA #10 on the D3 leaderboard.

The really special race, though, was her 16:38 mark for 5000 meters that she ran at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston. In that race, Marks beat a gaggle of D1 and D2 talents to emerge as the top collegiate in the race.

Not only that, but her 16:38 result now sits as the top mark in all of D3.

Gone are the days where we would see a handful of fast 5k times run in December and have them hold the top marks until Nationals.

Marks said I am not peaking in December, I am going to keep this train rolling until Nationals. Unfortunately, she might meet the unmovable object that is Kassie Parker in that race come March.

Even so, who is to say that she can’t reverse her cross country national meet result and win her first national title? Marks hasn't had a bad race the entire year and that consistency leads us to believe that she'll be a major factor in the postseason.

3. Esther Seeland, Junior, Messiah (0 / 3)

Honestly, placing Seeland at TSR #3 would be a travesty in any other season. However, this year has just been absolutely nuts in D3.

After racing "off" events all season long, Seeland finally debuted in her main event, the 800 meters, this past weekend at the Dr. Sanders Invitational.

The wait was definitely worth it.

The Messiah star ran 2:05.90 in the 800 meter to set a new record for the D3 indoor 800 meters.

Is that not impressive enough? Well, in terms of D3 history, only herself, Emily Richards, Christy Cazzola and Emily Pomainville have ever run faster (in a record-legal setting). Oh, and they all did it during the outdoor season.

Should we have expected this?

Honestly, yes. Seeland is just that good.

There's not much else to say here. Seeland is going to win the national title in the women's D3 800 meters come March and there's not a lot of people who will debate us on that.

2. Kassie Parker, Senior, Loras (-1 / 1)

Deciding on who should be TSR #1, TSR #2 and TSR #3 in our rankings was extremely hard. How do you decide which D3 record is better than the others? We honestly had to start splitting hairs because we didn’t think a tie was going to satisfy any of our readers.

This past Saturday was a bad day to be a record held by Missy Buttry. The former Wartburg star had not one, but TWO of her Division Three records broken. Kassie Parker just barely broke the record in the 3000 meters, running 9:13.10 to better the previous record of 9:13.13.

Parker benefited from a very fast field at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame. She even beat 5k national champion Joyce Kimeli from Auburn. However, given the women who were in this field and the way it played it out, this 3k race was setup perfectly for Parker.

The scariest thing to consider when it comes to Parker's resume is that the 3k might not even be her best event. She has yet to run a 5000 meter race this indoor season and Parker has always been at her best the longer the racing distance becomes.

Should Parley Hannan’s 2020 time of 16:05 be on record watch? Yeah, probably.

Kassie Parker has proven time and time again that she is the best in D3 when it comes to these longer distances. And I, for one, am not going to doubt her when it comes to anything competition related anymore.

1. Ella Baran, Junior, Johns Hopkins (+1 / 2)

To say that this year in D3 has been crazy would be an understatement. We knew Ella Baran was fast and that she would be a title favorite in the mile. She showed us that last outdoor season in the 1500 meters.

However, did we see a D3 mile record by over three seconds in her future? No, of course not, that’s just insane.

Last weekend at the Dr. Sanders Invitational, the Johns Hopkins superstar ran 4:40.53 in the women's mile. She was the only non-professional athlete in the field and took advantage of being in a fast race.

That 4:40 mark is the fastest time in Division Three this season...by seven seconds.

Rumor has it that Baran is looking to compete in a fast 3000 meter field at Boston University this weekend. Her PR is 9:36, but could we see her go sub-9:20 and get close to Kassie Parker’s new record?

Only time will tell...