2022 D3 Indoor Top 15 Rankings (Women): Update #3

Hannah Thorn
Feb 23, 2022
9 min read

Additional contributions by Kevin Fischer

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

Has not competed since our last update.

14. Elizabeth Donnelly, Junior, Gustavus Adolphus (Unranked)

Elizabeth Donnelly is new to our rankings after she dropped the NCAA #4 time in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:11.97 at the Mark Miller Invite last weekend. This was a big jump for the junior who had previously never run faster than 2:15 for the half-mile distance.

Donnelly has had a great winter season so far, earning personal bests in the 400 meters, 600 meters, 1000 meters and now the 800 meters. Combining her incredible consistency with her promising development with her perceived postseason peak is VERY exciting.

All of those aspects of her resume are good reasons to believe that Donnelly is just as good as her 2:11 mark suggest that she is.

At the same time, this was a big leap upwards for Donnelly, so it will be interesting to see if the Gustavus Adolphus ace is able to replicate that kind of 800 meter result in the coming weeks, including on the national stage (which she has never been to before).

13. Aubrie Fisher, Junior, Wartburg (Unranked)

After taking a short break from holding a spot in our rankings, Aubrie Fisher is back in our Top 15 and deservedly so.

Here at The Stride Report, we value consistency as well as nationally a versatile and nationally competitive name across a variety of distance events. On paper, that's a recipe for major success.

Fisher boasts all of those traits this indoor season. She has raced at a high level every weekend for the last six weeks, often running multiple races in the same weekend. The Wartburg star is ranked at NCAA #12 in the mile, NCAA #10 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #14 in the 5000 meters.

There isn't one performance in particular that makes her a title contender or guaranteed All-American this season, but Fisher has proven to be a reliable distance talent in pretty much any race she toes the line for.

One last note. Fisher's 5k time (17:16) is from the first weekend of December, so if she decides to contest that event at the American Rivers Conference Championships (maybe against Loras’ Kassier Parker) this weekend, then we could see Fisher rank even higher in that event following this rankings update.

12. Emma Kelley, Sophomore, Washington U. (-3 / 9)

Not only is Kelley ranked at NCAA #2 in the 800 meters, but she was also a part of the NCAA-leading DMR as well as the NCAA #3 ranked 4x400 team at Washington U.

We talk a lot about athletes doubling at the national meet, but could we see Kelley triple?

The middle distance ace consistently runs 2:11 or faster in the 800 meters, so running in both preliminaries and finals should be no issue. Plus, in her last few meets, we have seen her focusing on the relays, running both the DMR and 4x400 at the Hilltop Invite last weekend.

All of this leads us to believe that we will see Kelley race three times in North Carolina come March. Unlike the mile, 3k and 5k, the middle distances are a bit easier to navigate in terms of racing over multiple days.

In fact, when you include relays, there isn't a single meet on her TFRRS resume that she hasn't doubled at! That's a pretty impressive stat and one that makes us believe that she could do the triple if necessary.

11. Alex Ross, Junior, Johns Hopkins (-4 / 7)

Alex Ross, the Johns Hopkins standout, races sparingly. However, when she does race, Ross often makes a statement.

Her latest result is from the Boston University Valentine Invite where she ran 9:43 for 3000 meters. Her converted time puts her at NCAA #8 which pairs nicely with her NCAA #5 ranking in the 5k.

Yes, she dos drop in our rankings this week, but that's not to any fault of own. The top-levels of both the mile and the 3k are just so darn elite this year. So much so, that it will be challenging for someone even as talented as Ross to crack into that top-three or top-five.

Ross has rested ever since that aforementioned 3k race. That is likely in preparation for Johns Hopkins to win the Centennial Conference Championships, something that they have done for the past 10 years.

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

The track at Grand Valley State must feel like home to Sadie Heeringa. She has raced no where else other than at GVSU. Of course, there isn't much of a reason to change that fact things have gone incredibly well.

At the GVSU "Big Meet", Heeringa ran a 4:50 mile time on Friday and then anchored Calvin’s DMR team as they ran an 11:49 on Saturday. Both times are ranked at NCAA #5 right now. She is also ranked at NCAA #7 in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:41 from earlier in the season.

Heeringa will be a workhorse for Calvin at this weekend’s MIAA Championships. Although this is her first race not at GVSU this year, something tells us that she’ll race just fine.

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

The 1000 meters is not a race contested at the indoor national meet, but if it was, then UW-Oshkosh's Zanzie Demco would have a shot at bringing home the title.

At the UWO Titan Challenge this past weekend, the senior ran 2:52.85 for the 1000 meter distance. That is the second-fastest D3 mark all-time on the indoor oval, only behind WPI’s Sydney Packard by 0.15 seconds.

Rumor has it that she raced because she wanted a school record and most of UW-Oshkosh’s are held by the great Christy Cazzola, so that's fairly good company to be in. Also, she ran it completely solo.

That mark is huge and it suggests that Demco can be a fairly significant threat to anyone not named Seeland over the next few weeks.

That 1000 meter race was a nice tune-up for Demco as she prepares for the always tough WIAC Championships this weekend. She is going into the meet with the NCAA #3 time in the 800 and NCAA #8 time in the mile.

8. Kathleen McCarey, Sophomore, SUNY Geneseo (+4 / 12)

Boston University's Valentine Day Invite was good to D3 runners. Kathleen McCarey had herself a day, running 16:36 for 5000 meters. That was a PR by over 20 seconds and she had just reset her old PR by a massive amount only two weeks before that.

What that tells us that is that McCarey is still peaking which, at this time of the year, makes her an incredibly dangerous name with plenty of momentum. After conversions, that time puts her at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard.

Not only that, but McCarey is also ranked at NCAA #14 in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:54.

If that wasn't encouraging enough, the SUNY Geneseo star also ran a PR of 5:11 in the mile last weekend at the Nazareth Conference Tune-Up. While that doesn’t break into the top-50 time of D3 this season, it still shows us that she is working on her middle distance acumen, something she made need for a potentially tactical scenario at the national meet.

7. Ari Marks, Senior, Wellesley (-3 / 4)

The only reason why Wellesley's Ari Marks was moved down in these rankings is because everyone else is on a different level in D3 this year. Marks has had a phenomenal season, it’s just that this year, everyone is crazy fast. Multiple national record holders aren't even at the top of this list!

The fact that times of 9:36 (3k) and 16:38 (5k) have her ranked at TSR #7 this winter would seem crazy in any other year. That recent 9:36 mark is the newest result on her resume as she ran it at the Boston University Valentine Invite.

Marks is ranked NCAA #4 in the 5000 meters and NCAA #6 in the 3000 meters. Marks still has time to prove us wrong and show us that she deserves a higher ranking. The New England Conference, however, isn’t as deep or as star-studded as some of the other conferences in D3 right now.

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

You know how I said with Aubrie Fisher that we value being nationally ranked in multiple events? Clara Mayfield is another example of that.

The Carleton star is currently ranked at NCAA #6 in the mile, NCAA #3 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #7 in the 5000 meters. How’s that for a triple threat? She has taken the last two weeks to rest from racing, but before she did, she dropped a time of 16:50 (5k) at the Iowa State Classic.

We’ll possibly get to see Mayfield battle with Fiona Smith (yet again) this weekend at the MIAC Championships. A potential battle there could be one of the best races of the weekend if they go head-to-head. That's hardly a hot take given how exciting their 3k battle was earlier this season.

But will we learn anything new from that race if they do square off? I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

5. Fiona Smith, Sophomore, St. Benedicts (+3 / 8)

Much like Mayfield, Saint Benedict's Fiona Smith has spent the last two weeks resting before this weekend's MIAC Championships. We could possibly see the two D3 stars duke it out in the 5k and the 3k.

While Mayfield has a slight edge in the 3000 meters, Smith has the better time in the 5000 meters. At the SDSU Indoor Classic, Smith ran 16:35 to outrun a number of strong D2 runners. That mark also gives Smith the NCAA #2 time in D3, only behind Kassie Parker.

Smith holds the fourth-best time in the 3000 meters time with her 9:37 result. She is also ranked at NCAA #7 in the mile, although we don’t see her contesting that event at the national meet.

Overall, there isn't a ton that is necessarily new when it comes to Smith. We knew how incredibly talented she was in our last rankings update and we continue to have the same positive impression this week.

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

Trine's Evie Miller was already recognized as one of the top names in the country before these past couple of weekends, but what she has done recently has been insane.

A recent mark of 9:32 for 3000 meters at the GVSU "Big Meet" last weekend, followed by a 4:45 mile effort at the Alex Wilson Invite, puts her at NCAA #2 for the mile and NCAA #5 for the 3000 meters.

In other years, we would be talking about Miller as a national title favorite in the mile. Of course, the difference between this year and most other years is the presence of Ella Baran.

Nonetheless, Evie Miller is still one of the best distance talents in the country and has certainly earned a top-five ranking. Unbelievably, a collegiate record would probably be her best chance or earning a top-three ranking...maybe.

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

Since our last update, Messiah's Esther Seeland has duplicated her 2:05 (800) performance from earlier in the season at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. Then, she ran 1:30.01 for 600 meters at the Penn State Tune-Up last Friday.

Seeland has been very consistent over the last few weeks and looks ready to add to her personal silverware collection in the 800 meters come March. Other than that, there's not much more we have to say about Seeland.

2. Kassie Parker, Senior, Loras (0 / 2)

Another week, another D3 all-time best for Kassie Parker.

While her 15:58 mark at the Iowa State Classic won’t count for an official record due to the track length, that was still the first time anyone at the D3 level has run an indoor 5k under the 16 minute barrier.

She followed up that massive performance the next week by anchoring Loras' DMR to a time of 11:53 which currency sits at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard.

It is all but a guarantee at this point that the Duhawks will qualify that relay for the national meet, which leaves Parker in an interesting situation given the turnaround of only 80 minutes between the 5k and the DMR.

However, when you take into consideration that she’s 37 seconds ahead of the next-fastest 5k athlete, and could comfortably win without expending very much effort, the idea of a 5k/DMR double seems fairly doable, especially for someone of Parker's caliber.

1. Ella Baran, Junior, Johns Hopkins (0 / 1)

This Johns Hopkins star has put together jaw-dropping performance after jaw-dropping performance.

At the Boston University Valentine Invite, she ran 9:13 in the 3000 meters, setting her second official D3 record in as many weeks. Then, the very next day, she anchored the Blue Jays to an NCAA #2 time in the DMR with a 4:47 anchor split.

After her record-setting regular season, Baran is in store for a special postseason where she is in position to potentially win multiple national titles between the DMR and her individual events.

ADDED

Elizabeth Donnelly (Gustavus Adolphus)

Aubrie Fisher (Wartburg)

KICKED OFF

Izzi Gengaro (MIT)

Ana Tucker (Hope)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Hope Murphy (Baldwin-Wallace)

Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)