2023 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Women): Preseason (Part One)

TSR Collaboration
Dec 21, 2022
14 min read

Written by Grace McLaughlin & Marissa Kuik, additional commentary & edits 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.

25. Kaylee Beyer, Sophomore, Winona State

Kaylee Beyer hasn’t quite made the same noise as some of her counterparts since she joined the ranks of Division Two back in 2019. However, she has consistently improved and that consistency has rewarded her over the calendar year.

Beyer’s climb to name recognition in Division Two started during last year’s indoor track season. She raced the mile five different times before the national meet and improved in each instance.

Her overall progression during that winter campaign ended with a 2nd place finish in the mile at the NSIC Indoor Championships and with a new shiny PR of 4:50. The same thing can be said about her times in the 800 meters as she recorded a 3rd place finish at the NSIC Indoor Championships and, at the time, landed a new personal best of 2:14.

Beyer qualified for the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships and would finish 14th in the nation. And while that's not the best result ever, the learning curve that comes with the national meet is always different for each athlete.

After the indoor track season, Beyer went on to cut three seconds off of her 800 meter time, running 2:11 at the Beach Invitational two days after she ran 4:26 in the 1500 meters to secure a spot at the national meet. And at that said national meet, Beyer would finish in 6th place, running 4:22 and cementing her breakout season.

Of course, her ongoing improvements didn’t stop there. She returned to the grass this past fall for Winona State and was sensational given her expectations.

Beyer was 7th at the NSIC XC Championships, 4th at the Central Regional XC Championships and finally 36th at the NCAA XC Championships. As a middle distance athlete, that felt like a confidence boost in terms of what we should expect from her later this winter.

If things continue to improve for Beyer, then she has a good chance of competing for a top spot in her best events. Her development as a cross country All-American should bode well for her ability to thrive in mile when she's moving up from the 800 meters.

And if she maintains this year-long momentum over the next few months, then she could potentially take that next step as far as national competitiveness goes.

24. Emily Schoellkopf, Sophomore, Adams State

The 2022 indoor and outdoor track seasons were interesting ones for the Adams State Grizzlies.

After coming off of another national title at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships, the expectations were high for Alamosa-based women. And for the most part, it seemed like the Grizzlies were meeting those expectations.

However, not only did their usual top athletes perform well during throughout last winter, but other athletes on the team started to shine as well, including Emily Schoellkopf.

Schoellkopf took a season to find her primary event, but then she began to hit her stride by the end of the 2022 indoor campaign, running an eye-catching mark of 9:46 (3k) at the Husky Classic. She would later finish 3rd at the RMAC Indoor Championships, earning herself a bid into the indoor national meet.

The rising Adams State youngster would end up finishing 13th place overall in the 3k during that season finale.

But then Schoellkopf transitioned to the steeplechase on the outdoor oval and spent the whole 2022 spring season trying to qualify for the national meet in that event. As a result, the rising youngster saw some huge improvements, starting at 11:52 and dropping her time by over a minute to 10:45. She just barely missed out on qualifying for the outdoor national meet.

However, this future Adams State star was seemingly not been deterred by that near miss. Schoellkopf built on that momentum this past cross country season which was the first time that we saw her run for the Grizzlies in all of their championship races. She finished 25th at the NCAA XC Championships, ending her season with All-American honors.

The test for Schoellkopf this season will be if she can continue to ride the momentum that she has built for herself. Based on the rate that she has been improving at, Schoellkopf could play a major role for Adams State this indoor season.

Following a clear increase in her aerobic strength as seen on the grass, Schoellkopf should only be stronger in the 3k and likely move up to the 5k now that she isn't the same inexperienced youngster that she was last year.

And although she isn't quite as established as a few of the other women on this list, her youth-based upside and obvious upwards trajectory made it impossible to leave her out of these rankings.

23. Kylie Anicic, Senior, Edinboro

Kylie Anicic comes in at TSR #23 based on her talent and experience in the longer events. The Edinboro ace finished 11th in the 5000 meters at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, placed 18th in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and most recently finished 31st at the NCAA XC Championships.

Anicic won all but two races this past fall, but more importantly, holds personal bests of 16:26 (5k) and 34:37 (10k). And while she may not have the flashiest resume in comparison to a few others, she is aerobically strong, has become increasingly more consistent and has experience on the national level.

This rising Edinboro star has been steadily improving and her momentum is extremely promising right now. With additional personal bests of 2:16 (800), 4:58 (mile) and 9:43 (3k), her resume seemingly features some respectable well-roundedness to it.

Anicic will likely be one of the top 5k runners this season, but just how far into All-American contention can she realistically get? With the longer distances looking just as stacked as they were last year, this east coast standout will need to become a masterclass tactician on championship stages or elevate his raw fitness to an entirely new level.

22. Natalie Graber, Junior, Grand Valley State

Here we have another athlete who has shown a ton of consistency in cross country. Natalie Graber has finished in the top-40 of the past three NCAA XC Championships and has played a vital role in the Lakers’ three runner-up finishes.

However, she has been a little inconsistent on the track.

The GVSU star has yet to run at an NCAA Indoor Championship and she only qualified for her first outdoor national meet last season in the steeplechase where she finished 18th. On paper, that makes it hard to rank someone like Graber who is clearly talented, but has a skillset that is potentially better suited for the spring months.

And yet, Graber still deserves to be in our rankings as she holds a ton of potential to be one of the top athletes on the track this season.

Even though she hasn’t officially raced at an indoor national meet, she has qualified for one. During the 2019-2020 indoor track season, the Laker ace ran 16:51 in the 5000 meters, earning herself the NCAA #10 spot on the national leaderboard, easily qualifying her for the national meet.

Of course, everyone knows what happened in 2020.

Graber did struggle a little bit going into the next indoor season, performing below the times that she ran during the 2019-2020 season. She then transitioned to the steeplechase in 2022, running 10:40 and ultimately advancing to the aforementioned outdoor national meet where she finished a quiet 18th place overall.

Despite her unexciting results on the track, it seems like Graber may be returning closer to the level that she was at during the 2020 indoor track season.

After her fantastic fall campaign, one where she was incredibly dominant until the national meet, Graber ran a sizzling mark of 16:32 for the 5k at the Lakers’ home indoor meet earlier this month. Clearly, her statement fall campaign was far from a fluke.

Graber looks poised to run better than she ever has on the track this winter. She has clearly reached an entirely different level of fitness and is proving with a few recent performances how easily she could make a jump over the next few months.

We’ll see how she progresses throughout this season and beyond, but things are looking very bright for this Laker ace in 2023.

21. Precious Robinson, Sophomore, Adams State

After Adams State won another cross country national title in 2021, we had pretty high expectations for the athletes who were a part of that national title-winning team. However, few women from that lineup rallied around their momentum from that fall better than Precious Robinson.

Coming off of an 11th place finish at the 2021 national cross country meet, Robinson picked up where she left off, running excellent personal bets of 16:41 in the 5000 meters and a converted 9:31 in the 3000 meters. Those two times would qualify her for the NCAA Indoor Championships where she ended up placing 14th in the 5k and 16th in the 3k.

Admittedly, those latter national meet results were nothing special, especially when you consider how strong her finish was at the 2021 cross country national meet.

Of course, contesting multiple events for the first time at a national meet can be challenging. In our eyes, we chalked that up as a learning experience for Robinson.

In the spring, the Adams State ace did run a strong mark of 16:34 (5k) at Bryan Clay and then doubled back with a 4:33 mark in the 1500 meters during that same weekend. That was a very good start to her 2022 outdoor track season as her 16:34 PR would eventually qualify her for the outdoor national meet.

However, Robinson did not race again until the RMAC Outdoor Championships where she only competed in the 1500 meters, placing 10th overall. That would be the end of her 2022 spring campaign as she did not race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships despite running a fast enough time in the 5k.

Robinson has undoubtedly proven herself on the grass, recently placing 3rd at the 2022 RMAC XC Championships and 15th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

But now this rising Grizzly star needs to validate that fitness on the oval.

She has shown glimpses of being a great athlete on the track given her fast times in the longer distances, but her inability to standout in the postseason is what ultimately keeps her at TSR #21.

If she stays healthy, we most likely will see her make a big jump in the 5k this winter and maybe even move up to the 10k during the spring. But for now, we'll be looking to see how her tactics have developed on championship stages.

20. Nicolette Schmidt, Senior, Augustana

Nicolette Schmidt is coming off of her best finish at the NCAA XC Championships where she ended up placing 16th overall earlier this month.

Schmidt is no stranger to being a top finisher on the grass as she finished 21st at the 2021 cross country national meet and was also a respectable 43rd place at the 2019 cross country national meet. The Viking veteran has also qualified for multiple indoor and outdoor national meets.

At the 2022 indoor national meet, Schmidt qualified in the mile, finishing 12th overall, and was the fourth leg in the Vikings’ 5th place DMR team. During the outdoor season, she qualified for the outdoor national meet in the 1500 meters and ended up placing 18th.

Ranking Schmidt is a little bit difficult. She has shown great promise on the grass, and she has proven that she can run at a high level by qualifying for multiple indoor and outdoor national meets. Her personal best times of 2:53 (1k), 4:50 (mile), 9:41 (3k) and 16:30 (5k) are certainly no-joke, either, giving her tremendous versatility in comparison to a few other women.

However, Schmidt's inability to make it to final rounds in either of her national meet races makes it hard to rank her better than TSR #20. That's a bit surprising as a her dynamic talent, in theory, should put her in positions to handle a variety of race scenarios.

And yet, at the time, we may be too hard on Schmidt. We certainly were this past fall and she ultimately ended her season on a high note. She offers great value in a handful of events and she's experienced on top stages.

However, we need to see this Augustana star improve upon her finishes against the nation's best talents before we can rank her any higher.

But then again, she has shown glimpses of being successful on the biggest stages given her 6th place finish in the mile at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships (which also featured another top-five team finish in the DMR).

19. Amanda Montplaisir, Senior, Minnesota State

Amanda Montplaisir has quickly become a name to watch.

The Minnesota State senior showcased her talent in the steeplechase last spring with her 9th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but we don't think anyone predicted the progression that she displayed this past fall.

Montplaisir had an extremely strong and consistent 2022 cross country season, highlighted by her top-10 finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Last winter, she focused on the mile and the 3000 meters, running personal bests of 4:59 (mile) and 9:55 (3k) in her respective events.

But given her recent success in cross country and the steeplechase, the 3000 meters, and maybe even the 5000 meters, seem to be the events are best suited for her. We imagine that she will greatly improve upon her 9:55 PR in the 3k as well.

While her track resume may not be as dazzling as some of the other women on this list, Montplaisir has proven to be talented on both the track and the grass. She also has incredible momentum heading into this indoor track season and essentially all of her personal bests have come in the last 10 months.

It's not a matter of whether or not Montplaisir will be better this season, it's more a matter of how much better she'll end up being.

18. Lauren Kiley, Freshman, Grand Valley State

It is rare for a true freshman to be included in our preseason indoor track rankings, but Lauren Kiley's success on the grass this past fall gives her a TSR #18 position heading into the winter months.

Kiley showed improvement and composure throughout the 2022 cross country season on top of her already-impressive display of talent at the prep level. She recently finished 7th at the NCAA XC Championships as a true freshman. That is almost unheard of and it's an exciting sign of her potential heading into this indoor season.

Kiley was a top recruit from the high school level, boasting personal bests of 2:16 (800), 4:57 (1600) and 10:35 (3200). If she can translate (and build upon) that kind of resume this winter as seamlessly as she did during cross country, then we don't know how she'll fall out of these rankings.

Given her poise and progression on the grass, we believe that Kiley will be just as successful this indoor season. However, given her youth and the ensuing inexperience that comes with that, we have also opted to hold her out of our top-15.

While Kiley could certainly reach that point in our rankings, we just want to see how the true rookie fares in her first collegiate season on the indoor oval. Her recent 16:41 (5k) mark earlier this month was promising, but that kind of time does not at all make her a guarantee to be an All-American in the event.

But with someone as young as her, the upside that Kiley brings to the D2 scene feels like it could be scary high.

17. Molly Maksin, Sophomore, Colorado Mines

Molly Maskin is one of the better endurance-centric athletes in Division Two right now. And after her successful 2022 cross country campaign, she has earned a TSR #17 ranking heading into the upcoming/current indoor track season.

Last year, the Colorado Mines ace placed 12th in the 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships, 10th in the 5k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and most recently 12th at the NCAA XC Championships. That's encouraging progress, although we still need to see if this momentum will carry over to the indoor oval in 2023.

Maksin owns personal bests of 16:41 in the 5000 meters and 34:56 in the 10,000 meters, but based off of her cross country results, she is very clearly due for at least a 10-second improvement in the 5k and potentially a national-caliber mark in the 3k.

We're confident that she'll improve even further over the next few months, we just don't know by how much.

Maksin is still gaining experience, but she seemingly made the jump from “good” to "great" over the last few months. In fact, the analysis that we have for Montplaisir is almost identical for this Colorado Mines talent.

Her momentum makes her one of the more exciting names to watch this season, although how quickly Maksin assimilates to not just racing with, but also defeating, the top women in the NCAA is something that we still need to monitor.

16. Helen Braybrook, Junior, CSU-Pueblo

Helen Braybrook is likely the most versatile athlete in this portion of our rankings...depending on how you feel about Nicolette Schmidt.

This Thunderwolf ace ran on the third leg of CSU-Pueblo’s gold medal DMR relay last winter, proving to be one of the better middle distance runners in Division Two. Following the indoor track season, she continued her success on the outdoor oval by placing 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800 meters.

Of course, Baybrook's arguably more important result was her 2:08 mark at the half-mile distance at the CSU-Pueblo Invitational (which was a given a fairly small conversion).

While these are impressive performances by the CSU-Pueblo ace, what really makes her stand out is her improvement on the grass this past fall. Braybrook finished her 2022 cross country season with a 23rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships, an incredibly impressive result for a middle distance specialist.

With former teammate and reigning 1500 meter national champion, Yasmine Hernandez, out of eligibility, Braybrook has already begun to fill in the gap that is expected to be left behind by Hernandez on the oval.

We don't entirely know what to expect from Braybrook this winter given that she has improved upon her endurance and consistency in seemingly dramatic ways. Looking at this indoor track season, she could be a star in the mile or she could continue her 800 meter prowess.

Regardless of her event choice, Helen Braybrook has the speed, newfound endurance, consistency, experience and increasing momentum that should make her a legitimate threat as this winter season begins.

She is a dynamic runner and will be an exciting name to watch this winter, especially with some experience of racing at the highest levels of competition now under her belt.

15. PJ English, Senior, Augustana

This Augustana veteran comes in at TSR #15 in our preseason indoor rankings due to her success in the mile and the 1500 meters last year.

English placed 7th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships last winter as well as 8th in the 1500 meters and 15th in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In just that one sentence alone, you can not only see English's ability to be an consistent All-American, but also a dynamic national-caliber talent as well.

Yes, the Viking ace did struggle a bit during 2022 cross country season and finished 129th at the NCAA XC Championships. However, we do not believe that those string of performances on the grass are indicative of her true talent level. She was, after all, the 28th place finisher at the 2021 cross country national meet and has a blistering 5k personal best of 16:20.

English has an excellent blend of endurance and speed, allowing her to excel in the mile (owning a 4:48 PR) while still thriving in fast-paced, aerobic-centric distance races.

If English is back at full fitness, then she will likely be a top name in numerous distance events. And although she "only" has a personal best of 9:49 in the 3000 meters, we feel like that can actually be her best event based on her overall resume.

However, there is still another test that we have English: Can she go from fringe All-American to top-tier contender?

14. Chrissani May, Junior, Lincoln (MO)

Chrissani May is an 800 meter star with impressive foot-speed. The Lincoln (MO) ace was 4th in the 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and has a eyebrow-raising personal best of 2:06 in the event.

While The Stride Report typically focuses on the 800 meters and up, we have to give May credit for her speed in the 400 meters. She aided the Blue Tigers in winning the 4x400 meter relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was part of the runner-up relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Admittedly, May's resume is a bit one-dimensional. Her only competitive personal best sits in the 800 meters and she has never contested an open 400 meter race before.

But not everyone in the NCAA needs to be a wildly dynamic superstar. May is one of the top returners in the 800 meters this year and has been consistently successful in the half-mile. We have no reason to believe that this year will be any different.

The Blue Tiger ace has arguably the best raw speed out of anyone on this list, which is a huge advantage in more tactical indoor 800 meter races. She consistently peaks in the postseason and is one of the most reliable middle distance All-Americans in the country.