2023 D3 Indoor Top 20 Rankings (Women): Preseason (Part One)

Written by Brett Haffner, Hannah Thorn & Kevin Fischer

Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin

Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

Listed eligibility takes Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

20. Claudia Harnett, Sophomore, U. of Chicago

We'll admit, this ranking is kind of a gamble.

We haven’t seen Claudia Harnett race since late April. She was entered in the UAA XC Championships this past fall, but she did not start. Was there an injury that held her out? From an outsider's perspective, maybe that was the case, but that's only speculation and her recent absence still leaves us with plenty of questions.

Even so, when Harnett did race earlier this year, she was one of the best freshmen in the country -- maybe even the best.

She was a part of the 3rd place DMR team for U. of Chicago at the indoor national meet. Her 800 meter leg gave her team a chance to win gold going into the anchor leg. It's also important to note that Harnett could have run more than one race at the NCAA Indoor Championships, but chose to focus on the DMR.

We also have to remember that she ran 2:11 in the 800 meters, 4:30 in the 1500 meters and 5:01 in the mile last year. Oh, and by the way, she was a top-three finisher in every. single. open. race. that she toed the line for on the track! Her poise and ability to win, despite being a freshman, was an encouraging development.

There's room for Harnett to be ranked higher, but our first is hope to see her back in competition this winter, hopefully racing better than ever.

19. Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Sophomore, U. of Chicago

Anna Kenig-Ziesler is coming off of a breakout cross country season which concluded with an 11th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

This U. of Chicago ace will undoubtedly make massive improvements on the indoor oval this winter, but just how massive will those improvements be? We're banking of them being pretty significant...

It's true, Kenig-Ziesler's track pedigree isn’t quite as impressive as some of the other names on this list. Still, she is clearly a lot better now than she was last winter.

Her current personal bests of 5:16 (mile), 10:24 (3k) and 17:48 (5k) should be history soon -- but the magnitude to which those marks improve is still unclear. The potential is definitely there for her to end up contending for an All-American spot if everything goes right, but which events will she pursue? Where will she be best utilized?

We're not entirely sure what the answers to those questions are, but history says that she'll be a top name in Division Three this winter after a successful fall campaign.

18. Emily Konkus, Senior, Washington U.

Emily Konkus had already established herself as a top-tier D3 talent prior to the 2022 cross country season. However, the Washington U. star seemingly took another step forward this past fall, showcasing excellent consistency and ultimately earning her first All-American honor with a 13th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

But Konkus has been a near All-American on the track before, as recently as this past May.

The midwest veteran was the 9th place finisher in the 1500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this past spring, so there is certainly potential for her to place highly in the mile at this year's indoor national meet.

Even so, Konkus' recent cross country success, along with her 5000 meter personal best of 16:56, indicate that she can be competitive in the longer events as well.

That underrated versatility, clear uptick in fitness and sneaky-good experience on the national stage suggests that Konkus is going to be a problem on the oval this winter.

17. Anna Schueth, Junior, UW-Eau Claire

After emerging as the 5th place finisher at last year’s indoor national meet in the 800 meters, Anna Schueth had a tough 2022 outdoor track season as she failed to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

And yet, despite that, Schueth has enough of a history that her latest spring campaign doesn’t concern us too much. She was, after all, also a national qualifier in the spring of 2021.

If Schueth can regain her form from last winter, and perhaps even improve upon it, then she could be one of the most dangerous middle distance runners in the country this winter. Her 800 meter personal best of 2:12 (via the national meet) would have ranked in the top-10 of the D3 national leaderboard going into last year's national meet.

While there are some questions about her season-to-season consistency, we know how high Schueth's ceiling is and we can’t leave her out of these rankings. Fast marks, an All-American honor and multiple instances of national meet exposure make her a solid pick for our TSR #17 spot.

16. Allison Uhl, Senior, The College of New Jersey

Allison Uhl has a wealth of experience when it comes to competing at the national level of Division Three. The TCNJ veteran has contested the 800 meters at four different national meets throughout career, finishing 7th (outdoor 2019), 17th (outdoor 2021), 11th (indoor 2022), and 10th (outdoor 2022).

That is a very extensive resume that a handful of women in our top-10 can't boast.

Uhl is very reliable in regards to getting herself to the line at the nation's biggest meets, and that consistency goes a long way in our eyes. However, after being unable to advance out of the preliminaries in each of her last three national meet appearances -- most recently by a single spot -- Uhl will be hungry to change that and to peak at the right time.

If everything goes well, this TCNJ standout can be one of Emma Kelley’s top challengers in the middle distances this winter, especially with her 57.25 (400) and 2:10 (800) personal bests.

Uhl is easily one of the most experienced middle distance runners in the nation, but she still needs to take that next step from national meet participant to top-end All-American contender.

15. Maeve Hoffman, Junior, Wesleyan

Maeve Hoffman, similarly to Anna Schueth, gets (a little bit of) the benefit of the doubt from us to start this 2023 indoor track season.

The Wesleyan ace's 800 meter PR of 2:12 isn’t quite as impressive as some of the other top returning middle distance runners in these rankings and she was only 20th at the 2022 outdoor national meet this past spring.

However, it's also hard to ignore the fact that she was the 4th place finisher at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships -- and these are indoor track rankings, after all.

Anytime somebody is returning off of that high of a finish, it is really difficult to leave them out of these rankings. The potential for Hoffman this winter is incredibly high, and we've seen her deliver before. We can't discount that success regardless of what she did at the outdoor national meet.

And for what it's worth, Hoffman's best marks have often come in the postseason. That also gives her a resume a little bit of an edge going into this season.

14. Sara Stephenson, Junior, Johns Hopkins

Sara Stephenson is a little bit difficult to rank at times.

Her performances can (sometimes) be a little up and down at times, but her talent is never in doubt. The fact that she is on the same team as Alex Ross also makes it easy to forget that Stephenson is a bona fide star in her own right.

Stephenson's specialty is the steeplechase which she won’t get to contest until the spring months. Even so, she is a true top-tier runner in the longer distances, holding eye-catching personal bests of 9:44 over 3000 meters and 17:01 in the 5000 meters.

Her 5:00 mile PR isn't too shabby, either.

The Johns Hopkins star is also coming off of the best ever cross country season of her career along with a really solid season opener where she ran 10:02 in a solo 3k effort on a flat track.

Between her times, experience, ongoing improvement and national meet success, there really isn't any legitimate flaw on Stephenson's resume. Some of her efforts on the national stage could have maybe been a bit better in the past, but generally speaking, this Blue Jay ace has been very solid.

13. Windsor Ardner, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Windsor Ardner has some of the most impressive range in all of Division Three.

The SUNY Geneseo ace is coming off of an 8th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships, but she has also run a highly impressive mark of 4:30 over 1500 meter, having finished 10th in that event at the outdoor national meet last spring.

Ardner could have the ability to finish as an All-American this season in anything longer than the 800 meters, so it will be interesting to see what she ultimately focuses on. The Knights did have a national qualifying DMR last winter and have the personnel to do it again, so we may see her opt for the 3000 meters this March to act as a fresh relay leg.

But with personal best marks of 2:15 (800), 4:30 (1500), 9:48 (3k) and 17:17 (5k), all of which have the potential to be improved upon this season, the overall value of Ardner's resume could give her a case to be listed in our top-10!

Regardless of what event she attacks this winter, Ardner is one of the best distance runners in the country and will be a force to be reckoned with given the dynamic nature of her fitness.

12. Molly FitzGibbons, Junior, Williams

After being initially seeded ninth in the mile at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and eventually advancing to the national meet finals, Molly FitzGibbons seemed like a fringe All-American.

But then the Williams standout ran a four-second PR in the finals, posting a time of 4:55 to finish in 5th place in a star-studded (and fast) field. That performance ultimately catapulted her to major success in the spring as she finished 3rd in the steeplechase at the outdoor national meet.

Last winter was FitzGibbons' first full indoor track season, but she did not let her inexperience affect her in 2021. Instead, she let her upside carry her to a streak of momentum which just allowed her to earn a top-20 finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

FitzGibbons, when she's at her best, can be a legitimate challenger for a top-three finish in the mile at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships. Her momentum is currently some of the best in the NCAA and her versatility is highly underrated.

On paper, FitzGibbons is the real deal.

11. Morgan Lee, Sophomore, RPI

The Morgan Lee who finished 15th in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year is different from the Morgan Lee who we have seen so far this year.

The RPI runner has found a different level of fitness as a sophomore and that was very evident during the fall months. Coming into the season, we didn't see her finishing 7th at the national meet. And truthfully, we don't know if she saw that coming, either.

Naturally, one would think that Lee will improve upon her already-strong personal bests of 9:51 (3k) and 17:02 (5k) after a clear uptick in her aerobic-based fitness. However, let's not forget that Lee also boasts a 4:59 mile PR! That's a solid mark which showcases underrated turnover for someone who is seemingly a true long distance talent.

All of those personal bests shouldn’t last long as Lee is almost certainly going to be better in 2022 than she was in 2021. But by how much? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Katherine Geist (Carleton)

Olivia Rosenstein (MIT)

Ally Sarussi (Washington U.)

Lexi Brown (Wartburg)

Hannah Preisser (Carleton)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Lucy Groothuis (U. of Chicago)

Aoife Dunne (Washington U.)

Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)

Abby Scott (Williams)

Maddie Kelly (U. of Chicago)