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

Written by Brett Haffner, Hannah Thorn & Kevin Fischer

Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin

Click here to read Part One as well as our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names.

Listed eligibility takes Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.

10. Aubrie Fisher, Junior, Wartburg

Aubrie Fisher is a mainstay in The Stride Report's season-by-season distance rankings and that shouldn’t change this winter.

The Wartburg star had a great fall campaign, even though her national meet didn’t go quite the way that she had probably hoped that it would. Even so, Fisher still finished 14th overall in her season finale and led her team to a 3rd place finish.

That team finish is a good sign for the Knights as Aubrie Fisher was a member of last year's defending national championship-winning relay in the DMR. In that race at last year's indoor national meet, Fisher was able to hold off Kassie Parker on the anchor leg and deliver her squad NCAA gold. They look to be just as good this year.

Individually, Fisher will likely focus on the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters. That is hardly a surprise given her 9:47 (3k) and 16:48 (5k) personal bests in those events. However, if she is going to toe the line for DMR on the national stage (again) this year, then we will probably see her doubling back in only the 3k.

Last year, Fisher placed 13th in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships after coming in as the 15th seed. Her personal best of 9:47 (3k) came fairly early-on during the 2022 indoor track season, meaning that she may not have timed her postseason peak as ideally as one may like.

We could see Fisher race later and race less this winter in order to address that. But still, this is a proven veteran who was clearly at a new level of fitness this past fall. Her 4:59 (mile) PR is a solid boost to her resume and her steeplechase success indicates that she can be a top-10 woman in the country this winter.

9. Kathleen McCarey, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Kathleen McCarey had a dream cross country season this past fall and will be hoping to use that momentum heading into another indoor track season.

This SUNY Geneseo star had a fairly limited resume on the track until last winter. During the 2022 indoor track season, she qualified for the indoor national meet in both the 3000 and the 5000 meters.

McCarey went on to finish 3rd in the 5000 meters, emerging as the best woman in the chase pack behind Kassie Parker and Ari Marks. She even beat out Fiona Smith in that race!

Unfortunately, McCarey was one of several women who struggled in the 3000 meters the next day, finishing 16th overall in 10:02, 11 seconds slower than her personal best.

Admittedly, McCarey's event speciality doesn't venture much higher or lower than the 3k and the 5k on the indoor track. But with a blistering fast 16:36 (5k) PR and a massively valuable year of experience under her belt, McCarey could be a major threat to the top distance running women in the NCAA this winter, especially with Kassie Parker out of eligibility.

8. Alex Ross, Senior, Johns Hopkins

Alex Ross is looking to bring her consistency from the 2022 cross country season to her 2023 indoor track campaign.

Last winter was the first time that Ross had ever qualified for an indoor national meet, but that’s mostly due to COVID-19 and not necessarily some stratospheric rise. On that stage, she finished a pleasantly strong 5th place in the 5000 meters and 17th in the 3000 meters.

Ross unquestionably gets better the longer the racing distances become. If you don't believe us, just take a look at her 3rd place finish in the 10,000 meters at the outdoor national meet from last spring.

We also saw the Blue Jay ace utilize her cross country fitness to toe the line for the 5000 meters at the Fastrack Season Opener earlier this month, running 16:41.39 which essentially matched her PR from last spring.

We'll admit, what you see with Ross is what you get. She is a true long distance aerobic star who really doesn't have much range below 3000 meters.

But few women are better on the national stage than this Johns Hopkins standout. And after a brilliant 2022 cross country season, Ross is likely due for personal bests that go sub-9:40 (3k) and sub-16:40 (5k) this winter.

7. Hope Murphy, Junior, Baldwin Wallace

Hope Murphy will be looking for some redemption this winter after a tough showing at the 2022 indoor national meet.

The Baldwin Wallace ace came into her national meet mile race ranked at TSR #6 with a personal best of 4:57. And after finishing 5th in the prelims, things were looking good for Murphy. Unfortunately, she didn't find that same success in the finals and as she faded to 10th, running 5:21.

But while that was a tough end to Murphy's season, she did go on to finish 3rd in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet, proving that her performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships was just a fluke. Her new PR of 4:26 in the event was also highly impressive and hard to ignore.

Murphy proved to be nationally competitive last winter, but then she reached an entirely different level in the spring months. After all, this is someone who went on to run 59.77 (400) and 2:11.82 (800), showcasing a level of speed and turnover that not all top-tier milers can boast.

There's still some work and improvement for Murphy to do before she can truly contend for a national title, but that scenario is still plenty possible.

6. Delaney Sall, Junior, Calvin

One of the best returners in Division Three for the women's 800 meters this year is Delaney Sall. The Calvin star is coming off of a sophomore year where she earned a pair of All-American honors, placing 8th at the NCAA Indoor Championships and 4th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Oh, and did we mention that she helped her relay to a 5th place finish in the DMR at last year's indoor national meet?

Sall has toed the line for three national meets and never finished worse than 8th. That is great consistency in an event that requires you to get past multiple rounds. And when you tack on a blistering fast half-mile PR of 2:08, this Calvin ace looks like one of the more complete middle distance runners in the nation!

Her 57.87 (400) and 4:35 (1500) personal bests don't hurt her resume, either.

For someone who has only been halfway through her college eligibility, Sall has accomplished quite a lot. She has proven that she can be counted on in high-pressure situations and there is still plenty of time to improve.

If she makes one more leap, then we could be talking about Sall as a national title winner three months from now.

5. Annika Urban, Junior, Emory

Annika Urban has the top time in all of Division Three for the women's 5000 meters right now.

Yes, it’s early, but Urban has been one of the more steady and reliable distance runners in Division Three at any point of any season.

And after a stellar 2022 cross country season, Urban finished 6th at the national meet. It feels absolutely ridiculous to suggest that Urban's latest result on the grass was a "disappointing finish", but that’s how well this Emory star was racing this past fall -- she seemed like a potential outside threat to Kassie Parker!

But Urban has already rebounded incredibly well, running 16:29 for 5k at the Boston University Sharon Colyear Danville Season Opener. That was a 21-second PR. Her recent time would have listed her at NCAA #6 last spring in the event and NCAA #2 last winter (by a heavy margin over the NCAA #3 time).

It’s easy to say that Urban is fit right now, but it's unclear how she is going to race later in the season. Urban hasn’t raced a full indoor track season since 2020. And while she is clearly so much better now than she once was, we just want to see how she handles the rest of this season before she climbs up in our rankings.

Because by March, she could be listed at TSR #1.

4. Ana Tucker, Junior, Hope

Ana Tucker is one of the few D3 women who has already raced on the indoor oval this winter -- and her season debut was quite the pleasant surprise.

The Hope College superstar ran in the 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open, clocking a phenomenal mark of 16:29.34, a result that feels like the best time-based performance of her career.

That marks currently sits at NCAA #2 right now, only two-tenths of a second behind Annika Urban. We should also note that Tucker currently has the top-ranked time in the 3000 meters from SVSU Holiday Open where she ran 9:36!

That is far and above the rest of the nation at this point (although not surprisingly).

However, what truly places Tucker at TSR #4 to start this season is that, for the most part, she has historically performed very well on the indoor oval.

Yes, it's true, Tucker was listed at NCAA #8 going into the 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year, but unfortunately recorded a DNF result in that race. But this long-time star seems to be on a different level this year after a stellar cross country season which saw her finish 4th at the NCAA XC Championships.

That finish ties her highest placement at a national meet so far which was a 4th place finish in the 5000 meters at the 2021 outdoor national meet. And let's not forget, Tucker also earned a pair of All-American honors between the 5k (5th) and the 10k (8th) at last year's outdoor national meet.

Tucker was already one of the more reliable distance talents in the country, but her fitness has clearly carried over to the indoor track, recently posting top-tier personal bests. She will be looking for some redemption this season and see if she can elevate her fitness to the same level as Fiona Smith in hopes of winning NCAA gold.

3. Clara Mayfield, Sophomore, Carleton

After such a strong end to her 2022 cross country season, it was hard not to rank Clara Mayfield this highly. Sure, she has a few areas to work on if she's going to truly contend for a national title, but few women have her mix of experience, progression, range and consistency.

It will be interesting to see what this Carleton star chooses to run at the NCAA Indoor Championships later this year. Last winter, she toed the line for the mile and the 3000 meters at the indoor national meet, finishing 4th in the mile and 14th in the 3000 meters.

Admittedly, Mayfield was one of several women who had sub-par performances in that national meet 3k race after running in both the mile prelims and mile finals.

But the rising distance star made up for that at the outdoor national meet she moved up in distance to contest the 10k/5k double, ultimately earning 5th (10k) and 11th (5k) place results.

Could Clara Mayfield move up this year and run the 5k on the indoor oval? Could she try the 5k/3k double? It's hard to say, especially with a very fast mile PR of 4:52 headlining her resume. Her 3k and 5k personal bests of 9:35 (3k) and 16:33 (5k) also gives her resume a level of well-rounded firepower that other women in Division Three can't necessarily boast.

The world really is Mayfield's oyster this winter as she has the right mixture of speed, strength, experience and talent to be one of the biggest all-around threats in the NCAA. Whether she can put herself in a position to win a title is still unclear, but she all of the tactical racing tools to do such.

2. Emma Kelley, Junior, Washington U.

One could argue that the national title favorite for the women's 800 meters this winter is Washington U.'s Emma Kelley.

Last year, Kelley had to take a backseat of sorts to Esther Seeland who is now at Virginia as a graduate transfer. At the 2022 indoor national meet, she ran 2:09 which was four seconds behind Seeland, but almost three seconds ahead of 3rd place!

Now, in 2023, it's Kelley who is seemingly in the driver's seat.

And after running a personal best of 2:06 of 800 meters as well as a time of 56.08 for 400 meters last spring, it feels safe to say that no one in these rankings has more foot speed and turnover than Kelley does.

Kelley has already started off her 2023 indoor track season at the Indianapolis Season Opener where she ran 2:10.51 for 800 meters. There is no rust to be found. With conversions, that time is three and a half seconds faster than any half-mile time that anyone has run so far.

Delaney Sall may be one of the more complete middle distance runners in Division Three, but there is no one who is a better pure 800 meter runner than Kelley. Her fitness is simply at a tier higher than Sall's and her accolades on the national stage are hard to ignore.

1. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict

When looking at last year's indoor national meet, Fiona Smith is the best returner in the 3000 meters this winter and the second-best returner in the 5000 meters. And when you pair that with her runner-up finish at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall, it's easy to see why Smith was able to earn our TSR #1 ranking.

All of Smith's indoor personal bests came from last winter when she ran 9:34 (3k) and 16:35 (5k). However, her fastest overall 5k time of her career sits at 16:16.

Those are already speedy times and for the first time in her career, Smith won’t have to worry about racing Kassie Parker. But after such a dominant fall campaign, we could see Smith running sub-9:30 and sub-16:30 this season.

The dominance over Kassie Parker may have occasionally overshadowed how good Smith is -- this past fall was a very good example of that. And with 1500 meter and mile personal bests of 4:29 and 4:55, respectively, it's hard to say that anyone in Division Three has more elite firepower than this Saint Benedict star.

Smith normally takes time off after the cross country season, so we shouldn’t expect to see her race until mid-to-late January. But when she does toe the line, she will likely begin a winter campaign where she'll be aiming for double gold at the indoor national meet.