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One Sentence Previews: 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships Women's Mile (D2)

  • Grace McLaughlin
  • Mar 8, 2022
  • 4 min read

Updated: Mar 8, 2022


Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin


1. Berenice Cleyet-Merle (Indianapolis)

Cleyet-Merle is the undisputed middle distance queen of Division Two and she should have no issues taking home gold in this event.


2. Klaudia O’Malley (Grand Valley State)

O’Malley has won almost every race she has run this season and has extensive championship experience, making her the most obvious choice to challenge Cleyet-Merle this weekend.


3. Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)

Nicole Lawrence made her name known during the fall and has built upon that momentum to solidify herself as an elite miler, leading us to believe that she will leave Kansas with her first All-American performance on the track.


4. Natalia Novak (Academy of Art)

Not only has Novak had her best races in the postseason, earning national qualifying marks at a few "last chance" meets, but she also continues to show us that she has the necessary speed and understanding of race tactics to be an All-American in both the 3k and the mile.


5. Claire McCune (Drury)

McCune is clearly talented and her seed time of 4:46 is very impressive, but this will be her first time in the national spotlight on the track, making it a challenge to figure out how high McCune’s ceiling is this weekend.


6. Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State)

Ludge is an experienced veteran who is a near guarantee to score points for the Lakers in this event, although it's unclear just how high she'll actually finish.


7. Nicolette Schmidt (Augustana (SD))

Schmidt has steadily improved throughout the years and placed 6th in the mile at last year's indoor national meet, but given how fast everyone in the NCAA has become, she will likely need to run under 4:45 to better her previous national meet finish.


8. Ava O’Connor (Adams State)

Despite her youth, O’Connor is the dark horse contender of this event following her mile win at the RMAC Championships and we would not be surprised if she fought for a runner-up finish this weekend.


9. Layla Almasri (UC-Colorado Springs)

Almasri is a familiar, dynamic name with plenty of championship experience who should make it to finals, but her ceiling may be limited to her seed as she tends to excel in aerobic-based battles rather than speed-oriented ones.


10. Kaylee Beyer (Winona State)

While this may be Beyer’s national meet debut, she seems to do well in competitive, high-level races, giving us reason to believe that she will have a solid performance this weekend.


11. PJ English (Augustana (SD))

English placed 5th in the mile at the indoor national meet from last year and has several All-American performances under her belt, making her a very realistic All-American candidate despite her lower seed.


12. Courtney McAlindon (Westminster (UT))

McAlindon has never run a sub-five mile without an altitude conversion and she has never run the event at sea level, but she was the 4th place finish at the RMAC Championship behind several reputable runners and has made significant improvements as the season has progressed, so she may be sleeper pick for some distance fans going into this weekend.


13. Taylor Hestekin (U-Mary)

Taylor Hestekin was the unfortunate 10th place finisher in the mile prelims at the indoor national meet last year, although based on her previous championship appearances and her 800 meter personal best of 2:09, Hestekin has the experience and the foot speed to qualify for finals this weekend and thrive in a tactical setting.


14. Alexa Leppelmeier (Walsh)

Leppelmeier is an experienced runner who doesn’t like to lose, going undefeated against collegiates in every race that she has toed the line for this season and effectively giving her a resume that makes her a near-lock to make it out of the prelims.


15. Kate Hedlund (UC-Colorado Springs)

Hedlund has shown massive improvements this season, but she is still young and this will be her first time on the national stage, so this may be more of a learning experience for her compared to a few of the higher seeds.


16. Riley McGrath (UC-Colorado Springs)

McGrath was the 7th place finisher in this event last year and although she is young, she has more championship experience than several other competitors in this field, giving her a huge advantage going into the prelims.


17. Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire)

Corcoran surprisingly started her collegiate career off as a long-sprints athlete and has steadily improved to become a solid distance runner over the last two years, but her inexperience on the national stage (and as a distance runner in general) will make these mile prelims her biggest challenge yet.


18. Elysia Burgos (Southwest Baptist)

Burgos was the 6th place All-American finisher in the 1500 meters last spring, but even with her extensive experience of racing at a high level, it will take a solid effort for her to make it to the finals based on the competitiveness of the field.


19. Ruby Lindquist (Black Hills State)

Lindquist qualified for the national meet thanks to a massive PR which was admittedly an outlier race compared to most of her season, so she will need a little bit of luck and the race of her life to qualify for the finals.


20. Rachael Morrison (Lindenwood)

Morrison is a fairly unknown name who narrowly made it into the national meet and while making it to the finals would be a stunning accomplishment, that possibility isn't unreasonable given her massive improvements and the fact that she has been a consistent scorer at GLVC Championships over the last few seasons.


Final Predictions:

  1. Berenice Cleyet-Merle (Indianapolis)

  2. Klaudia O’Malley (Grand Valley State)

  3. Natalie Novak (Academy of Art)

  4. Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State)

  5. Nicole Lawrence (Adams State)

  6. Claire McCune (Drury)

  7. Layla Almasri (UC-Colorado Springs)

  8. Nicolette Schmidt (Augustana (SD))

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