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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D2 NCAA Outdoor Championship Women's 10k Preview
- Marissa Kuik
- May 23, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Marissa Kuik, edits and additional commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
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Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division. We will be slowly rolling out these previews leading up to the outdoor national meets. Stay tuned!
Predictions coming soon
The below list is ordered by seeding.
1. Lindsay Cunningham (Winona State)
It is hard to bet against Lindsay Cunningham when it comes to strength-based races like the 10,000 meters. However, with the national meet sitting at 4800 feet in Pueblo, Colorado, Cunningham’s biggest competitor may actually be the environment. She may not be able to race hard from the gun like she usually does and if she does, then it will be fascinating to see how that approach affects her this weekend.
2. Florence Uwajeneza (West Texas A&M)
With West Texas A&M sitting only a little bit lower than Pueblo, Colorado in terms of elevation, Florance Uwajeneza comes in as a strong contender for the national title. She has also proven that she can race well at altitude as shown when she upset the field at the South Central Regional XC Championships in Denver during the fall. Uwajeneza will still have her hands full with Cunningham and Brianna Robles, but her ability to race well in the longer races make her a legitimate threat.
3. Brianna Robles (Adams State)
After coming off of such a dominant indoor track season, we had high expectations for Brianna Robles. But to be honest, the Adams State star has somewhat underperformed given the expectations for her, although that does not make her any less of a favorite for the national title in this race. She trains at over 7000 feet in Alamosa, so coming down in altitude will likely benefit her more than anyone else and make her a tough competitor to shake off in the final laps.
4. Precious Robinson (Adams State)
Precious Robinson has competed somewhat sparingly this spring, contesting one 10k race, one 5k race and one 1500 meter race. Her results definitely point to her strength being in the longer distances, so she will be right at home running in the 10k this Thursday. Expect her to be in the main pack behind the three leaders with hopes that an honest pace will favor her proven endurance-centric abilities.
5. Reina Paredes (Adams State)
Historically, Reina Paredes has performed well in the longer distances, especially shown by her other marks from this outdoor track season. During the winter, her times did not match her past performances, but she still came away with an 11th place finish in the 3000 meters at the indoor national meet. Nevertheless, her 10k time of 34:00 and a recent 5k PR of 16:43 gives us confidence that this Adams State standout is as good as her seeding suggests that she is.
6. Gianna Bomarito (Sonoma State)
With Sonoma State not having an indoor track season, Gianna Bomarito sat at the top of the national leaderboard in the 10k early in the season. Since her first 10k race in March, Bomarito has contest this distance two additional times with all three efforts being run under 35 minutes. On one hand, Bomarito has been extremely consistent this spring, but on the other hand, completing four 10k races in one season could be physically and mentally taxing.
7. Katie Doucette (Western Colorado)
It was only a matter of time before we saw Katie Doucette race a 10k and sure enough, she came away with a very impressive mark of 34:19 at Azusa Pacific’s "last chance" meet. With Western Colorado sitting at over 7000 feet, Doucette should be able to race with the likes of Robinson and Paredes while thriving at altitude. Admittedly, some championship versions of this long-time veteran have been better than others, but if she's clicking on all cylinders, then a bronze medal isn't out of the question for her.
8. Marissa Insinna (Dallas Baptist)
After finishing up a strong winter campaign, Marissa Insinna kicked off her outdoor track season in early March with a 34:26 (10k) effort. Since then, she has raced plenty, including everything from the 800 meters to the 5k. Her other marks in those events have not been as strong comparatively to a few other women, but it's Insinna's step up to altitude that will be more interesting to monitor come Thursday.
9. Lynette Ruiz (Biola)
Lynette Ruiz is no stranger to the 10k at the national meet. The only difference this time around is that she is much faster...but so is the rest of the field. Expect Ruiz to stay within the main pack for the majority of the race and use last year's experience to properly respond to certain moves if necessary.
10. Madison Brown (Dallas Baptist)
Like her teammate, Madison Brown started her outdoor track season with an impressive 10k mark. The Dallas Baptist star continued to build on that momentum, posting strong times in the 5k and the 1500 meters. However, despite her recent streak of success, Brown has struggled to perform at the indoor and outdoor national meets, making it challenging to properly gauge her in our predictions.
11. Kylie Anicic (Edinboro)
Kylie Anicic is an incredibly well-rounded runner as seen by the times that she ran this past spring. The Edinboro star hit national qualifying marks in the metric mile, the 5k and the 10k, theoretically making her a threat in any race situation. This 10k final, because of the altitude, may be more of a sit-and-kick race which could allow Anicic to use her 1500 meter speed to her advantage en route to a potential All-American honor.
12. Zoe Baker (Colorado Mines)
Zoe Baker opted to run at the Orediggers' home meet to get her national qualifying time in the 10k instead of running at sea level. The long-time Colorado Mines veteran is definitely a strength-based athlete who is experienced and thrives at altitude. Some of her national meet showings have been better than others, but Baker should finish as an All-American and may even replicate her performance from the indoor national meet where she finished 3rd in the 5000 meters.
13. Molly Maksin (Colorado Mines)
In her last two national meets on the track, Molly Maksin has just finished outside of All-American range in either 9th or 10th place. The strength of the Orediggers is their ability to run a hard pace for a long time and Maksin flourishes as the racing distance get longer. She is by no means a lock to be an All-American on Thursday night, but this may be her best opportunity for a top-eight honor yet.
14. Jenna Ramsey (Colorado Mines)
After transferring to Colorado Mines, Jenna Ramsey is slowly learning the way of the Orediggers and is becoming an aerobic machine in her own right. At Emporia State, Ramsey focused more on the 5k, but seems to have found her stride in the longer event (the 10k). The recent Colorado Mines standout will likely latch on to her teammates in hopes that they can collectively claw their way inside the top-eight as a pack.
15. Madison Clay (Catawba)
Madison Clay has done a lot of laps around the oval this season as she has already contested four 10k races, two of which came in back-to-back weekends in May! Catawba does not have an indoor track season, so she only has one full season of racing on the track this year, not two. Nevertheless, she does lack some valuable experience and four 10k races before the national meet is a lot.
16. Holly Moser (Colorado Mines)
Holly Moser will be competing in her first-ever outdoor national meet and just like her other teammates, the 10k distance and the altitude will likely benefit her in a major way. It will admittedly still be a challenge for Moser to come away with an All-American finish simply by comparing resumes. Even so, don't be surprised if the Orediggers work together and help Moser reach the top-eight.
17. Kamila Soja (Nova Southeastern)
Nova Southeastern University is definitely not known for their distance athletes, but Kamila Soja wants to change that. The rising distance talent admittedly did not run any times during this outdoor track season which screams that she is a sub-35:00 (10k) runner. But Soja came away with a huge PR at a "last chance" meet, giving herself a nice burst of confidence to potentially the experience of some of her other competitors.
18. Grace Pagone (Grand Valley State)
The former Nebraska runner ran her 10k PR of 34:51 at a recent "last chance" meet to put herself into this field. And with the majority of these 10k times within a minute of each other, Grace Pagone has just as good of a shot as any other backend seed to finish as an All-American. She hasn’t raced much this outdoor track season, so it is hard to gauge her fitness fully, but Pagone could find herself in the mix.
19. Emma Everhart-Deckhard (Grand Valley State)
Representing a team that is considered to be a distance running powerhouse means that there is a good chance that one runner might get overshadowed, including Emma Everhart-Deckhard. Her name may be unfamiliar to some, but this Laker athlete has slowly put together a strong outdoor track season, earning a 10k PR to get herself into the national outdoor meet. Deckhard does lack experience, but she might surprise a few people, including those of us at The Stride Report, as we continue to learn more about her.
20. Savannah Ackley (Cedarville)
This will be Savannah Ackley’s first time qualifying for an outdoor national meet and her inexperience could be a challenge, especially when paired with the altitude. However, the exciting thing about this 10k field is that the seed times are all fairly close to each other and certain women, despite being better seeds, aren't as established as Ackley is.
21. Hannah Tiffany (Chico State)
Hannah Tiffany is peaking at the right time, running huge PRs in both the 5k and the 10k with the latter race getting her into the outdoor national meet. Tiffany is just a freshman and the national stage can be daunting, but she did finish well in the fall on the national stage with a top-100 finish. With her being so young and improving so much this past month, Tiffany will likely use Thursday's race as a valuable learning experience.
22. Elizabeth Wamsley (Hillsdale)
Elizabeth Wamsley raced the 10k at the outdoor national meet last year and finished a respectable 14th place overall. She then turned it up a notch and finished 7th over 5000 meters at the indoor national meet this past winter, giving her some good momentum going into Pueblo, Colorado. Her other times this spring have not been quite as strong as some of the other women in this field, so Wamsley will be relying on her experience and strong racing IQ to navigate through this crowded group of runners.
