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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D2 NCAA Outdoor Championship Women's Steeplechase Preview
- Grace McLaughlin
- May 24, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Grace McLaughlin
Edits and additional commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for high school coverage writers and Division Three writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
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 indoor national meets. Stay tuned!
The below list is ordered by seeding
1. Eleonora Curtabbi (West Texas A&M)
As the reigning national champion in this event, we knew that Eleonora Curtabbi would be the clear national title favorite, but her current fitness level and dynamic talent indicates that she simply will not be denied her second gold medal in this event. She ran new PRs of 9:57 in the steeplechase and 4:18 in the metric mile in April, proving that she’s only become more dominant over the barriers and showcasing her leg-speed. Even in the scenario of a dark horse challenger, it is unlikely that anyone could take down the D2 steeplechase queen in a sprint across the line.
2. Ava O’Connor (Adams State)
Ava O’Connor has been successful on the indoor oval in the mile and the 3000 meters, but with her 10:07 (steeple) PR in her second time competing in the event, the Grizzly ace’s ceiling for success in the steeplechase is through the roof. Despite going into the NCAA Outdoor Championships as the second seed, she has only run the event twice and will also contest the 1500 meters. Luckily, she has altitude on her side to balance her event inexperience and she should recover better than most of her sea-level competitors between events.
3. Natalie Graber (Grand Valley State)
Natalie Graber has shown a serious increase in her fitness and versatility this year, running new PRs in essentially every event. The Laker ace showcased an uptick in aerobic strength for the steeplechase and the 5k as well as improved leg speed over 1500 meters. With her steeplechase PR of 10:13, as well as her combination of experience and momentum, Graber should end the weekend with All-American honor in this event and maybe even give Curtabbi a challenge.
4. Amanda Montplaisir (Minnesota State)
While Amanda Montplaisir was a finalist in the steeplechase at last year's outdoor national meet, she has vastly improved since then with her top-10 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships and at the NCAA Indoor Championships (over 3000 meters). This increase in fitness carried into the spring and she’s had quite the breakthrough in the steeplechase, running under 10:20 three times and setting a new PR of 10:14. This momentum and level of experience indicates that she is capable of a top-five finish in the event, although she will have the altitude working against her.
5. Marissa D’Atri (Chico State)
Marissa D’Ati found success with her 7th place finish in the steeplechase at last year's outdoor national meet, but her 14th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships and recent personal bests of 16:14 (5k), 4:29 (1500) and 10:16 (steeple) tell us that she is on a new level. It's hard to find a single flaw on her resume right now.
6. Meg Scheske (Hillsdale)
Meg Scheske may not have the fastest PRs compared to those seeded around her, but she has proven herself with her 9th place finish in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships and PR of 10:20 in the steeplechase. The fact that she has only raced four times this season and will be coming from sea level are valid concerns, but we know that Scheske is a high-IQ racer who can peak for the championship season.
7. Ila Davis (Western Washington)
Ila Davis narrowly missed qualifying for the steeplechase finals as a freshman during last year's national meet, but she goes into this weekend with more experience and a strong PR of 10:21. While she has competed in this event at the national level before, her youth and inconsistency do leave a little cautious. And yet, despite this, her ceiling for success in the event is high and she showed us in 2022 that she can at least be competitive regardless of the field.
8. Ashley Corcoran (SNHU)
Ashley Corcoran is a versatile and consistent veteran who placed 8th in the steeplechase at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships and has improved in every distance since then, including snagging a 10-second steeple PR of 10:21 (steeple). Racing at altitude and the fact that she’s only truly raced one steeplechase this season is worrisome, but her level of experience and aerobic endurance built over the years counters those concerns.
9. Kayce Rypma (Grand Valley State)
Kayce Rypma placed 6th in the steeplechase at last year’s outdoor national meet and tied her PR of 10:23 in April. While her performances in the steeplechase haven’t been super notable, she has run significant PRs of 16:27 (5k) and 4:26 (1500), establishing herself as one of the most complete distance talents in this field. If she can translate this increased fitness over barriers at altitude, then she's a prime candidate to finish inside the top-eight.
10. Morgan Hykes (Adams State)
Like fellow Grizzly teammate Ava O’Connor, Morgan Hykes made her steeplechase debut this season and qualified for the outdoor national meet in her second time ever running the event. While her 10:24 PR is impressive, especially combined with her improved 16:16 (5k) PR, Hykes is going into this weekend with very little experience in the steeplechase.
11. Allison Beasley (Western Colorado)
Allison Beasley is on the rise and has been building momentum throughout the year, highlighted by her 19th place finish at the cross country national meet and 8th place finish in the mile at the indoor national meet. Despite her previous success, this weekend might be her true breakthrough moment given that she has set personal bests in every event this spring and made her steeplechase debut by winning an RMAC steeplechase title while running 10:34 in the process. Both steeplechase races that Beasley has run have both come at altitude which will be a huge advantage for her this weekend.
12. Emily Schoellkopf (Adams State)
Similar to her Grizzly teammates, Emily Schoellkopf has run two steeplechase races this season and set her PR of 10:27 in the event at the Bryan Clay Invitational. She has momentum from her 8th place finish in the 5k at the indoor national meet and displayed her aerobic strength with her 16:16 PR in April. While her consistency and missing speed is something to monitor, it's her momentum and past experience that could make a very underrated name.
13. Alexa Keiser (Saginaw Valley State)
Alexa Keiser qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the last second by running 10:28 in the steeplechase at the Oakland “Last Chance” meet. While she has steadily improved in the steeplechase throughout this season, her other performances indicate that it will likely take another sizable PR for her to make it out of the prelims. Keiser is just a sophomore, but has been racing like a veteran throughout this year and still holds a ton of potential.
14. Caroline Cunningham (Northwest Missouri)
Caroline Cunningham is a veteran steeplechaser and placed 14th at last year’s outdoor national meet. She will have experience and momentum from her recent PR of 10:28 on her side, but altitude is working against her. It will take an increase in firepower and likely a PR, from Cunningham for her to make it out of preliminaries, but she had incredible moments of brilliance this year that shouldn't be ignored.
15. Kimberly Goerss (Edinboro)
Kimberly Goerss is a relatively unknown name heading into this weekend and her steeplechase national qualifying time of 10:30 was a 17-second PR. It is unlikely that she will make it out of the preliminaries, especially coming from sea level, but her recent improvement is promising and her experience from this weekend will aid her next year.
16. Maria Mitchell (Grand Valley State)
Maria Mitchell is an up-and-coming name for Grand Valley State and her PRs of 2:11 in the 800 meters, 4:28 in the 1500 meters and 10:31 in the steeplechase are promising for a redshirt freshman. She’s only run three steeplechase races in her lifetime, so a lack of experience and the altitude in Colorado will be difficulties the young Laker. But in terms of raw talent and upside, Mitchell may actually be one of the better backend seeds in any distance field for this weekend.
17. Margot Thomas (CSU-Pueblo)
Margot Thomas’ national qualifying steeplechase time of 10:33 was run at sea level and her other performances have been pretty far off that time even with attitude conversions. Despite this, Thomas will have the home track advantage this weekend and she has run three steeplechase races at CSU-Pueblo just this season. While it is unlikely that she will make it to the finals this weekend, there are numerous aspects that could favor her.
18. Alex Raichart (Colorado Mines)
Alex Raichart was the RMAC Championship runner-up in the steeplechase this spring where she ran her altitude-converted national qualifying time of 10:34. She has contested a couple of other steeplechase races this season, but has lacked consistency and the firepower it will take to make it to the finals. Despite this, she has the advantage of being familiar with altitude and her fellow RMAC competitors who will headline this field.
19. Erin Stonebarger (Adams State)
Erin Stonebarger is the fourth Adams State runner who will be running in the steeplechase prelims this weekend. She earned a bronze medal and ran her altitude-converted national qualifying time at the RMAC Outdoor Championships. Despite being one of the last athletes to qualify in the event, Stonebarger has more experience and has been more consistent than many of her competitors, making us think that she has the potential to be a finalist.
20. Anna Igims (Slippery Rock)
Anna Igims is an unknown name and barely qualified for the outdoor national meet. She’s new to the steeplechase and championship racing, making a scenario where she qualifies for the finals an unlikely scenario. She ran her PR of 10:39 in her second steeplechase race ever which shows that she has untapped potential in the event.
