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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championship Women's 10k Preview
- Brett Haffner
- May 24, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: May 25, 2023
Written by Brett Haffner, 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 outdoor national meets. Stay tuned!
The below list is ordered by seeding
1. Kassie Parker, Senior, Loras
Kassie Parker’s return to the Division Three scene has been nothing short of historic, imposing herself as the dominant top seed in this event by nearly a minute. Even though she’s the clear runaway favorite, last year’s national meet proved that anything can happen. Fiona Smith, Clara Mayfield and Ana Tucker won’t make it easy for Parker.
2. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict
With her experiences of winning two national titles during the indoor track season sitting in her mind, Fiona Smith serves to be the biggest threat to Kassie Parker’s quest for NCAA gold. Smith has had a great season of crushing her personal bests across the board and only continues to get better and better. We’ll see how things unfold as she aims to give Parker a serious run for her money, although some tactics may need to be involved.
3. Clara Mayfield, Junior, Carleton
We’ve seen great things from Clara Mayfield this spring, continuing her streak of very solid, consistent racing. After taking 5th place in this event at the 2022 outdoor national meet, it seems very likely that we’ll see her improve upon that finish and compete for a top-three placement. However, trying to battle with the likes of Smith and Parker would likely require a lifetime-best performance and a move of major conviction.
4. Ana Tucker, Senior, Hope
Even with her ridiculous range going down to the 1500 meters, Ana Tucker has opted for the 10k/5k double this weekend after a great season opener at the Raleigh Relays back in March. She took 8th place at last year’s outdoor national meet in this event, but with the way that she has competed so strongly during the 2022-2023 academic calendar, we can expect her to vastly improve upon that finish as Tucker should theoretically thrive in any race scenario.
5. Katarina Birimac, Senior, U. of Chicago
As one of the breakout names of the 2022-2023 academic calendar year, Katarina Birimac has found her groove in the longer events, especially in the 10k, after running 35:08 to bring home the win at the Washington U. Distance Carnival earlier this season. With her teammates in tow right along with her, there are a lot of positive developments pointing to Birimac bringing home her second All-American honor on Thursday.
6. Frances Schaeffler, Senior, U. of Chicago
Frances Schaeffler is a former national qualifier in this event, having placed 15th over 10,000 meters at the 2022 outdoor national meet. That experience has paid off well for her as she is now a serious contender to earn All-American status in this event after placing 8th over 5000 meters at the indoor national meet this past winter. Having teammates like Birimac and Kenig-Zeisler in this field should add some comfort while racing which could make Schaeffler's already-great reliability even stronger.
7. Anna Kenig-Zeisler, Senior, U. of Chicago
We’ve seen Anna Kenig-Zeisler thrive in the longer events in 2023 and this will mark her first appearance at an outdoor national meet. Running 35:11 (10k) at the Washington U. Distance Carnival, then winning the 10k title at the UAA Championships, have been really promising performances from Kenig-Ziesler whose upswing has given her tons of momentum going into tomorrow.
8. Ella Behrens, Senior, Washington U.
Yet another national meet qualifier from the Washington U. Distance Carnival, Ella Behrens has raced sparingly this spring, only having competed four times since the indoor national meet. Her 5k performance at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invite was a little concerning, but she is a seasoned national meet performer, so we wouldn't look too heavily into one of the few results that she has on her resume this spring.
9. Shaelyn Hostager, Sophomore, Wartburg
Shaelyn Hostager secured her national qualifying mark early (you guessed it, at the Washington U. Distance Carnival) and had a decent rest of the season. Running 17:07 (5k) at UW-Platteville was a pretty respectable performance, only finishing a second off of her lifetime best, but her true strength in 2023 has been in the 10k. She’ll have a good shot at chasing for All-American honors and over the last year, she's been better than some people realize.
10. Meghan Owens, Senior, Centre
Two years ago, at the outdoor national meet, Meghan Owens ran the 10k and also threw the javelin while placing 13th in both events. In 2023, this Centre veteran crushed her 10k PR by well over a minute, running 35:35 to secure her place at the national meet. Admittedly, Owens hasn't faced the best competition this spring, but that could also suggest that she has a higher ceiling of talent that she has not yet tapped.
11. Kiera Olson, Senior, Washington U.
Even though she didn’t compete this past winter, Kiera Olson has had a great outdoor track season for the Bears, returning back to the outdoor national meet in the 10k after placing 14th in that event in 2022. Olson ended her regular season on a high note, running a 5k PR of 17:05 at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invite, giving her some huge momentum heading into the national meet.
12. Kathleen McCarey, Junior, SUNY Geneseo
It’s been an up-and-down year for Kathleen McCarey, but she ultimately clawed her way back to the national meet in the 10k, running 35:42 at the Bison Outdoor Classic. She may be a wild card in terms of what we’ll see from her at the national meet, but when she’s firing on all cylinders, she can be a real contender who is capable of exceeding her current seed position.
13. Susannah Bennett, Senior, Wheaton (Ill.)
Considering that her 5k PR was barely under 18:00 in 2022, seeing Susannah Bennett run 35:50 for the 10k in 2023 is an insane improvement! She has also PR’d in both the 1500 meters (4:50) and the 5k (17:32) this year, but has shown greater ability in the 10k, flexing a clear favoritism for aerobic-based events. Her national meet inexperience isn't ideal, but it also feels like this field could pull out an even better performance that she hasn't fully flexed yet.
14. Nia Goddard, Junior, RPI
Nia Goddard will make her first appearance at the outdoor national meet in the 10k, running a great mark of 35:52 at the Bison Outdoor Classic to get here. After earning All-American status in the fall, this will be another good opportunity for Goddard to validate her talent especially after running a 5k PR of 17:17 last week at Widener. And if you look at her spring season as a whole, she has been a top contender pretty much every time she toes the line.
15. Hannah Preisser, Sophomore, Carleton
We know that Hannah Preisser is a beast over the longer distances, especially when you consider her success on the cross country course, so seeing her qualify for the national meet in the 10k wasn’t much of a surprise. With solid range across the board, Preisser is one of the more likely names to outperform her seeding by a wide margin. She certainly has the potential to walk away with an All-American honor in this event.
16. Sophie Tedesco, Sophomore, U. of Chicago
Sophie Tedesco's first-ever 10k attempt came at the UAA Championships, running splendidly to qualify for the outdoor national meet. That's a heckuva development for someone who raced three 1500 meter races for the majority of the season! Sure, this Maroon ace is absolutely a wild card in this field, but being able to work with an army of teammates while still having a ton of upside could make her sneaky-dangerous.
17. Alison Bode, Sophomore, St. Olaf
After making her first national appearance on the track this past winter, Alison Bode destroyed her PR in the 10k at the Drake Relays, running 35:59 to secure her place at the outdoor national meet. She also displayed some great racing ability at the MIAC Championships, doubling in the 10k and the 5k, earning a 17:07 PR in the latter event. Despite being relatively younger, Bode hasn't truly had a poor race in quite some time, theoretically giving her a high-ish floor going into Thursday.
18. Abigail Loiselle, Senior, Pomona-Pitzer
Abigail Loiselle may have run the most 10k races out of this entire field this spring, already having taken three attempts at this distance. However, that third effort proved to be the right call as she won in the SCIAC Championship title in the event with a time of 36:02 while running a 28-second PR in the process. Momentum and event-based experience are in her favor, but a fourth 10k this season could result in tired legs.
19. Macy McAdams, Junior, Muskingum
Macy McAdams qualified for the outdoor national meet in this event two years ago, placing 15th overall while gaining her some crucial experience. And even after missing the entire 2021-2022 calendar year, she’s right back to form, running just a few seconds off of her PR by posting a time of 36:04 at the Bison Outdoor Classic this year. In a field where a lot of backend seeds are new to this stage, McAdams brings some level of comfort with her to Thursday's race.
20. Erica Esper, Sophomore, John Carroll
Finishing right behind Macy McAdams at the Bison Outdoor Classic, Erica Esper secured her third-straight appearance to the outdoor national meet in this event. Winning both the 10k and the 5k at the OAC Championships was a really nice way to go into this weekend, even setting a 5k PR (17:31) in the process. We may have said that McAdams has valuable experience for a backend seed, but Esper has far more experience and even greater momentum.
21. Tessa Pitcovich, Senior, Ohio Northern
Tessa Pitcovich may be one of the freshest athletes in the field as she has only raced in three meets since February, setting PRs in both the 5k (17:30) and the 10k (36:07). That's what we call "efficiency". Will that freshness pay as she faces a handful of women who have already contested multiple 10k races this spring?
22. Megan McCulloch, Senior, Albion
Megan McCulloch had a clutch race at the Bison Outdoor Classic, running 36:11 (10k) to snag the final national qualifying spot in this event. This will be her first appearance at a national meet on the track and with nothing to lose, it wouldn't be a surprise if McCulloch tried to be aggressive and mix it up with a few seeds near the middle of this field.
