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Three Sentences Or Less: 2024 D2 NCAA Indoor Championship Women's Mile Preview
- Marissa Kuik
- Mar 3, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Marissa Kuik, edits and additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
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.
The below athletes are ordered by seeding (via qualifiers list)
Predictions coming next week!
1. Gracie Hyde (Adams State)
The odds of someone beating Gracie Hyde for the mile national title are pretty low considering that Hyde is riding the biggest wave of momentum of anyone in Division Two. She just ran 4:30 over this distance at the University of Washington after posting D2 records in the 3k and the DMR earlier in the season. Hyde is dynamic and competitive, and although her racing load is heavy with the DMR (potentially), the mile and the 3k, there's no doubt in my mind that she can come away with three national titles.
2. Kaylee Beyer (Winona State)
Though a lot of the headlines have deservedly gone to Gracie Hyde, Kaylee Beyer is having her own historic season, running massive PRs and nearing Division Two records as well. Beyer comes into this race with a 4:35 (mile) seed time, well above the rest of the field. It seems pretty likely that the top-two spots are taken, and although Hyde has a good lead on Beyer, expect this Warrior star to still challenge her Grizzly counterpart and shoot for a national title.
3. Riley McGrath (Colorado Mines)
The return of Riley McGrath to the top of the Division Two mile scene has been so refreshing, running a huge mile PR (4:42) this season. She will be busy between the mile and the DMR at the indoor national meet, but she has loads of experience navigating through the preliminary rounds. She recently pulled off that double at the RMAC Indoor Championship, emerging with two silver medals, and appears as ready as ever for the postseason stage.
4. Elena Carey (Adams State)
While Elena Carey has one of the faster seed times in this field, there are a few factors that could limit her postseason success. Carey is young, lacks the experience of working through preliminary rounds and she has not really raced in shorter events like the half-mile, making us wonder what her turnover looks like. Even so, she will have plenty of teammates in this race who could help her (if they land in the same prelim heat) and we know that her already-excellent times, coupled with her youth, gives her one of the highest ceilings in this field.
5. Kate Hedlund (UC-Colorado Springs)
The Division Two women's mile is unusually competitive this winter and Kate Hedlund is another name who's in the mix for a medal (top-three) finish. She has been ultra-consistent this season, running PR after PR and helping her team to a great time in the DMR earlier this winter. To cap it all off, Hedlund also holds great momentum, taking home the mile win at the RMAC Championship by defeating Riley McGrath and other key names who she'll see again in this field.
6. Klaudia O’Malley (Grand Valley State)
Klaudia O’Malley has had a fairly standard season for her, running a personal best in the 3k with the rest of her times landing right around her PRs. Though she has not finished with any crazy-fast times, she has been steady and consistent throughout this winter. The Lakers may choose to sub O'Malley into their DMR squad, but for now, she is all-in on the mile for the first time ever which could mean that she is gunning for at least a top-half All-American finish.
7. Leah Taylor (Western Colorado)
Running one of the tougher national meet schedules is Leah Taylor, someone who may be competing in the DMR (pending), the mile and the 3k at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The mile is arguably her best event though, and she should be able to at least advance to the finals after failing to do so last year. Let’s not forget, Taylor finished 3rd in the metric mile at the 2023 outdoor national meet and has looked more and more like a standout star as this academic year has progressed.
8. Alexa Keiser (Saginaw Valley)
Alexa Keiser has made huge improvements in the mile this season, dropping her PR from 4:52 to 4:45, progress that allowed her to qualify for the indoor national meet, individually. She has been an All-American before as a part of the Cardinals' DMR team, so she has the experience of racing at a high level. Kesier’s biggest test, however, will be how well she races in a likely-tactical individual event on this stage with multiple rounds.
9. Taylor Stone (Flagler)
Consistently running PRs throughout a season definitely bodes well for athletes as they head towards the postseason, and that's precisely what Taylor Stone has achieved this winter. Late-season inexperience may trip her up, but Stone has competed and won against some of the women in this field, so don't count her out for advancing past the preliminary rounds.
10. Peyton Weiss (Western Colorado)
Peyton Weiss holds an impressive converted seed time and is coming off of a surprise All-American finish on the grass, although the rest of her résumé needs to be filled out a bit more in comparison to many of the women in this field. The RMAC Championships were an opportunity for her to back up her strong early-season mile performance by going against the likes of Hedlund, McGrath, Anna Fauske and Shannon King. Unfortunately, Weiss did not quite measure up and finished 9th, but the raw talent and prior championship success makes her impossible to write off.
11. Vienna Lahner (Adams State)
Similar to her teammate, Elena Carey, Vienna Lahner's inexperience theoretically suggests that she may struggle to get out of the preliminary rounds at the indoor national meet. But even though she is seeded further down on the performance list, Lahner backed up a strong altitude-converted mile time by running 4:46 at sea level in Boston and should at least be able to hold her own in this field.
12. Khot Juac (Sioux Falls)
After finishing 5th at the cross country national meet and developing into a top name in Division Two, Khot Juac just barely snuck into the indoor national meet by running a converted 4:49 (mile) at the NSIC Indoor Championships. That mark was good enough for 2nd place in that race and it prolonged her season. Juac might not be having quite the indoor campaign that we expected after the fall, but she's clearly an elite competitor and her postseason history suggests that more All-American laurels could be looming.
13. Anna Fauske (UC-Colorado Springs)
Another massive development from the cross country season was Anna Fauske’s 9th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. However, what is not surprising is how capably Fauske competed at the RMAC Indoor Championship recently, taking bronze in the mile by out-kicking competitors around her and grinding her way to 4th place in the 3k on the same day. Don't be surprised if this Mountain Lion ace challenges for a podium spot even if she has a slower seed time than much of the field.
14. Shannon King (Colorado Christian)
It's admittedly been hard to get a read on Shannon King who has produced a variety of different caliber results this year. On one hand, she holds strong PRs in both the mile and the 5k and also raced to a solid 4th place (mile) finish at the RMAC Indoor Championship. But on the other hand, she has recorded a number of "DNF" results in recent seasons, like at Boston U. this winter and at the 2023 cross country national meet, leading us to wonder what side of King we will see at the indoor national meet.
15. Maria Mitchell (Grand Valley State)
This will be Maria Mitchell’s first indoor national meet, but being a part of the GVSU program means that she has elite coaching and teammates to help her navigate through the preliminary rounds. Of course, her inexperience is an undeniably important factor to consider. It's reassuring, however, that Mitchell has great turnover, so she definitely has a shot at reaching the mile final.
16. MaKenna Thurston (Minnesota State)
MaKenna Thurston's consistency has been great in recent months as she's run 4:51 or 4:52 on multiple occasions. However, with the current state of Division Two, a 4:51 (converted to 4:49 for her seed time) may not be enough for a top-10 finish. Thurston has decent turnover, including a 2:10 mark for 800 meters on the outdoor oval, but incorporating that speed into her national meet race strategy will be interesting to see.
17. Eleonora Curtabbi (West Texas A&M)
Eleonora Curtabbi's has been a ways off of her personal bests this winter and nearly did not qualify for this event. That's not to say that Curtabbi has been "bad" by conventional standards, but she doesn't look like the athlete who took bronze over this distance last winter and was recently the runner-up finisher at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Her experience figures to give her a solid baseline for success, but we'll see if she rediscovers the elite ability that has propelled her in recent seasons.
