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TSR 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Women): #1 Adams State Grizzlies
- Marissa Kuik
- Sep 14, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Marissa Kuik, edits & additional commentary by Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On rare occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
When a team dominates throughout a season and wins every single one of their meets, it's hard to imagine that group getting any better.
Well, you no longer have to imagine because the Adams State women are primed to do exactly that over the next few months. The Grizzlies return every single scorer from last year's national title-winning squad.
Let me repeat that: Every single scorer is back.
With such an overwhelmingly strong distance squad set to get even better, it's hard to imagine anyone else taking the crown from the Grizzlies in 2023. As such, they will be the team to beat this fall.
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Every year, Adams State opens their cross country season at the Joe I. Vigil XC Open and the fall of 2022 was no different. The meet turned into a duel between the Grizzlies and Fort Lewis College with a few unattached athletes and Trinidad State runners factoring in.
Of course, the Grizzlies easily won with a perfect score once you count Tristian Spence, who placed 3rd, racing unattached. Brianna Robles, Nicole Lawrence and Precious Robinson finished 1-2-4 while Emily Schoellkopf and Morgan Hykes rounded out the top-five with 5th and 6th place finishes, respectively.
A tight spread like that in a smaller meet was to be expected, but at the same time, that was just a simple rust-buster. It was only the beginning of what would eventually be a flawless fall campaign for the Grizzlies.
For their biggest regular season test, Adams State headed to California to race at the Highlander Invitational where they once again came away with the win while tallying a meager 30 points.
That was in spite of their top runner, Stephanie Cotter, not racing during the regular season.
Robles and Robinson provided plenty of up-front firepower in Cotter's absence, finishing 3rd and 4th to lead the team. Then, Schoellkopf crossed the line in 8th place while Franziska Athaus came in 10th and Morgan Hykes finished in 11th.
The Highlander Invitational showcased Adams State's elite lineup and depth, but it was hard to get a gauge of just how good this team was. Frankly, no other program in that field was able to realistically challenge the D2 powerhouse.
The best runners on this loaded roster then entered championship season and raced at the RMAC XC Championships. Cotter finally made her debut in incredible fashion by winning the individual conference title. That helped lead the Grizzlies to another team title with a minuscule score of 17 points.
Behind Cotter was Robles, Robinson and Schoellkopf who helped sweep the top-four spots while Lawrence finished 7th overall to round out the scoring almost immediately.
With so much talent on hand, winning the RMAC title seemed inevitable, but to be so dominant in the toughest conference in Division Two came as a little bit of a surprise. It was one thing to win, it was another to dominate, but to nearly pull off a perfect score?
Well, that was the sign of an all-time great squad.
After Adams State just narrowly won the South Central Region XC Championships, some may have interpreted the performance as revealing cracks in the dynasty's facade. But the Grizzlies' focus clearly wasn't on the regional stage and they assuaged any doubts with an aggressive statement at the national meet.
In her season finale, Cotter took home the individual national title over 6000 meters in a time of 19:45, almost 45 seconds ahead of 2nd place (Lindsay Cunningham). More importantly, the Adams State women also won the national team title, finishing with a score of 75 points to Grand Valley State's 126 points.
Robles finished close to the front in 4th place, providing unsurprisingly elite scoring potency. Behind her was Robinson (15th), Schoellkopf (25th) and Hykes (38th) who gave the Grizzlies all five scorers among the All-American spots.
While they were the clear favorites all season to win at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, Adams State lived up to expectations by winning the national title by a huge margin. And truthfully, no one was surprised in the slightest.
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Adams State not only has the most talent of any team in Division Two, but they also have more depth than any program that they'll face on the national stage this fall (although GVSU may try to argue that).
Even if the Grizzlies were to lose a few runners to injuries, or one of the key women has a bad day, there should always be someone available to step up. That's partially a result of the program stockpiling talent, but also because of their roster retention entering 2023.
One of their returners? Stephanie Cotter.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. She's back.
Cotter will continue to serve as the primary low-stick for this team in 2023. This roster is full of front-runners and honestly, a lot of these women could be the top scorer for most teams...but Cotter is in an entire class of her own.
It's true, she did not race much during the outdoor track season. And her absence at the end of the spring could be attributed to a "minor" injury. Even so, she still ran 15:53 for 5000 meters (a new personal best).
Cotter also took home national titles in both the mile and the 3k at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships. As long as she is healthy, Cotter will be favored to defend her individual title and lead Adams State during the championship season.
We then come to Brianna Robles who has been one of the most consistent low-stick stars in D2 for a few years now. She continues to improve each and every year as evidenced by a 15:47 (5k) PR from this past winter.
The now-elder Adams State star thrived at both the 2023 indoor and outdoor national meets, earning a total of four silver medals among all of the long distance events. The only women to beat her in those races? Cotter and Lindsay Cunningham.
Naturally, you can see why we have Robles listed at TSR #3.
Coming off of one of her best seasons yet, Emily Schoellkopf could also evolve into a top-end star for this team. Schoellkopf backed up a strong 2022 cross country season by qualifying for the indoor national meet in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters, eventually coming away with one All-American honor.
However, the outdoor track season is where we saw Schoellkopf's true leap in fitness. She ran personal bests of 16:16 (5k) and 10:27 (steeple) before venturing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships where she finished 3rd in the latter event and 6th in the former.
We're not just expecting Schoellkopf to be an All-American this year, we're expecting her to be a true ace with top-15 (or even top-10) potential on the national stage.
Morgan Hykes saw a nearly identical leap in fitness to Schoellkopf this past spring, running times of 16:16 (5k) and 10:24 (steeple). She finished 5th overall at the outdoor national meet in the steeplechase and came away with a solid 12th place finish in the 5k.
Both Hykes and Schoellkopf have a lot of momentum going into this new cross country season. On most top D2 teams, they would be considered a lethal 1-2 low-stick punch. And in 2023, we believe that they could close the gap even more between them and the Cotter-Robles duo. They're listed at TSR #15 and #16, respectively, in our preseason rankings.
Precious Robinson also came off of a strong track season filled with many PRs and national-caliber performances. She may be the bridge from the projected backend scorers to this team's main high-octane stars.
And yes, it feels absurd calling Hykes and Schoellkopf backend scorers, but that speaks to the unrivaled scoring structure that Adams State boasts.
Robinson ran 16:24 (5k) and 9:32 (3k), further showcasing her incredible talent. During the outdoor track season, she ran a huge PR of 33:54 (10k) and walked away with a pair of All-American marks between the indoor and outdoor national meets.
After consecutive top-15 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships, she's list at TSR #7 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings. And while Grand Valley State may have four women listed in the top-10 of our rankings, they don't have three women listed higher than what we're expecting the Grizzlies to produce this fall.
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Even with their top-five already so unbelievably strong, Adams State has several other names to choose from as they fill out their lineup.
Earlier this year, Ava O’Connor provided incredible value during the winter and spring months, running times of 9:16 (3k), 10:07 (steeple) and 4:20 (1500). She also placed 6th in both the steeplechase and the flat 3k between the outdoor and indoor national meets.
And yes, we know, it feels absurd to only passively mention a 9:16 (3k) runner. That, of course, is simply because of how stacked this roster is on the grass.
We then come to Nicole Lawrence who placed 65th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships. That performance, however, was not at all indicative of her actual talent. The Grizzly veteran finished 21st at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships and could very well reemerge as an All-American in 2023. In fact, it would be surprising if she didn't emerge as a top-40 finisher on the national stage.
Fiona Hawkins is in a somewhat similar boat, placing 34th on the national stage in 2021, but not racing at all during the 2022-23 academic year. She could realistically be an All-American runner this fall, but we're not even sure if she's going to make this team's national meet lineup...and that's an absurd thought.
The list goes on for women who could step up and make an impact on this team. Maggie McClesky, for instance, ran 4:47 in the mile and 17:04 for 5000 meters earlier this year and is only now getting a mention!
But the last name who we need to highlight is Elena Carey. She is an international recruit from Great Britain who holds times of 4:24 (1500) and 10:33 (steeple) according to her World Athletics profile.
If she can translate her track success to the cross country course, then Carey may be yet another person who can contribute on this already-dominant team. And if she's just as good as the last few women we mentioned, then you're looking at nine realistic All-American-caliber runners for the Grizzly women this fall.
* * *
Simply put, there is an embarrassment of riches in Alamosa, Colorado.
Adams State completed an incredible season last year, but with no real losses to their 2022 group, this roster and lineup should be even better in 2023. And we'll admit, that's a bit hard to fathom given how dominant they already were.
It's hard to envision any other team beating Adams State at either the RMAC XC Championships or the cross country national meet later this fall. The firepower and depth of this team is unmatched. And by November, the 2023 Grizzlies may field one of the best cross country teams that Division Two has ever seen.
