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TSR's 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Women): #2 Grand Valley State Lakers
- Grace McLaughlin
- Sep 13, 2023
- 9 min read
Written by Grace McLaughlin, 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.
It should come as no surprise that the Grand Valley State women start the 2023 cross country season at TSR #2. After all, they’re a Division Two powerhouse with an incredible amount of depth and experience on their roster.
The Lakers relied on a mix of talented rookies and seasoned veterans last fall which ultimately propelled them to a runner-up finish at the cross country national meet. And this year, they return everyone of note while bringing in a top-tier transfer.
With a stable lineup filled with firepower, the Lakers should be set to improve on an already-great 2022 season...and maybe give our TSR #1 team a legitimate challenge for NCAA gold.
* * *
Last fall, the Lakers had a relatively quiet start to their season at the MSU Spartan Invite.
There, they finished 2nd to a talented Michigan State team while taking down a small handful of top-tier D3 powerhouses.
Natalie Graber started off her season strong and with a 4th place finish while true freshman Lauren Kiley made a statement with a 7th place result in her first collegiate race. Abby VanderKooi, also a true freshman last year, followed suit with an 11th place finish.
However, those two latter two names ran unattached, so their early success did not aid the Lakers in the team race. Elsewhere, veterans Klaudia O’Malley and Taryn Chapko had solid races and finished 14th and 18th, respectively. And in a fairly large field, that was great firepower for a team that was facing some strong competition.
The MSU Spartan Invite set the scene for what we could expect from the Lakers in 2023 while establishing the fact that they had won the recruiting jackpot by landing both Kiley and VanderKooi.
The Lakers then toed the line against fiercer competition at the Louisville Classic. On that stage, Graber solidified herself as the team’s front-runner with an impressive 6th place finish. Kiley, this time in uniform, proved to be a truly reliable low-stick despite her youth and placed 13th overall.
Through two runners, the GVSU women were flexing highly impressive firepower that most of the D1 programs in the field couldn't match.
O’Malley, Chapko and VanderKooi rounded out the scoring and finished 35th, 38th and 41st, respectively. That steady backend allowed the Lakers to place 3rd in our team standings against some solid Division One programs and finish ahead of a talented UC-Colorado Springs squad.
Grand Valley State headed south yet again and next competed at the Bradley Pink Classic. Similar to the Louisville Classic, they held their own against Division One programs and finished 4th in the team standings.
Graber posted an excellent 8th place finish, O’Malley moved up to the second spot in the lineup with her 17th place effort and Kiley continued to be a valuable addition, placing 27th. Chapko had a solid day in 31st while Madison Ebright entered their scoring lineup in 44th. Vanderkooi’s absence was a bit worrisome, but luckily it was short-lived.
The Lakers went on to absolutely dominate the GLIAC XC Championships and score a perfect 15 points. Graber, Kiley, O’Malley, VanderKooi and Chapko swept the top-five spots (in that order) while Kayce Rypma (7th) and Ebright (10th) further established the team's insane amount of depth.
The Lakers had a strong and reliable lineup heading into the championship season with a balanced mix of experienced veterans and high-potential rookie talents. And after cruising through the regional stage, the NCAA XC Championships loomed as the true test of just how good the Lakers were.
And while it seemed like they had the potential to become national champions, taking down Adams State would be a nearly impossible feat.
While Grand Valley State had an All-Star team, it was not enough to take down a historically talented Adams State squad. Instead, the Lakers finished as the national runner-ups. O’Malley led the Lakers with her highly lethal 3rd place finish. Kiley placed 7th as a true freshman which spoke to her level of talent and competitive poise.
In what was a highly successful season, the GVSU women hadn't showcased firepower that was as strong as what O'Malley and Kiley threw down on the national stage.
Meanwhile, Graber had an “off day” relative to the fitness that we saw from her earlier in the season and placed 35th. Rypma once again proved to be a reliable cornerstone to their lineup and finished 49th while VanderKooi (55th) and Chapko (59th) were not far behind.
Grand Valley State's overall performance was certainly strong and (roughly) on par with expectations, although Graber, VanderKooi and Chapko likely had the potential to offer more. Regardless, even measurably better performances for those women likely would not have been enough to make up the 51-point difference between them and the Grizzlies.
A runner-up finish at the cross country national meet was still extremely impressive, and GVSU's overall season was a testament to their depth, talent and history of success.
* * *
Heading into the fall of 2023, Grand Valley State fans should be excited -- very excited. That's because the Lakers return their entire varsity lineup from last year and even add an experienced low-stick transfer to that mix.
In nearly every facet, this team should be even better than last year.
Klaudia O’Malley is a true cross country star. She is a veteran in terms of consistency and her ability to peak for the postseason, so much so that we may be underestimating her with her TSR #4 preseason individual ranking.
The senior ace placed 24th at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships, later improved to an astonishing 2nd at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships and snagged a bronze medal at last year's national meet.
Simply put, GVSU has one of the most potent low-sticks in the nation.
Natalie Graber, who is ranked at TSR #9 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings, is another experienced veteran with three cross country All-American honors on her resume. Her 35th place finish last fall was not quite what we thought she was capable of, but she at least matched her finish from the 2021 NCAA XC Championships.
What makes Graber truly exciting heading into this year is the progress and momentum that she has made on the oval. The Laker star showed a clear uptick in her fitness during the winter months and anchored her DMR squad to gold while also picking up a bronze medal over 3000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Graber kept the ball rolling during the outdoor track season and set PRs of 16:08 (5k), 4:21 (1500) and 10:13 (steeple). She later snagged a pair of All-American honors at the outdoor national meet.
With a clear improvement in her ability to compete in championship settings, Graber returns to the grass as a force to be reckoned with. She was clearly so much better than what she produced at last year's national meet and it wouldn't at all be crazy to suggest that she can be a top-10 runner in the NCAA this fall.
And now for that aforementioned low-stick transfer.
Graduate transfer Ana Tucker is expected to be next in the Lakers’ lineup and the magnitude of her addition to Grand Valley State can’t be overstated. The former Hope College star placed 4th at last year’s D3 NCAA XC Championships and most recently placed 3rd (5k) and 4th (10k) at the 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
With personal bests of 4:25 (1500), 9:32 (3k), 16:10 (5k) and 34:00 (10k), we believe that Tucker will provide value along the same lines as Graber and O’Malley. On paper, she's just as talented. Based on her experience and consistent success, we even ranked her at TSR #10.
Further along in GVSU's projected lineup is Taryn Chapko (TSR #24) who, despite being a middle distance runner, has put together an impressive resume on the grass.
The Laker speedster placed 14th at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships and was 59th last year. Over the past few months, she’s added to her consistent success over 800 meters. Her 4:21 PR over 1500 meters shows us that she has also improved her aerobic capacity, although her cross country resume, specifically in 2021, is already a testament to her talent in that area.
With a bronze medal in the 800 meters and a gold medal in the DMR from the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, along with another All-American finish in the spring, Chapko has momentum heading into this season. And while we don't know if she'll perfectly replicate her 2021 national meet performance, we do think that she can be an upper-half All-American.
Senior Kayce Rypma is another experienced veteran who recorded a 36th place finish at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships and was 49th on the same stage last December. While not quite at the same level as some of her Laker teammates, Rypma’s ability to be a consistently solid and reliable backend scorer adds stability to this lineup.
On paper, Rypma should be closer to her low-stick teammates this fall based on the fact she lowered her PRs to 16:27 (5k) and 4:26 (1500) this past spring. And even if she doesn't improve, then she still gives this team an incredibly high floor and some of the best scoring support in the country.
* * *
The women outlined above are the returning veterans who have shaped the identity of this roster over the last few years. However, the Lakers' youth contingent is just as inspiring.
Lauren Kiley was the second or third scorer for the Lakers as a rookie last season and her 7th place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships was wildly impressive. She wasn’t able to replicate her success to the same level on the track, but she still placed 11th (5k) and 14th (3k) at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She also placed 16th over 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Kiley's recent (and highly impressive) personal bests of 16:17 (5k) and 4:27 (1500) indicated that she was slightly better than those national meet performances showed. But as a true freshman, she still had a phenomenal year overall and she’ll be a key member of the Lakers’ lineup this fall, especially if she is back to being in top-10 form.
For now, the rising sophomore is ranked at TSR #6 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings, giving Grand Valley State four women in the top-10, nationally. That's something that even Adams State can't say.
Fellow sophomore Abby VanderKooi returns this fall as a bit of a wildcard after her successful, but slightly abbreviated, freshman year. She finished 55th at the cross country national meet and was 4th at the GLIAC XC Championships, but she sat for two other major meets.
Additionally, she hasn’t raced since her 16:51 (5k) performance at the GVSU Holiday Open in December. She’s clearly talented, but VanderKooi's absences leave us unsure about what to expect from her in the coming months.
Be sure to also look out for sophomore Maria Mitchell and redshirt freshman Madelyn Frens. They may line up in uniform for the Lakers this season after running unattached last fall. Mitchell was 24th at the MSU Spartan Invitational and Frens was right behind her in 25th place.
Both of those underclassmen were promising on the track and Mitchell impressed in particular with a 16th place finish in the steeplechase at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
While we don’t see either of those women having a huge impact on Grand Valley State’s scoring lineup, they do add to the argument for just how solid this group is as a whole.
* * *
With the sheer amount of experience, talent and depth that the Lakers have on their roster, it almost feels wrong that they aren’t the top team in the country heading into the season.
The Lakers' projected lineup consists of runners who are ranked at TSR #4, TSR #6, TSR #9, TSR #10 and TSR #24, as well as two "Honorable Mention" names. Going off of the imperfect exercise of adding up those rankings (which should not be interpreted as predictions for the national meet), the Lakers would have a team score of 53 points compared to 43 points for Adams State this fall.
That scoring differential suggests that a national title upset is possible to some degree.
This amount of firepower and depth on hand is absolutely absurd. In a world without Adams State, this would be the best lineup in the country by a wide margin -- and possibly one of the best in Division Two history.
The Lakers will test their fitness against Division One programs at the Louisville Classic again this season and have added the always-competitive Lewis Crossover to their schedule. These two meets should showcase their talent and indicate just how high their upside is before they enter the postseason.
In our eyes, the scoring potency that the Lakers have this season, combined with their overall stability and long history of success, make Grand Valley State a podium lock come November.
