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TSR 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Women): #3 Colorado Mines Orediggers
- Grace McLaughlin
- Sep 12, 2023
- 7 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.
Under Coach Chris Siemers, Colorado Mines has proven that they are capable of forging their way to the top of the NCAA year after year. Their women's program may not have the same history that Adams State or Grand Valley State do, but the ladies of Golden, Colorado have been quietly building their own distance powerhouse at the Division Two level.
By banking on experienced veterans, a top-tier transfer and continued progression, the 2023 cross country season could be their most successful fall campaign yet. On the strength of both the quality and quantity of their returners, overall reliability and a history of success, the Orediggers come in at TSR #3 in our preseason team rankings.
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Last fall, the Orediggers’ first real competition came at D2 Pre-Nationals where they dominated the field, winning with just 37 points.
Zoe Baker and Clare Peters paved the way with respective 3rd and 4th place finishes. Those were two outstanding results which were relatively more impressive for Peters than they were for Baker given their initial expectations.
With teammates Molly Maksin and Holly Moser also placing in the top-10, no one could touch Colorado Mines, especially with Alayna Szuch (15th) and Grace Strongman (16th) offering surprisingly great depth.
That race was the perfect example of how deep and talented the Colorado Mines women were last year -- and that was all without key transfer Jenna Ramsey in their lineup!
At the RMAC XC Championships, the Orediggers displayed impressive pack-running and nearly swept the 10th to 15th place spots (although their fifth runner fell back to 26th place overall). In the end, Colorado Mines finished 2nd in the team standings with 76 points. They were way behind Adams State, but they also pulled ahead of numerous top-ranked RMAC powerhouses.
Maksin (10th), Moser (12th), Baker (14th) and Peters (15th) finished as a tight-knit group with Brin Strouse (26th) and Strongman (30th) finishing close together as well. It was an impressive outing, even without Ramsey, although we didn't exactly learn anything new about this team.
Then, at the uber-competitive South Central Regional XC Championships, Colorado Mines scored an impressive 72 points and finished 2nd only to Adams State yet again. Maksin and Baker led the way with their top-10 finishes in 5th and 7th, respectively. Peters placed 13th and Moser finished just two spots behind in 15th. Szuch was their fifth runner in 32nd.
Yet again, the Orediggers fielded a lineup that was top-heavy and laden with firepower through four runners. However, cutting down on the gap to their fifth runner was likely going to be important for their final race of the season...right?
Colorado Mines finished their 2022 cross country season by taking home bronze at the NCAA XC Championships behind fellow juggernaut programs Adams State and Grand Valley State. It was a great performance in which the Orediggers ran up to their talent level, but unfortunately, that was about as high as their ceiling could take them when going against those two dominant programs.
The Orediggers had three All-Americans and six women in the top-70, an impressive showing of both low-stick talent and depth on the national stage. Maksin had a phenomenal 12th place finish in what was likely the best race of her career. She was followed by Baker in 33rd place who ran well, but likely had more to offer.
However, the biggest stunner of the day was seeing Grace Strongman in 39th place. The first-time All-American had been towards the backend of Colorado Mines' lineup throughout most of the season, so having her earn a top-40 finish was a very pleasant surprise.
Peters (47th) and Moser (61st) rounded out the team's scoring five. And while they didn't emerge as All-Americans, they still ran well enough to avoid garnering any excessive points. Ramsey also ran despite being absent for the majority of the season. She fell back to 101st place which was not an accurate display of her talent level.
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While we see Colorado Mines occupying a similar range of our rankings this year compared to where they were at in 2022, that doesn't mean that they are without losses.
The Orediggers will enter this fall without Zoe Baker, Brin Strouse and Alayna Szuch -- those are some heavy blows to their lineup, especially Baker. While Colorado Mines has proven that they can put together a complete top-five with the women they do return, losing a veteran low-stick leaves this team with less scoring potency...or so we thought.
Luckily, the Orediggers return a slew of talented women who have progressed over the past year. And more importantly, they also bring in a top-tier transfer in Riley McGrath who can act as a legitimate low-stick replacement for Baker.
Standout ace Molly Maksin, who is at ranked TSR #11 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings, is this team's top returner. She is also someone who has been incredibly reliable over the course of the past year, bringing a sense of stability to this program as a whole.
Maksin is a true veteran with valuable experience and her current momentum indicates that she could be even better than she was last fall. On the track, she improved her personal bests to 9:31 over 3000 meters, 16:25 for 5000 meters and 34:56 over 10,000 meters.
The Oredigger star also placed 10th at the most recent NCAA Outdoor Championships in 10k as well as 9th in the 5k and 10th in the 3k at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Additionally, she has two All-American honors in cross country from her 12th place finish last fall and her 23rd place finish from the 2021 national meet. With a resume this extensive and this impressive, Maksin is a premier talent who Colorado Mines can rely on.
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Grace Strongman was a surprise All-American last fall as a freshman, but she has only improved and gained experience since then. We can only assume that the current sophomore will be even better on the grass this season. She did not race much on the track, but she did run a 5k PR of 16:56 and a 10k time of 37:05 (at altitude).
Natural progression that we see from athletes between their freshman years and sophomores years is very common. Strongman does need to replicate her 2022 national meet performance more consistently this fall, but at least we know that she has the talent to do so. Plus, her recent track success suggests that she may deliver on that ask.
Clare Peters should be a very solid third runner for the Orediggers, although we're not necessarily staying that Strongman will be the team's second scorer. Similar to Strongman, Peters did not race much on the track over the last year. But when she did, she showed a clear uptick in her fitness.
The Oredigger ace was part of the 4th place DMR squad at the NCAA Indoor Championships and ran 16:24 (5k) at the Stanford Invitational. That impressive PR is very promising heading into this cross country season, even if we did not see her race on the championship stage this past spring.
We don't perfectly know how Peters will translate that 5k success to the grass, but for someone who isn't ranked in our preseason top-25, she could end up making us regret that decision in October and November.
Let's now move to Holly Moser who is similar to Maksin in terms of reliability, capability and experience. Moser showed a new level of talent on the track earlier this year, leading us to believe that the gap between her and Maksin should be thinner this fall.
Moser finished 11th over 10,000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships and ran a 5k PR of 16:41 earlier in the season. All of that is proof that she has built some very strong momentum heading into this fall.
Last year, Jenna Ramsey was expected to have an immediate impact for the Orediggers after transferring from Emporia State and placing 10th over 5000 meters at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships. And initially, it looked like she would deliver on our lofty expectations for her!
But while Ramsey started the season off strong, she was eventually sidelined and did not compete again until the cross country national meet. And on that stage, she struggled, finishing just outside of the top-100.
Luckily, Ramsey returned to her usual form on the indoor oval, eventually qualifying for the indoor national meet. She later carried that momentum into the spring months where she placed 6th over 10,000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships (as well as 18th place in the 5k).
She also ran PRs of 16:31 (5k) and 35:28 (10k). Those marks suggest that, if everything breaks in her favorite, that Ramsey could potentially be at the same level as Maksin later this fall.
But arguably the most exciting development is not someone who is set to return to this team, but rather, someone who is brand new to this program.
The addition of Riley McGrath is one of the most exciting aspects of this team. Based on her extensive resume and overall talent, she should have an immediate impact on Colorado Mines' scoring lineup.
McGrath is a familiar name here at The Stride Report and she was a standout miler for the UC-Colorado Springs women for the past few years. Seeing her transfer to an in-conference and in-state rival was admittedly a surprise.
While McGrath excels in the mile and 1500 meters, she is also a stellar cross country runner with the accolades to prove it. She was 32nd at the NCAA XC Championships last year and 39th the year prior.
With personal bests of 4:21 (1500), 4:47 (mile), 9:43 (3k) and 16:36 (5k), she’ll fit right into the front of the Orediggers’ pack, potentially giving them five All-Americans.
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When examining the resumes of each member of this team, we have no doubts that Colorado Mines will be a top squad in Division Two yet again this year.
The Orediggers have five experienced and talented women in their lineup with Maksin, Moser, McGrath, Peters and Ramsey. Each of those women could be an All-American come November. Strongman is the least experienced runner in the expected lineup and yet, she was still a top-40 finisher at the national meet last fall...as a freshman!
With the momentum of their returners, the upside of their newest member and the expected return of a refreshed Jenna Ramsey, we have no reason to believe that the Colorado Mines women won’t be just as good as they were last year.
At this high of a level, it will be very hard for the Orediggers to improve beyond what they’ve already done on the national stage, especially with programs like Adams State and Grand Valley State still looming.
But if their lineup is firing on all cylinders, then there’s potential for an upset come November. It would require a lot of different things to happen, but the firepower is there.
