TSR's 2022 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Oct 17, 2022
20 min read

Written by Maura Beattie & Scotty Loughlin, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at the NCAA XC Championships or a singular meet.

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.

25. Michigan Wolverines (-10 / 15)

Where to start with this program?

We were pretty high on Michigan at the beginning of the season with the expected combination of Ericka VanderLende, Katelynne Hart and Kayla Windemuller at the front of their lineup. However, things have been a bit dicey as the season has progressed for not only that trio, but for this team in general.

At their most recent outing (Nuttycombe), the Wolverines struggled with VanderLende’s absence and fell to 21st place overall.

Windemuller didn’t place as high as we thought, but 68th still isn’t all that bad. Samantha Tran and Samantha Sanez continued their consistent running by placing in the top-100. Those three women have been mainstays for Michigan, but the rest of their team clearly has some catching up to do.

Michigan needs Hart (who struggled a lot on Friday) and VanderLende to race to their full potential. Without these two in scoring positions, there isn’t much firepower.

The BIG 10 XC Championships can go one of two ways for the Wolverines, exceptionally well or terribly, but it will all depend on how well they regroup after this past weekend.

24. Virginia Cavaliers (Unranked)

The young core at Virginia is starting to raise some eyebrows.

Playing host at their home course, the Cavaliers put six runners in the top-12 at the Panorama Farms XC23 Invitational. Margot Appleton led the way with a 3rd place finish and was in contention for the win against two athletes in our top-50, Perri Bockrath and Tori Herman. She was supported by Mia Barnett and Camryn Menninger who finished 4th and 5th, respectively.

Admittedly, Virginia’s backend has been difficult to evaluate in the smaller fields that they have competed in, but their time-spread of 30 seconds (over 5000 meters) suggests that they would fare well at a larger meet.

The potential that this squad has makes them an exciting group to watch as they head into the ACC XC Championships to test their mettle against NC State, Notre Dame, North Carolina and other proven opponents.

23. Utah Valley Wolverines (-2 / 21)

Everlyn Kemboi continues to run like a surefire All-American for Utah Valley, but she can’t carry this team all by herself. Most recently, Kemboi led the Wolverines with a 13th place individual finish at Nuttycombe which was strong, but not quite up to her full potential.

The main x-factor for the UVU women who we highlighted in our last rankings update was Mazzie Melaney. If she would be able to run closer to her formidable result at the Cowboy Jamboree (23rd) than her finish at Paul Short (50th), then the Wolverines were expected to have a shot at a top-12 finish at Nuttycombe.

Melaney did not run poorly by any means, but her 90th place finish wasn’t quite the breakout performance that we were hoping for when forecasting this team’s potential as Utah Valley settled for 20th place.

After back-to-back meets where the Wolverines have had underwhelming showings, we’re forced to drop them back a couple more spots until they coalesce into the strong scoring contingent that we know they can be at their best.

22. Arkansas Razorbacks (-8 / 14)

After stringing together numerous years of success, the Razorbacks are in a rebuilding year...but ya know, it was bound to happen at some point.

At Nuttycombe, Arkansas didn’t have the best of showings, but it wasn’t their worst effort, either. Isabel Van Camp, the 10th place overall finisher, led a young group of women to a 19th place finish in one of the strongest Nuttycombe fields ever seen.

Sydney Thorvaldson, a redshirt freshman, and Mia Cochran, a true freshman, were solid in finishing 78th and 80th, respectively. For youngsters on the NCAA cross country scene, Thorvaldson and Cochran have turned out to be high-value middle-lineup scorers.

Outside of these three Razorbacks mentioned, their bottom-four varsity runners will need to work on closing down the ensuing gaps. A 1:28 top-five time-spread ultimately hurt Arkansas in the team standings. The depth of this roster is there, but things aren’t playing out as we expected.

But keep in mind, there is still time for Arkansas though to change things. A young and high-upside group of support scorers could yield fewer points in the future as they become more comfortable with racing at a high level.

21. Michigan State Spartans (-1 / 20)

The Michigan State women performed on par with expectations at Nuttycombe.

There wasn’t a ton of backend support to be ecstatic about, but a strong 37th place finish from Katie Osika was their saving grace from falling further back in the team standings. Osika has been on a roll this season and now has a result that validates her as a legitimate low-stick in national-caliber fields.

Makenna Veen had a solid race in her own right, finishing 96th, but the Spartans will need to shave points from their backend group that went 116-130-151 in the scorebook if they want to regain a top-20 ranking.

20. Colorado State Rams (+2 / 22)

The Rams leapfrog Michigan State in our rankings after defeating the Spartans at Nuttycombe.

It took a pack-running effort for the Colorado State women to edge the six teams that finished within 50 points of them, but that lineup structure lended itself to limiting excessive scoring.

Sarah Carter and Lily Tomasula-Martin continued their breakout seasons by posting admirable finishes of 62nd and 73rd, respectively. While not marks that would typically jump off the page, these were noteworthy for Carter and Tomasula-Martin who are quickly establishing themselves as reliable scorers in national-caliber meets.

While the Rams’ backend has proven to be serviceable, having a secure third scorer emerge could take this team to the next level. Annabel Stafford had an “off” day at Nuttycombe after finishing 145th, but given her 12th place finish at the Griak Invitational earlier this season, she could be the missing piece who helps Colorado State climb even higher in our rankings.

19. Toledo Rockets (Unranked)

Toledo was oh-so-close to maintaining a top-25 ranking in our previous update, but found themselves just edged out of a spot by a few other strong programs.

So what did they do to prove us wrong?

They went to Madison, Wisconsin and took down 10 ranked teams at the Nuttycombe Invitational en route to an 12th place finish.

As expected, Joy Chirchir and Faith Linga led the Rockets with finishes of 35th and 70th, respectively. Those results were par for the course for the talented duo, but the emergence of Madeline Vining at 99th place was the difference maker between this team finishing 12th and potentially dropping closer to 20th.

While it’s certainly possible that this may be the strongest result the Rockets will see all season, we’ve learned our lesson on counting them out. For that reason, they check in at TSR #19 which seems to be a good balance of their past performance and recent success.

18. Providence Friars (+6 / 24)

The Friars took down seven teams at the Nuttycombe Invitational that were ranked higher than them entering the meet.

The potential for this program was certainly there (as evidenced by our preseason ranking of TSR #19), but seeing their lineup post a strong 15th place performance (just 11 points out of 12th place) after a modest result at Paul Short was a commendable result worth a jump up in this edition of our rankings.

Jane Buckley continues to spark this lineup as a high-upside rookie by posting a powerful 38th place result against a wide array of All-American-caliber women. The more noticeable breakthrough for this scoring lineup, however, was Shannon Flockhart finishing 79th.

Not only did Flockhart’s result close the scoring gap between Buckley and the rest of the Friars, but it also shows us that the elite fitness that we’ve seen from her on the track is transferable to the grass.

The Providence women will have to bolster scoring in their 3-4-5 varsity spots, but on paper, both Lilly Tuck and Laura Mooney should be dramatically better in the future...we think.

17. Wisconsin Badgers (0 / 17)

On their home turf, Wisconsin lost on the tie-breaker to Syracuse and had to settle for 14th. But generally speaking, that was still a pretty good result!

Even though they didn't crack the top-10, the Badgers were the first of five BIG 10 teams to cross the finish line on Friday -- a promising result with conference championship week coming up soon on most NCAA schedules.

At Nuttycombe, the Wisconsin women were led by Shea Ruhly who earned a 54th place finish. A rising ace in this program, Ruhly wasn’t able to maintain her top-35 positioning over the last 2000 meters, but 54th is still no walk in the park considering who she was up against.

Following the leading lady for Wisconsin were six teammates who continuously moved up over the course of the 6000 meter race. It was the movement and consistent passing of athletes that helped the Badgers women from 29th to 18th to 14th, a clear advantage of knowing what it's like to race on your home course.

Unsurprising Wisconsin seemingly benefitted from the veteran experience of Samantha Stieve (86th), Victoria Heiligenthal (97th) and Lucinda Crouch (128th) in their lineup. Those three women ran well within their capabilities and can still find an extra gear with some fine-tuning going into the postseason.

In fact, we still think a lot of these Badgers could be even better in the future.

Wisconsin’s performance at Nuttycombe was a big improvement from their showing at the Griak Invitational a few weeks earlier and it opens the door for the Badgers to make a case to be BIG 10 champions in a couple of weeks time.

16. Washington Huskies (-5 / 11)

On paper, it was a tough go for the Washington women at Nuttycombe as they faded to 16th place overall in the team standings, but all things considered, the Huskies still salvaged a respectable result.

Star low-stick and NCAA veteran, Haley Herberg, was originally entered in this meet, but she ended up not toeing the line alongside her teammates. If we don't see her at the PAC-12 XC Championships, then Washington will drop further, but her expected inclusion in this lineup is why UW still remains ahead of a few other teams that beat them on Friday.

As for the Huskies who actually competed in Wisconsin, they held their own for the most part. Newly established front-runner, Anna Gibson, impressed us with her 39th place finish. Not bad for someone who primarily focuses on the 1500 meters.

Freshman Sophia Nordenholz found herself amongst the top-100, but then the drop-off started to occur for the Huskies. Andrea Markezich and Ella Borsheim finished this race in 119th and 120th, respectively, and teammate Sophia O’Sullivan rounded out the scoring in 144th.

Madison Heisterman did make her season debut, but didn’t have as much of an impact as anticipated. But now that the band aid has been ripped off, can Heisterman reach a scoring position on the team? We certainly think she can.

There are still a few "what if" scenarios circling around for this team. If the Huskies want to contest for a top-three finish at the PAC-12 meet, significant lineup adjustments will need to be made...but we think UW is probably the best positioned of any team in this area of our rankings to make those adjustments.

15. Syracuse Orange (+3 / 18)

The ladies of Syracuse continue to rise following their 13th place finish at Nuttycombe. Savannah Roark is on a new level this fall and their backend scoring pack is one to watch for as their racing cohesion is better than some people realize.

Roark, an All-American hopeful this fall, stuck her nose in this race, never falling out of the top-35 over the course of the race. She was ultimately rewarded with a 31st place finish and got the ball rolling for the Orange.

Senior Abigail Spiers was a little out there on her own, but still showed up for her team by recording a 85th place finish. This may have been a few places back from her 2021 result at Nuttycombe, but she was 22 seconds faster this year in a field that was arguably deeper.

Not a bad day at all in the grand scheme of things for Spiers.

The final three scorers for this team, Sophia Jacobs-Townsley, Ivy Gonzales and Olivia Joly, had only three seconds separating them, a pack-running effort that helped Syracuse take down a charging Wisconsin team and finish only six points shy of 11th place Toledo.

And to even make things better for the Orange, their sixth and seventh runners were only a mere six seconds behind Joly. Talk about depth...

The ACC XC Championships will give these women another chance to chase down conference foes and vie for a top-three team finish, something not out of reach given how complete and balanced their scoring group currently looks.

14. Oregon Ducks (+11 / 25)

This was the Ducks' first true test against many of the nation’s top teams this weekend and Oregon exceeded any expectations placed upon them. New coaches, Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan, took a program that was struggling a bit and turned them around fairly quickly...well, at least through one nationally competitive race, that is.

The Ducks saw success in Wisconsin on Friday after finishing 11th in a deep field. There was a promising 40-second top-five time-spread for these ladies and they were fueled by the 24th place finish by Izzy Thornton-Bott.

As the race progressed, Oregon moved up extremely well. Thornton-Bott may have been the low-stick, but secondary scorer Emilie Girard made up a massive amount of ground over the last 2000 meters. Girard picked off 42 competitors en route to her 53rd place finish and she brought Mandy Elmore (59th) along with her.

Through three runners, the Ducks were just flat-out better than we expected them to be. We thought that trio would probably finish 20 spots further back (each). But together, they carried most of the scoring weight and were a massive reason why the Oregon women exceeded our expectations.

Malia Pivec (113th) and Harper McClain (114th) formed a similar duo like their teammates Girard and Elmore had at the backend of their lineup. And while neither woman was perfect, they weren't all that far from off from the fourth and fifth scorers on other top teams.

Oregon makes a jump in our rankings as the postseason ramps up. They may have been the fourth-best PAC-12 team across the line at Nuttycombe, but the potential is there for the Ducks to continue making a statement.

In fact, they don't even have Alessia Zarbo yet who is still nursing an injury! It's unclear if she'll return this fall, but if she does, then the Ducks could be far better than they were on Friday.

13. California Baptist Lancers (+3 / 16)

The Lancers have solidified themselves as having one of the highest floors in the nation (with a decently high ceiling too). That upside was on display at the Weis-Crockett Invitational where California Baptist dominated a respectable field during their first crack at the course where the NCAA XC Championships will be held, putting six runners through the top-21.

Although the competition they faced wasn’t exactly ferocious enough to vault the CBU women into the top-10 of our rankings, the fact that their varsity core extends to a sixth runner makes the Lancers a dangerous team to keep an eye on in larger fields.

Beyond that, Yasna Petrova’s stock continues to rise as she was able to secure runner-up honors behind only Oklahoma State’s Billah Jepkirui.

Petrova has established herself as a consistent low-stick, Greta Karinauskaite (5th) is the second runner in a wicked 1-2 punch and the rest of California Baptist's lineup has flexed depth that can be competitive at the Division One level.

What's not to like?

It’s time to shift our mindset on this program and look at them for what they truly are -- a team that could very well finish in the top-10 at the national meet next month if they continue this upwards trajectory.

12. Colorado Buffaloes (-6 / 6)

The Colorado women slide down a handful of spots after a tough outing at Nuttycombe where they finished 9th overall. Their top-three runners were solid, but outside of Bailey Hertenstein, who finished an outstanding 5th place individually, the Buffaloes weren’t as lethal up front as what we’d expect from a team hovering around a top-five ranking during the preseason.

Emily Covert’s 29th place finish was commendable, but we know that she is capable of being right up near the top with Hertenstein. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins graduate transfer Ella Baran crossed the line in 47th place which was valuable, but not quite fiery enough for Colorado to compete with other elite groups.

We aren’t writing off the Buffaloes yet. Hertenstein is on fire, and if Covert and Baran round into form when it matters most, then this team could have one of the stronger trios in the country.

But Hannah Miniutti hasn't been great and there is still a ton of uncertainty after her even if she does return to her 2021 form.

Will Colorado probably end the season in our top-10? Yes, most likely, but for now, they have to settle at TSR #12 even if we don't want to put them here.

11. Utah Utes (+2 / 13)

The Utes move up a couple spots after their outstanding Nuttycombe showing, but they have the potential to crack the top-10 if they can clean-up the scoring at their fifth spot.

On Friday, through their first four scorers, the Utah women were just about as impressive as any team at Nuttycombe besides NC State and New Mexico. Emily Venters once again displayed All-American form by way of a massive 6th place finish while Simone Plourde broke out with a monumental 22nd finish of her own, giving this team a second low-stick.

Plourde was viewed as a high-upside addition to the Utes when she transferred from BYU last fall, but her talent had not fully been displayed until this race at Nuttycombe. Beyond the top-two runners, finishes of 49th and 60th, respectively, from Keelah Barger and Ariel Keklak were tremendously encouraging for the team result as a whole.

Through four runners, Utah looked like they had one of the most complete lineups in the entirety of the NCAA.

While their fifth scorer ended up fading to 171st place, any additional support to close their backend will allow this team to shave off points and fully capitalize on the dominance of their front four.

But until that happens, we’ll conservatively keep them at TSR #11.

10. Stanford Cardinal (-2 / 8)

Despite getting their long-awaited low-stick, Zofia Dudek, back into their lineup, the Stanford women didn't quite reach through to the next tier that we thought they would at Nuttycombe, although they were by no means by bad, either.

Dudek performed admirably in her season debut, finishing 16th place and providing a key scoring spark up front that the Cardinal had been looking for at the Cowboy Jamboree.

The Cardinal’s 2-3-4-5-6 runners all finished within a six-second time-spread. That contingent accrued overall finishes of 58-65-72-74-76. It was an overwhelmingly impressive display of depth and that group held tons of scoring value. However, without a secondary low-stick next to Dudek, the Stanford women could only finish so high.

While the Stanford women have a tremendous talent in Dudek at the top and a core that doesn’t lend itself to excessive scoring, the teams that we have ranked ahead of the Cardinal just have too sizable of an advantage at their second and third scoring spots for us to slot Stanford any higher...for now.

9. Georgetown Hoyas (+1 / 10)

How does a team that finished 10th at Nuttycombe somehow improve one spot in our rankings? Well hang tight, we'll explain.

Through five runners, the Georgetown women were strong. They didn't have the same elite scoring potency that they've shown in prior races this season, but they were complete through five women.

Maggie Donahue, Grace Jensen, Sami Corman, Katy-Ann McDonald and Chloe Gonzalez went 33-41-55-88-93, respectively, in what was a very solid showing for the Hoyas...but there's a catch.

Chloe Scrimgeour didn't run.

For those unfamiliar with Scrimgeour, she was most recently listed in our top-50 rankings our first update of the season. On paper, she should have been at least a top-50 finisher during Friday's race. And if she was, then you're looking at a scenario where Georgetown beats UNC!

If anything, what this race told us is that Georgetown is probably one of the most dangerous cross country teams in the NCAA at full strength and that their depth is beginning to come through in a major way.

8. North Carolina Tar Heels (+1 / 9)

Youth guides this team...and that doesn’t appear to phase them one bit.

Brynn Brown, a reliable lead scorer, was once again the top dog of this team at Nuttycombe, finishing 19th overall in a deep field. Her low-point value helped land the Tar Heels a 6th place finish against many of the nation’s star-studded teams.

Now, yes, Brown deserves attention for her consistency in recording high finishes, but you need to also take a glance at Kelsey Harrington. In fact, the sophomore ace might be one of the most underrated athletes in the NCAA right now.

Harrington was bumping elbows with the leaders throughout the entire race before crossing the finish line in 27th place. With the way that she has been racing, the Tar Heel standout could be flirting with a top-40 finish at the NCAA XC Championships, something that would surely help this team land a top-10 result and further inch towards their future goals of a podium result.

Not too far back from Harrington were Taryn Parks, Fatima Alanis and Sasa Neglia in 50th, 89th and 95th, respectively.

Parks and Neglia are no stranger to the training philosophy at North Carolina, but as for Alanis, a recent transfer into the program, she has established herself as a runner who seems to be filling a key scoring gap that could've caused issues if she wasn't there.

Although their three-meet win streak was snapped with the 6th place finish, UNC is showing the NCAA that they are a force to be reckoned with and that they are deserving of a top-10 ranking.

7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+5 / 12)

Looking at the results from the Nuttycombe Invitational, one would see that All-American Maddy Denner wasn’t even a scorer.

But you know what? That wasn’t a problem for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame saw Denner fade to 101st, but the strength of this team was clearly displayed by their 5th place finish. Established front-runner Olivia Markevich was a tad further back than anticipated, crossing the line in 17th, but she was still excellent. Following her were Katie Thronson (46th), Annasophia Keller (52nd) and Erin Strzelecki (61st) who were only separated by four seconds!

Thronson has seamlessly slid into the Fighting Irish lineup since transferring from Tennessee and Keller, a veteran of the program, is recording some of her best performances of her collegiate career. Siona Chisolm (81st) has also proven to be a much better than anticipated.

If Denner had finished closer to Markezich, or even the middle-lineup trio mentioned above, then the scoring of the top-five teams would’ve looked slightly different. In fact, Notre Dame would have likely finished 5th overall.

Notre Dame could be a potential podium team when all of their puzzle pieces fall into place, but whether or not they get everyone to run well on the same day is a separate challenge.

6. BYU Cougars (-1 / 5)

We don't necessarily have a ton to say about the BYU women, but that doesn't mean that they weren't great at Nuttycombe!

The Cougars finished 4th on Friday, rallying behind an unsurprising (but very strong) 11th place finish from Aubrey Frentheway while veteran McKenna Lee FINALY had the breakout race that we were rooting for her to have as she placed 15th.

Lexy Halladay (57th) continues to look more reliable with each race and Carmen Alder (63rd) was a very pleasant surprise, clearly thriving off of the recent momentum of her outdoor track season.

The Cougars didn't have anyone else in the top-100, and that will need to be addressed moving forward, but the main scorers on this team look scary good and appear to have momentum on their side.

They only move back because of how well NAU ran at Nuttycombe.

5. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (+2 / 7)

They’re not just good, they’re crazy good.

When the Lumberjacks placed 2nd at the Cowboy Jamboree a few weeks ago, the team rightfully got national attention thrown their way. But naturally, I think a lot of us wanted to see them replicate that kind of performance again.

Well, fast forward to Nuttycombe this past Friday and these NAU women showed that their September-time performance was no fluke en route to a 3rd place finish.

Northern Arizona took down two teams that were previously ranked ahead of them thanks to Elise Stearns crossing the finish line in 3rd place. Annika Reiss wasn’t as stellar as she was in Oklahoma, but a 40th place finish was still respectable. Teammates Taryn O’Neill and Alexis Keebe finished 64th and 66th, respectively, while fifth scorer Jesselyn Bries, who was only two seconds behind, picked up a 71st place finish.

Keebe’s performance is arguably was what sealed the deal for NAU over Mountain regional foe BYU as she was well-ahead of the Cougar’s fifth runner.

Not only that, but O’Neill is much more capable of finishing amongst the top-20 when she brings her "A" game, but we haven’t seen that kind of performance yet from the All-American talent. If she and Reiss can close the gap on Stearns, then could the Lumberjacks see a podium finish later this season at the national meet?

It's certainly possible...

4. Alabama Crimson Tide (0/ 4)

It was a fairly quiet weekend for the ladies of Alabama as they dominated a somewhat weak field at the Crimson Classic. The trio of Amaris Tyynismaa, Hilda Olemomoi and Mercy Chelangat swept the first three spots. Only three seconds separated those women.

But where was Flomena Asekol?

She would’ve been expected to be alongside her teammates, but Asekol was 51 seconds back in 10th place overall. Meanwhile, fifth scorer Elka Machan had a respectable day out on the course, finishing 12th. She is developing into a solid and consistent scorer for Alabama as we enter the championship portion of the season -- and that makes the Crimson Tide even more dangerous.

The Crimson Tide will need to rely on Asekol finding her 2021 form if Alabama is a) going to guarantee themselves a podium spot, and b) if they are going to have any chance of pulling off a monumental upset.

3. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (0 / 3)

Even though they finished runner-up at their home meet over this past weekend, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls hold steady at TSR #3.

Coach Dave Smith opted not to run his top-three women in Natalie Cook, Taylor Roe and Gabby Hentemann. We also didn't see Molly Born who has yet to race this fall. Luckily, the Cowgirls who competed still impressed, especially Billah Jepkirui, the individual champion.

Jepkirui, who opened up her season at the Cowboy Jamboree a few weeks ago with a strong 15th place finish, ran nearly 30 seconds faster this time around to take the win by seven seconds. If she runs like that again, one of the newest members of the team could add some serious extra firepower upfront and potentially a third top-20 All-American.

And when it came to depth, we really liked what we saw out of Stephanie Moss who recorded a respectable 9th place finish.

With the BIG 12 XC Championships on the horizon, Cook and Roe are two of the favorites to challenge West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe for the individual win. But as far as the team scoring goes, it’s extremely hard to find another conference foe to take down the Cowgirls.

2. New Mexico Lobos (0 / 2)

There could be a realistic scenario where all five of New Mexico’s scorers finish as All-Americans in November. They’re just that good, and they proved it at Nuttycombe with a dominant 2nd place finish in which they actually tied NC State and lost on a tie-breaker.

Gracelyn Larkin (9th) and Amelia Mazza-Downie (12th) were as fantastic as they’ve been throughout their star-studded careers, but the arrival of Samree Dishon (8th) this season has been a dynamic addition to bolster this lineup’s potential.

Elise Thorner and Emma Heckel were able to cover a ton of ground the last kilometer to close up shop in 25th and 26th place, respectively.

What makes this team so dangerous is the “plug-and-play” nature of their lineup. On any given day, any of their top-five scorers could lead the Lobos and it’s extremely unlikely that any of those five women will have an “off” day.

And if NCAA cross country tiebreakers were decided by the sixth runner’s finish, then New Mexico’s depth would have earned them a victory at Nuttycombe over last year’s national champions.

Could the Lobos win a national title this year? Well, they won't be favored against a full-strength NC State squad, but they absolutely have a realistic path towards gold.

1. NC State Wolfpack (0 / 1)

It’s rare to see NC State legitimately challenged, but that’s exactly what happened at the Nuttycombe Invitational where the Wolfpack barely edged New Mexico via a tiebreaker.

Despite such a close contest, the NC State women have earned the right to maintain their spot on top of our rankings as they remain undefeated and still have a few weapons left in their armory of a roster to unleash.

For starters, Katelyn Tuohy breezed past the most competitive field that we’ve seen this season for a dominant victory. Beyond the clear-cut national title favorite, the Wolfpack also unveiled Kelsey Chmiel in her season debut where she notched a tremendous 2nd place finish.

A duo like that has the firepower to match up against Oklahoma State, but what about the depth that it will take to defeat New Mexico on their best day?

Seeing Samantha Bush and Sydney Seymour fade slightly to 18th and 23rd place, respectively, was somewhat surprising considering their positioning up front throughout most of the race. However, those were still very strong results to get out of your third and fourth scorers.

When it comes to the final spot, it’s simple. Inserting Marlee Starliper or Savannah Shaw would have theoretically locked-in a more comfortable win for NC State had those athletes competed at Nuttycombe.

Of course, let's still give credit where credit is due: Nevada Mareno's 36th place finish was huge a really nice development for NC State's depth.

Given the tiebreak win and the potential to add further scoring support from Starliper and/or Shaw, the Wolfpack appear to still be the national title favorites for the Big Dance a month from now.