TSR's 2022 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #4

TSR Collaboration
Nov 15, 2022
15 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.

ANOTHER NOTE: The Stride Report does not typically put much ranking weight on the regional results. Oftentimes, certain teams will not place much emphasis on these races and will simply run with the goal of advancing to the national meet. This is not to say that all regional results are negligible (as you'll see below). However, you may notice less movement within our top-25 lists than usual.

25. Ohio State Buckeyes (Unranked)

We know what you’re thinking, "How does a team that finished 4th at the BIG 10 XC Championships join the rankings this week?"

Well, it’s because the Ohio State Buckeyes have two things that are helping them make their case. The first reason is that Addie Engel, Danielle Santos and Andrea Kuhn have slowly become one of the better scoring trios in the country. The second reason is that they just beat all of their BIG 10 rivals at the Great Lakes regional meet to finish runner-up.

Addie Engel is a clear favorite to earn All-American honors this upcoming weekend following her six consistent top-two finishes throughout this season. Meanwhile, both Santos and Kuhn, who finished 7th and 9th, respectively, on Friday, could be fringe top-40 or top-50 runners this weekend if they can continue to build on their recent momentum.

What Ohio State needs at the NCAA XC Championships to be successful is for their fourth and fifth scorers to finish amongst the top-120 competitors. If that happens, then the Buckeyes will easily outperform this ranking.

24. Wisconsin Badgers (-2 / 22)

The Badgers slide down two spots after a 5th place finish at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships. The powerful duo of Samantha Stieve (8th) and Shea Ruhly (14th) brought their best and were pivotal to keeping Wisconsin in the mix.

After those two women, the remaining Wisconsin scorers ran adequately enough to secure an at-large bid to the national meet, as they scored point totals of 21-40-46.

Although the Wisconsin women move down in our rankings due to a few conference rivals improving, they’ve accomplished their main goal of qualifying for the "Big Dance". And frankly, that’s all that really matters for now.

Still, their overall scoring group will need to be much more cohesive (like they were last fall) if the Badgers want to threaten for a top-20 finish on the national stage.

23. Arkansas Razorbacks (0 / 23)

Due to the way that the nine regions are divided, the South Central region isn’t nearly as deep as the other eight. That allowed the Arkansas women to dominate their race on Friday, winning their 11th consecutive regional title with only six runners in their lineup.

Part of this team’s success comes from Isabel Van Camp winning races, or at least finishing among the leaders. And at the South Central Regional XC Championships, this Razorback superstar continued that consistency by winning gold.

In a season where this lineup has seemed a bit limited, the Arkansas women were able to showcase some solid depth as all of their competing athletes earned All-Region honors.

Mia Cochran, a true freshman, held her own for a very solid 4th place finish. Meanwhile, program veteran Gracie Hyde (11th) and sophomore Sydney Thorvaldsen (12th) crossed the line together while Mary Ellen Eudley (21st) and Taylor Ewert (24th) weren’t too far behind.

We should note that Arkansas held out Katie McCune, a consistent varsity contributor this fall.

The Razorbacks are clearly in a developing year following their recent streak of historic runs at the NCAA XC Championships. However, that doesn’t mean that they can't surprise the field this weekend and score a top-20 finish.

22. Michigan Wolverines (+2 / 24)

The Michigan women have redefined themselves as a high-floor team with the potential to pop off if any of their stars have a good day.

Ericka VanderLende appears to be back at full strength and maybe back in the All-American conversation following a great performance at the BIG 10 XC Championships. The Wolverine ace finished 13th at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships which admittedly left us wanting a bit more, but it was hardly a poor performance.

Behind her, a 19-second time spread separated the remaining Michigan scorers who ran well enough for the Wolverines to finish 3rd overall and pick up the first at-large bid from the Great Lakes region.

All of this was possible without steeplechase star Kayla Windemuller (27th) at her best or Katelynne Hart (33rd) cracking the scoring lineup.

Instead, this result highlights the value that middle-lineup scorers like Samantha Tran (22nd) and Samantha Saenz (23rd) have brought to Michigan this fall. And if their stars can reach their maximum potential at the national meet (which seems to be a bigger ask each week), then the Wolverines could end up closer to where we had them in our preseason ranking.

21. Syracuse Orange (0 / 21)

The Syracuse women gave us a bit of a scare on Friday.

The Orange were heavily favored to earn an automatic qualifying spot out of the Northeast region, but Providence easily separated themselves from their ACC foes and Columbia came within eight points of upsetting Syracuse.

Now, admittedly, even if Syracuse had finished 3rd, they would have almost definitely qualified for the national meet via Kolas points, so that's not really the concern.

Even so, this latest showing wasn't great and their performance at the ACC XC Championships is probably one that the Orange would like to forget about. And with a recent history of postseason inconsistency, it's hard to put much stock in Syracuse right now.

20. Michigan State Spartans (-1 / 19)

Despite a 4th place finish at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships in which the Spartans finished a few points behind the Michigan women, we’ve decided to still rank Michigan State ahead of their rivals due to their performances across the entirety of the season (as well as taking into account just how narrow their margin of defeat was – eight points).

Katie Osika has been on an absolute tear this season and once again led the Spartans with a 3rd place finish. Michigan State’s backend performed well overall, but their rival Wolverines were able to shave off a few points at each remaining scoring position – two through five – despite not matching the firepower of Osika.

Our money is still on the Spartans being a potential top-20 team at the NCAA XC Championships which is why we'll keep them at TSR #20.

19. Virginia Cavaliers (+1 / 20)

If you had told us during the preseason that the Virginia women would qualify for the NCAA XC Championships this fall, we would’ve thought that you were crazy. But as it turns out, we were the crazy ones for overlooking the Cavaliers.

After a strong 3rd place finish at the ACC XC Championships, the Cavaliers placed 3rd yet again at the Southeast Regional XC Championships last weekend, 22 points ahead of the 4th place team.

What’s special about this team is that even though Virginia didn’t have anyone in the top-10, their ability to race alongside one another clearly held great scoring value.

Sophie Atkinson (13th) and Margot Appleton (16th) were only separated by one second. Mia Barnett (24th) and Camryn Messinger (26th) followed suit with a two-second difference. Esther Seeland (33rd) brought the Cavaliers home, rounding out the scoring and ultimately posting a top-five time-spread of 23 seconds.

While their youth and relative inexperience is still a fairly big concern for Saturday, we also can't ignore Virginia’s exciting upside, either.

18. California Baptist Lancers (-4 / 14)

The Lancers are on shaky ground as they enter the NCAA XC Championships.

A team that built their reputation on a strong low-stick supported by a solid, but not stellar, backend group had the middle of their lineup exposed at the West Regional XC Championships. The CBU settled for a 5th place finish behind Washington and Oregon State on Friday – both of whom the Lancers were expected to defeat.

The good news is that Yasna Petrova was able to lead California Baptist and finish 5th in a top-heavy field against predominantly proven All-Americans.

A 2-3-4-5 time-spread of nine seconds behind Petrova was great in theory, but with CBU’s second runner all the way back in 26th place, it backend time-spread could only do so much.

This result made California Baptist sweat it out while the at-large process forced them to “push” in Oregon State. But at the end of the day, a national meet berth in their first season of Division One competition should be looked at as a major accomplishment.

Because of that, and their season as a whole, CBU holds on to a lower top-20 spot and checks in at TSR #18.

17. Toledo Rockets (-2 / 15)

The Great Lakes Regional XC Championships wasn’t the best showing for the Toledo women, but what they’ve done at earlier meets this season is what ultimately puts them at TSR #17.

The Rockets finished 6th on Friday, scoring 132 points. They were only eight points out of 4th place, a stat that seems to soften the fact that they were behind all of the major contenders in this field.

Joy Chirchir, who has been the team leader this fall, raced herself to a 5th place finish, proving herself as a potential All-American talent. Faith Linga was solid as well, finishing 11th, but there were a few hiccups with the back-half of this lineup.

The Vining sisters, Madeline and Emily, as well as Lou Trois, were a little further back than expected, crossing the line in 29th, 39th and 48th, respectively. Those three women will need to shorten their gap between them as their top-two scorers to help hold a top-15 finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

16. Colorado State Rams (+2 / 18)

This team is going to catch the NCAA by surprise this weekend. The Rams have been flying under the radar this fall, but that’s going to change when they toe the line in Oklahoma.

Colorado State is coming off of one of their best races of their season after recording a 4th place finish in a deep field at the Mountain regional meet. Although, in fairness to the other teams, the emphasis for the top of this field wasn't place, but rather national qualification.

Annabel Stafford was the leading lady for the Rams on Friday, recording a stellar 6th place finish. Teammates Sarah Carter and Lily Tomasula-Martin were next across the line in 20th and 24th, respectively. Those two women are usually closer to Stafford, sometimes switching leading roles, and will need to form their strong pack once again on the nation's biggest stage.

There might not be a clear top runner for Colorado State this fall, but they have solid depth from top to bottom that will aid in their success on Saturday. They have a very high floor.

15. Washington Huskies (+2 / 17)

Washington moves up two spots after defeating California Baptist and placing 3rd at the West Regional XC Championships. Without their ace Haley Herberg, who has been in and out of their lineup this season, the Huskies cashed in on huge production from Sophie O'Sullivan (9th) and Anna Gibson (13th).

The remaining varsity runners filled out the scorecard with point values of 27-29-36 which was very encouraging considering the top-heavy nature of the West region.

Washington is trending in the right direction at the right time. If Herberg is able to toe the line at the NCAA XC Championships, and if Andrea Markezich can replicate the caliber of her PAC-12 performance, then this squad could be in contention for a top-12 finish.

14. Providence Friars (+2 / 16)

The Friars took care of business at the Northeast Regional XC Championships by taking home the team title and an automatic bid to the national meet. Jane Buckley’s breakout season continued as she secured bronze and once again looked like a surefire All-American.

A crucial 15-second time-spread was clutch as Providence was able to hold off both Syracuse and Columbia on Friday.

It feels like the Providence women have been inching up our rankings with each passing update, doing what they need to do and making the necessary improvements that have lended themselves to commendable team results.

Providence's slow and steady momentum allows them to inch up another two spots in our rankings heading into the NCAA XC Championships.

13. Oregon Ducks (0 / 13)

12. Stanford Cardinal (0 / 12)

Stanford and Oregon retain their same spots in our rankings after finishing 1st and 2nd, respectively, at the West Regional XC Championships.

Both teams’ low-sticks ran up to their potential as Zofia Dudek finished 3rd for the Cardinal while Izzy Thornton-Bott crossed the line in 4th place for the Ducks.

A tremendous five-second time-spread between Stanford’s next four scorers limited any excessive point scoring and closed out their auto-qualifier to the NCAA XC Championships.

Oregon’s backend was not quite as strong as Stanford’s, but they still performed well enough to hold off Washington and also punch their ticket to the national meet.

11. Colorado Buffaloes (-1 / 10)

A little bit of vulnerability was shown by the Buffaloes at the Mountain Regional XC Championships, fading to 5th place behind some really good teams.

Although, it wasn't necessarily their final result that has us pushing them back one spot.

Front-runners Bailey Hertenstein and Emily Covert weren’t able to finish amongst the top-10, but they still did enough to get Colorado back to the national meet. Hertenstein recorded an 11th place finish, which is still respectable, while Covert fell back to 37th place in the field.

While neither of those performances would be considered encouraging, we're not going to overanalyze those results. Those two women were outstanding at the PAC-12 XC Championships and that meet was probably a better indication of their true talent.

The rest of the Colorado roster did their part on Friday. Ella Baran and Kaitlyn Barthell picked up the pieces for Covert with their 15th and 29th place finishes, respectively. Baran has been so solid since transferring to Colorado this summer while Barthell has made a big jump in her fitness this year.

However, the main reason why Colorado moves back one spot is because Hannah Miniutti has not yet returned to this lineup. She made an appearance in this team's top-seven earlier this season, but struggled in that race and has been absent since.

Miniutti at her best is a super valuable scorer. And with the Buffaloes showing some significant gaps in their lineup in recent meets, not having her available (that we know of) is a tough development going into the national meet.

10. Utah Utes (+1 / 11)

The Utah women have earned a much-deserved one-spot jump into our top-10 after taking the second auto-qualifier at the Mountain Regional XC Championships via a tie-breaker over Northern Arizona.

The major question in the middle of the regular season was how the Utes’ fifth scorer would be able to progress and close the gap between her and her other teammates. Well, since Nuttycombe, we’ve seen tremendous growth in that area as Morgan Jensen and Erin Vringer have stepped up when called upon.

Additionally, Keelah Barger – who finished 17th on Friday – has elevated her game in a major way this season as she once again offered great scoring support to Emily Venters (7th) and Simone Plourde (10th).

Now that Utah has seemingly solved the issue of their backend scoring, it will be exciting to see how high their ceiling will reach go the NCAA XC Championships.

9. North Carolina Tar Heels (0 / 9)

The North Carolina women were the very clear favorites to earn the second automatic qualifying spot in the Southeast region behind NC State going into last Friday.

And sure enough, they comfortably snagged silver.

Kelsey Harrington (8th) has been sneaky-great this fall and her consistency as a true low-stick has been outstanding. Brynn Brown (11th) ran well in her return and the rest of this lineup closed out the scoring via finishes of 17-18-22.

We should note that UNC's 18th place finisher was Eva Klingbeil, a true freshman and former high school standout. Having her emerge as a legitimate scorer for an already-talented team extends the Tar Heels' depth and makes it that much harder to imagine a scenario where the women from Chapel Hill don't finish in the top-10 on Saturday.

8. BYU Cougars (-1 / 7)

The absence of veteran standout McKenna Lee was glaring at the Mountain Regional XC Championships for BYU this past Friday.

The Cougars faded to 6th place in their latest race. And although they had to uncomfortably wait their turn for the Kolas system to reward them with an at-large bid, they were still comfortable selected to race in Stillwater this weekend.

The one-two punch of Aubrey Frentheway (3rd) and Lexy Halladay-Lowry (4th) was as dominant as it’s been all season, and seeing them finish ahead of all New Mexico’s stars has to be encouraging entering the home stretch of the season.

Theoretically, if Lee was in the race and had finished higher than 13th (which would have been expected), then BYU would have earned the second automatic qualifier. So unless there are any legitimate injury concerns, the Cougars should still be a formidable contender at the NCAA XC Championships.

7. Georgetown Hoyas (+1 / 8)

The Georgetown women didn’t just win the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, they dominated the meet. All five Hoya scorers (and their sixth runner) finished within the top-15.

While the Mid-Atlantic region is not the strongest cross country region by any means, a result like this shows us that Georgetown has a truly complete lineup, something that we couldn't say during the preseason. Not only that, but Maggie Donahue (2nd), Grace Jensen (5th) and Chloe Scrimgeour (6th) all look like realistic All-American threats.

The Hoyas don’t have any obvious flaws or weaknesses, but if they want to finish 7th (or higher) at the national meet, then firepower of those aforementioned women, as well as a top-60 result from veteran Sami Corman, will have to be in the cards.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0 / 6)

Everything's coming together at the right time for the Fighting Irish.

First they scare NC State at the ACC XC Championships and then they score a mere 33 points at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships.

Notre Dame put all five of their scorers in the top-12 on Saturday. Olivia Markezich won the race by three seconds to get the ball rolling for the Fighting Irish and was followed by Siona Chisholm, Maddy Denner and Katie Thronson who weren’t too far behind.

Erin Strzelecki was only one second behind Thronson to give Notre Dame the final scorer they needed for an automatic qualifier.

Program veteran Annasophia Keller wasn’t too far behind her teammates to pick up the pieces if someone had fallen off. And even though she wasn’t a scorer on Friday, her finishing only four seconds behind Strzelecki will be crucial at the national meet if someone does have an "off" day.

Just like last year, the Fighting Irish are peaking better than almost any other team in the country. Could they legitimately challenge for the podium?

5. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0 / 5)

The Lumberjacks will be trying to land themselves a spot on the podium this weekend at the NCAA XC Championships by outperforming their current ranking. And you know what? A top-four finish isn’t out of the question for NAU.

Elise Stearns, the star of the team throughout this fall, is coming off of her fifth top-five finish after finishing 2nd in a deep Mountain region. Of course, the Lumberjacks had many other bright spots aside from Stearn.

Jesselyn Bries, Bryn Morely and Alexis Keebe earned All-Region honors, finishing 18th, 19th and 25th, respectively. That eight-second time-spread between those three women could come in handy on Saturday given the mass chaos of the national meet.

The NAU women were missing Annika Reiss from the lineup on Friday, so hopefully she will be back to aid in getting the Lumberjacks a potential podium result.

4. Alabama Crimson Tide (0 / 4)

Alabama is a dangerous team as we approach Saturday.

The Crimson Tide absolutely demolished the South region thanks to a 2-3-4-5 finish from their top-four. The fifth runner is still a little further back, but that spot has not been nearly the same liability for Alabama that it has been in the past.

Amaris Tyynismaa led her over the weekend in 2nd place, crossing the line about a half second ahead of teammates Hilda Olemomoi and Mercy Chelangat, respectively. And before those three could even turn around, Flomena Asekol was across the line in 5th place.

The firepower that these four women bring to the NCAA is arguably unmatched right now.

Elka Machan has been a reliable scorer for the Crimson Tide this fall, but we are still waiting for her to close that gap between herself and her teammates. Machan, who was 20th this past Friday, needs a big race in Stillwater to help Alabama secure a spot on the podium.

3. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (0 / 3)

Oklahoma State holds on to their ranking of TSR #3 after winning the Midwest Regional XC Championships. Natalie Cook (2nd) and Taylor Roe (3rd) crossed the line together, both doing so without exerting much effort.

The Cowgirls looked solid at their regional meet and did so without Billah Jepkirui who has run near the same level as Cook and Roe have this season, giving Oklahoma State one of the best scoring trios in the country.

If Gabby Hentemann (17th on Friday) is able to join that scoring contingent in the top-15, then the Cowgirls could challenge for a medal shinier than bronze at the NCAA XC Championships.

2. New Mexico Lobos (0 / 2)

Another day, another near-flawless performance from the Lobos…even without a complete lineup. Elise Thorner was absent for New Mexico last Friday and Samree Dishon had an “off” day as she faded back to 98th place.

Despite this, the consistent greatness from Gracelyn Larkin (5th), Amelia Mazza-Downie (8th) and Emma Heckel (9th) was on full display as this trio proved once again that they are one of the most dangerous scoring contingents in the entire country.

The question marks around Thorner and Dishon drum up some concern, but we’ve seen enough firepower from this lineup that we aren’t hitting the panic button.

The Lobos will need all five of their stars in action and at their best to have a shot at upsetting NC State. It may not be the most likely scenario, but they will have a legitimate chance to spoil the Wolfpack's party.

1. NC State Wolfpack (0 / 1)

It was an easy victory for the Wolfpack at the Southeast Regional XC Championships. When you have four women cross the line in the top-seven, things are going to go your way.

NC State got the job done with a 1-2-3 finish by Katelyn Tuohy, Kelsey Chmiel and Samantha Bush, respectively. Tuohy won the race by nine seconds, leaving Chmiel to take runner-up honors for the third time this season.

Sydney Seymour rebounded well after a disappointing finish at the ACC XC Championships to finish 7th behind her teammates. Veteran Nevada Morena rounded out the scoring for the team with her 12th place finish.

A minor point of concern right now is that expected top-five scorer, Marlee Starliper, hasn’t raced since Joe Piane in late September. This leaves us scratching our heads, wondering if she will make a return for the NCAA XC Championships or if her season has been shut down.

Nonetheless, even with Starliper not in the lineup, 25 points were awarded to the Wolfpack on Friday, nine fewer points than they scored last fall before winning the national team title. If history repeats itself this upcoming weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma, then the ladies of NC State will be hoisting up the trophy yet again.