TSR's 2022 D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Oct 24, 2022
10 min read

Written by Grace McLaughlin & Eric Baranoski

Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & 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 at 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

10. Colorado Christian Cougars (-1 / 9)

Colorado Christian as not raced an “A” team since our last update.

9. Cedarville Yellow Jackets (Unranked)

The Yellow Jackets reemerge in the top-10 portion of our rankings after being put in the “Just Missed” category last week. Their winning performance at the UAH DII Festival Year Showcase proved to us that they are a top-10 program and that they needed to be added back into our rankings.

Cedarville didn’t just win the UAH Showcase, they dominated. The Yellow Jackets scored 46 points and beat our previously ranked TSR #8 team, Wingate, by over 50 points.

Savannah Ackley placed 5th overall while Bethany Sholl and Naomi Herman joined her in the top-10 with their respective 8th place and 9th place finishes. Hannah Rhem placed 11th and Alayna Ackley rounded out the scoring in 13th.

The varsity members of this lineup have been consistent through the season, but the order has changed from meet to meet. We would argue that this is a positive thing, as it adds to the strength of their pack-running, allows for effective interchangeable scoring and great depth.

The balance of firepower and depth in this lineup, and the lack of a true All-American front-runner, may have the Yellow Jackets flying (no pun intended) under the radar in the eyes of some D2 fans. However, the overall ability of this team to run together and consistently win races is extremely promising as we head into the postseason.

They placed 11th at the NCAA XC Championships last year. With the consistency and momentum that we’ve seen from Cedarville thus far, it is hard to argue that they wouldn’t be in the top-10 come December.

8. Chico State Wildcats (Unranked)

Chico State enters our rankings at TSR #8 after being a “Just Missed” team for most of the season. Before getting into their breakout performance(s) since our last rankings update, we need to look at Chico State as a whole.

The Wildcats placed 2nd at the CCAA XC Championships last year and then placed 3rd at the West Regional XC Championships. Unfortunately, at the NCAA XC Championships, they faltered and placed 25th overall, but they had the talent to place much higher. Marissa D’Atri was their top runner on last year's national stage with her solid, but modest, 67th place finish.

The Wildcats don’t race indoor track and D’Atri was the lone Wildcat at the outdoor national meet with her 7th place finish in the steeplechase.

Those factors made Chico State a harder team to gauge heading into these fall months.

Generally speaking, the Wildcats' greatest strength is their depth and their ability to race as a pack, although they haven't necessarily shown off that team cohesion in every race they've toed the line for this year.

Chico State opened their season at the Cougar Challenge in September and placed 2nd to our current TSR #6 team, Stanislaus State. Hannah Tiffaney was their top runner with her 5th place finish, followed by sisters Della and Iresh Moline in 7th place and 8th place. Meanwhile Hannah Ryan finished in 13th and Marissa D’Atri was 14th to close out the scoring.

Their next race wasn’t until the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational where their pack-running led them to a victory over Stanislaus State and a 7th place finish overall. This performance showed us that they deserve to be in our rankings and off of our bittersweet “Just Missed” list.

In that race, Della and Iresh Molina led the team with their respective 34th and 35th place finishes. Marissa D’Atri was close behind in 37th, Hannah Tiffany was 51st and Hannah Ryan closed it out in 58th.

Those weren't the flashiest results, but taking down a Stan State team without any true scoring deficiencies was a promising sign.

The Wildcats maintained their momentum at D2 Pre-Nationals this past weekend and earned a 4th place finish against some of the top teams in the country. Admittedly, this wasn’t quite as stellar as their performance at the Bronco Invitational...but for good reason.

Both Molina sisters recorded DNF results and the Wildcats score took a huge hit as a result. But after being a consistent scorer from last year, Gracie Dupuis opened her season and made up for some of that scoring loss.

Marissa D’Atri had a strong 13th place finish to give this team an identity at the front of their lineup. Dupuis was huge at the second scoring spot, placing 32nd, while Tiffany was 33rd, Hannah Ryan was 60th and Jaclyn Denham was 74th.

The fact that the Chico State women still placed 4th without the Molina sisters showed us that they have room for error in their lineup, and it also makes us wonder how high their ceiling is.

If the Molina sisters finished similarly to their other races this year, right behind D’Atri in 14th and 15th place, they would have scored under 120 points and easily taken 3rd place in the team standings.

The firepower from the Molina duo and D’Atri and the consistency from Tiffany and Ryan makes Chico State a really strong team. Adding Dupuis to the lineup is a plus and she adds value to the pack of 3-4-5 runners who Chico State can rely on.

After these performances, even with a short-handed lineup at Pre-Nationals, we believe that the Wildcats will end up as a top-10 team in December.

7. Western Colorado Mountaineers (0 / 7)

Western Colorado went down in elevation to race at NCAA DII Pre-Nationals against some of the top teams in the country. They returned home to the mountains with a solid runner-up finish behind RMAC rival Colorado Mines.

Mountaineer ace, Katie Doucette, matched the team performance with her runner-up finish. Consistent low-stick Allison Beasley had an amazing day with her top-10 finish in 9th and Leah Taylor showed improvement with her 13th place finish. Gretchen Slattum came in as their #4 runner in 23rd and Emma Kielsen rounded out their scorers in 45th.

Simply put, the Mountaineers did exactly as we thought they would at Pre-Nationals. It was a solid performance but nothing flashy enough for their ranking to rise from TSR #7.

The Mountaineers have a balanced lineup that works well for them, but some minor improvements would elevate this team to another level. They have shown improvement this season in getting their #2 and #3 runners closer to Doucette, but their ceiling of success really relies on their 4th and 5th runners. Slattum and Kielsen are gaining experience with every race and the team certainly benefits from racing on the nationals course during the regular season.

If the backend of their lineup “packs up” a bit more, the Mountaineers could fight for a top-5 finish at the cross country national meet.

6. Stanislaus State Warriors (0 / 6)

The Stanislaus State Warriors hold steady at TSR #6 after their 8th place finish at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. That meet included some solid Division One and Division Two competition.

And heading into that race, we fully expected the Stanislaus State women to be the top Division Two team in the field.

But surprisingly, the Warriors were the runner-up Division Two team, finishing just behind our current TSR #8 team, Chico State.

Low-stick Kalea Dishion continued her stellar season with a phenomenal 6th place finish. Najwa Chouati had a promising 16th place finish while Kayden Legan was close behind in 23rd. Their fourth scorer, Yahaira Zuniga, had a solid day with her 52nd place finish.

But after that, Stan State really suffered. Their fifth scorer was all the way back in 161st place. Despite having three runners across the line before Chico State had their first runner, the Warriors' lack of depth made their point total skyrocket.

In addition, Stan State only had five runners in that race. If something had gone wrong and one runner had recorded a DNF, then the Warriors wouldn’t have even had a scoring team.

This fragility in the backend of Stan State’s lineup has been our biggest concern this season. Despite having one of the best scoring trios in the country, the Warriors may be the most likely of any of these 10 teams to fall outside of the top-10 at the NCAA XC Championships due to their lack of depth.

That is, until, Haleigh Humble reenters the picture.

Haleigh Humble is a true freshman and was a California high school standout. She has personal bests of 4:58 in the 1600 meters, 11:07 for 3200 meters and 18:33 for 5000 meters on the grass.

We anticipated Humble to be Stan State's fourth or fifth scorer at the beginning of the season. She raced at Kim Duyst and at the Cougar Challenge, emerging as the Warriors' fifth and fourth runner at the respective races.

But then she was absent at the Bronco Invitational, making us question if she would be racing for the rest of the season. Well, we got word this week that she will indeed be racing for the Warriors in the postseason.

If we put Humble into the scoring just behind Zuniga, then Stanislaus State shaves off over 50 points and has a much better scoring record at the Bronco Invitational.

The confirmation of Humble eventually coming back to this lineup makes this team a lot more stable and has ensured their spot at TSR #6...for now.

5. Augustana (SD) Vikings (0 / 5)

The Augustana women were in action at the Bradley Pink Classic earlier this month and finished 5th overall. Now, while that result may not blow anyone away, we did learn where they stand when it comes to racing in a larger field.

The Vikings were 79 points behind Grand Valley State in that effort and their lack of a true low-stick is surprisingly problematic.

While having Megan Means and Nicolette Schmidt finish 22nd and 25th, respectively, isn’t necessarily a huge problem, there are still significant gaps being formed as Mia Salas was her team's fifth scorer in 62nd place.

That said, it wasn’t a complete wash for Augustana as their freshman from the Netherlands, Iris Velting (55th), ran relatively well.

The Vikings' results at the Bradley Pink Classic is simply a case of everyone not having a good race on the same day. There is plenty of time to fix these lineup gaps, but a similar score at the national meet isn't podium material. And truthfully, the Augustana women haven't looked super sharp as of late.

Luckily for them, their coach has proven year after year that he knows how to properly peak his athletes, so we wouldn’t count out Augie just yet.

4. UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions (0 / 4)

The UC-Colorado Springs women have yet to race their varsity since their 4th place finish at the Louisville XC Classic.

3. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 3)

It only took about a month between races, but the Colorado Mines women ran their varsity lineup at Pre-Nationals and won convincingly. To be honest, the field didn’t have as many upper-tier teams as one would hope for, but that didn’t stop the women from Golden, Colorado from making a statement.

The Orediggers must have been looking at the results of Adams State's race from last week and thought, "Why can’t we do the same?"

For context, Adams State went 3-4-6-8-9 at the Highlander Invite while the Mines women went 3-4-7-8-15 this past weekend at D2 Pre-Nationals.

Yes, the Grizzlies went against a deeper field and had their sixth and seventh runners finish 14th and 16th, respectively. But we're not disputing their ranking. The Oredigger women, however, flexed improved firepower on the NCAA XC Championship course. That's a really promising development.

Zoe Baker (3rd) and Clare Peters (4th) look like a solid one-two punch, finishing with just a three-second spread. That result is huge for Peters who is emerging as more of a low-stick than just a support piece. And frankly, the same could be said about Molly Maksin and Holly Moser who each produced top-eight finishes as well.

With those four women firing on all cylinders and running well, it begs the question of where Jenna Ramsey, the Emporia State transfer, was this past weekend?

If you recall, she led the team at the Roadrunners Invitational back in September which was the last time this varsity team competed (before this past weekend). If she returns to this lineup, then those five women likely make the Orediggers a lock for the podium...and they could give GVSU a run for their money.

2. Grand Valley State Lakers (0 / 2)

Grand Valley State has made sure their squad is battle tested.

Running in three-straight invitationals against Division One competition has shown us what the Lakers are truly made of this year.

Most recently, at the Bradley Pink Classic, the GVSU women finished 4th overall and were one spot ahead of our current TSR #5 team, Augustana. While the results between the Lakers and the Vikings weren't exactly close, we do know one thing for sure: Having a low-stick, or in the case of the Bradley Pink Classic, two low-sticks, will make a major difference every time.

Who are those low-sticks you may ask? The first is veteran Natalie Graber who is having the season of her life. She has come in the top-eight in all three invites this season (Spartan Invite, Louisville XC Classic and the Bradley Pink Classic). Next is Klaudia O’Malley who finished 17th at Bradley and has been slowly rallying throughout this fall.

Additionally, Lauren Kiley, a true freshman, and redshirt freshman, Madison Ebright, have been great bright spots for this Grand Valley State team. They have stepped up and been outstanding contributors from the beginning.

Now, the question is: Can these freshmen perform at their best on the nation's biggest stage? That will determine how high the Lakers will climb this season.

1. Adams State Grizzlies (0 / 1)

Currently the class of Division Two, the Adams State Grizzlies are the team to beat.

Their performance at the Highlander Invite confirmed any questions about their depth and if Brianna Robles was a true individual national title contender.

Yes, the Grizzlies scored 30 points and yes, those 30 points came in a deep field that included many Division One schools such as UCLA, Arizona and Colorado. Granted, those were mainly "B" squads, but Adams State put their entire top-five in the top-10.

Did anyone else have to read that twice?

Brianna Robles is running like she is trying to win a national title. She has finished in the top-three in both meets she that has competed in this year, but more importantly, she has run two personal bests.

She is in the best shape of her life and we have yet to see another runner in Division Two who is at her level. The only criticism is that she appeared to be in a similar position last year where she was running great only to finish 6th at the national meet.

However, she has won two individual national titles on the track since then, so maybe she has gotten that monkey off her back.

Adams State is putting their stamp on the 2022 cross country season and right now, we don't know who could be better than them.