TSR's 2022 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Women): #17 Ole Miss Rebels

Written by Maura Beattie and Garrett Zatlin

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In the span of a single summer, the Ole Miss women have gone from being one of the most exciting cross country teams in the NCAA to one of the hardest teams to gauge going into this fall.

The departure of Ryan Vanhoy has led to the hiring of a new distance coach, Adam Smith. Not only that, but superstar low-stick Sintayehu Vissa recently opted to turn pro, signing with On and throwing a massive wrench in our plans to rank the Ole Miss women.

Naturally, we're now left with a ton of questions.

After a successful 2021 cross country season, what can the ladies of Ole Miss do this fall?

Can they replicate their runner-up performance from the SEC XC Championships?

Will they win another South Regional XC Championship title?

Is a top-10 or top-15 finish at the NCAA XC Championships in the cards for a team that returns four of their top-seven, but only two scorers?

How will this group adjust to the new coaching philosophy of Adam Smith?

The Rebels were a fairly young team in 2021, but they raced like veterans on the grass. However, in 2022, this team will ask their returners to take another step upwards as they aim to fill crucial holes within Ole Miss' lineup.

* * *

After a rust-buster at the North Alabama Showcase, the Rebels' first test of their 2021 cross country season came at the always-loaded Joe Piane Invitational. There, Ole Miss would face a deep field of teams including NC State, New Mexico, Alabama, Washington, Minnesota and many more.

For the most part, the Rebels would put together a very strong (and effective) scoring five that was balanced with depth and firepower.

Sintayehu Vissa landed a very solid 11th place finish while the combination of Ryann Helmers, Skylar Boogerd and Anna Elkin propped up the middle portion of this lineup with finishes of 32nd, 37th and 47th, respectively.

As far as scoring stability goes, Ole Miss was looked great and held few weak spots. Although their fifth runner, Loral Winn, faltered a bit to 78th place, the gap between her and Ole Miss' top-four could have been far wider.

In the end, the Rebels secured a very strong 6th place team finish. They fell behind the five teams mentioned above, but were also able to take down Florida State, Kentucky, Toledo, Furman, Butler and Illinois.

In the grand scheme of things, a 6th place finish felt perfectly appropriate for this team. Ole Miss wasn't quite the distance juggernaut that NC State, New Mexico, Alabama, Washington and Minnesota were, but it was clear going into that meet that the Rebels were better than the likes of Florida State, Kentucky, Toledo, Furman, etc.

But from there, the Rebels got even better, picking up huge momentum and putting together an excellent performance at Pre-Nationals.

In Tallahassee, the Ole Miss women flexed a lineup that was carried by the grand success of their top-three runners. This time, it was Anna Elkin leading the way, placing 17th overall while Vissa earned a very solid 19th place of her own. With Helmers placing 29th, the Rebels had a scoring trio that was relatively on par with the teams that finished ahead of them.

From there, Ole Miss did see a few drop-offs in their scoring. But much like Joe Piane, it would be unfair to call these scoring drop-offs poor races when they were actually fairly solid.

Lydia Van Dijk settled for a promising 40th place finish while Loral Winn closed out the scoring once more with a 60th place overall finish.

In the end, Ole Miss fell behind only Colorado, Utah and Florida State. In fact, the Rebels were only two points behind the 3rd place Seminoles.

But it was the teams which Ole Miss beat that left us highly encouraged as they entered the postseason.

Arkansas, North Carolina, Northern Arizona, Liberty, Georgetown and numerous others all fell to the Ole Miss women who simply boasted a top-five that was far more complete than other programs. That was a lineup strength that the Rebels would lean on the in the postseason.

Ole Miss later toed the line at the SEC XC Championships ready to face the likes of Arkansas, Alabama and a sneaky-good Kentucky team. In a field that was structured nothing like Joe Piane and Pre-Nationals, the Rebels were going to be tested in a different way than they had all season long.

The top-three of Ole Miss' lineup once again came through with Vissa placing 6th while Helmers and Elkin finished 14th and 16th, respectively. And while those were solid finishes, the combination of Vissa, Helmers and Elkin produced a top-three score that was still behind Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky.

Instead, it was Ole Miss' backend that saved the day.

In a reversal of roles, the Rebels final two scorers came together nicely. This time, it was Kristel van den Berg (21st) and Skyler Boogerd (26th) who outmatched the backend support of both Alabama and Kentucky.

And with two other women finishing in the top-40, Ole Miss had to be happy about how the entirety of their lineup performed.

The Arkansas women would ultimately get the edge on the Rebels, taking home the title by 15 points and beating Ole Miss at every single top-five scoring spot. But what you have to remember is that Ole Miss beat the Razorbacks at Pre-Nationals earlier in the season in a field that more closely mimicked the national meet rather than the SEC XC Championships.

Following a promising win at the South Regional XC Championships, the Ole Miss women toed the line for the cross country national meet with high expectations. The team had been excellent all season long and had made minor improvements across their lineup, albeit not on the same day.

Vissa would end her cross country season with an unsurprising (but still very strong) 33rd place All-American finish. However, one could argue that she wasn't the team's most valuable scorer that day.

Behind her, the trio of Helmers, Elkin and Ozanne-Jacques strung together a phenomenal series of results, placing 71st, 74th and 78th, respectively. Those three top-80 placements were monumental for the Rebels as they offered highly valuable scoring stability.

And it's lucky that Ole Miss did have that middle-lineup core run as well as they did. Because if they didn't, then their final scorer, who placed 176th overall, could have brought back the Rebels' team score in a very unfavorable manner.

When the dust cleared and the results were tallied, the Ole Miss women had fully delivered on their potential. The Rebels would place 10th overall, their best national meet result in school history.

* * *

It was hard not to be happy for the Ole Miss women last fall. After years of their men's team gaining tons of national attention, the women were quietly progressing upwards.

And sure enough, we saw one of the most complete cross country lineups in the nation rewarded for their improvements on the nation's biggest stage...and one could argue that they didn't even run their best that day.

But in 2022, this team is likely going to look very different than it did last year.

We'll admit, the departure of Sintayehu Vissa forced us to rank the Ole Miss women sooner than we were expecting to. Her All-American scoring presence at the front of this lineup was huge last year and she was a major reason why the Rebels appeared to have such a perfectly balanced lineup.

And to make things even more challenging, Vissa isn't the only women who has left Ole Miss.

Both Anna Elkin and Clio Ozanne-Jacques, two of the Rebels top scorers from last fall, are no longer listed on Ole Miss' 2022 cross country roster...and that's brutal to see (or not see).

Elkin was the team's top scorer at Joe Piane and was almost always a top-three scorer after that. Ozanne-Jacques, meanwhile, only raced in the postseason. She didn't score at the SEC XC Championships, was the team's final scorer at her regional meet and was the team's fourth scorer at the NCAA XC Championships.

Losing that trio of veterans makes it hard to rank Ole Miss in the top-15. Despite having a complete scoring lineup last fall, this team was very clearly reliant on their front-three scorers.

And yet, as crushing as those losses are, they aren't necessarily devastating, either.

* * *

There are numerous returners from Ole Miss' 2021 cross country lineup who appeared as scorers throughout last fall. Admittedly, they could have been a bit more consistent, but seeing the best performances of these returners on a more consistent basis could lead to a fairly cohesive scoring five later this fall.

Ryann Helmers, for instance, was clearly one of Ole Miss' top-three scorers last fall. She was 29th at Pre-Nationals, 14th at Joe Piane and 71st at the national meet. Sure, she wasn't at the same level as Vissa, but she did enough to earn an "Honorable Mention" status in our preseason individual rankings.

Helmers can be a true front-runner for this squad, that much we know. However, it's the group behind her that will make or break this team in 2022.

Skyler Boogerd, for instance, was very underrated last fall. A 37th place finish at Joe Piane was sneaky-good and it was enough for her to act as Ole Miss' third scorer that day. She would later go on to place 76th at Pre-Nationals (as the team's sixth runner) and 26th at the SEC XC Championships (as the team's fifth scorer).

Boogerd wasn't super consistent last fall, but clearly provided great value. Even when she wasn't scoring at Pre-Nationals, the scoring insurance that she provided was huge. If one of Ole Miss' top-five scorers had an "off" day at that meet, then their team score wouldn't have crumbled thanks to how well Boogerd ran.

However, maybe more importantly, Boogerd had a very good year on the track.

After posting solid marks of 9:24 (3k) and 4:21 (1500), Boogerd ran 15:54 for 5000 meters at the Virginia Challenge. If that mark can be fully translated to the grass this fall, and replicated on a more consistent basis, then Boogerd could potentially end up replacing some of the scoring that Elkin or Ozanne-Jacques left behind.

And how about Kristel van den Berg? She didn't necessarily standout at Joe Piane and Pre-Nationals, but her 21st place finish at the SEC XC Championships was very promising, emerging as the fourth scorer for the Rebels at that meet.

The Dutch distance runner was also the team's fifth scorer at the national meet, placing 176th overall, but it feels as though van den Berg could have finished even higher. After running 4:18 (1500) and 10:05 (steeple) this past spring, her potential emergence as a more consistent scorer this fall seems very reasonable.

And if you thought that was the end of our discussion about returners, then you'd be mistaken. That's because Loral Winn, one of the unsung heroes of Ole Miss' 2021 cross country season, is also set to return in 2022.

Winn could be a problem for her competitors this fall. Not just because she was an occasional backend scorer last fall, but because she had a huge breakout year on the track.

During the winter months, Winn recorded a strong personal best of 9:10 for 3000 meters, a 4:39 mile PR and 2:46 for 1000 meters. She would later venture to the outdoor track season where she ran 4:15 for 1500 meters in the prelims of the East Regional Championships.

Winn was solid last fall, but her track marks suggest that she is due for so much more over the next few months. After proving that she can be an occasional scorer in 2021, Winn's improvements on the track indicate that she could replace one of the now-departed scorers from last year.

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As we look forward to 2022, the Ole Miss women will be relying on numerous returners who occasionally appeared as scorers last fall, some more often than others.

And while those women could put together a cohesive scoring five, there are some underrated young talents who may fill the gaps and emerge as varsity contributors this fall.

Beth Arentz, for instance, is a young transfer from Akron who showed promise with the Zips. She ran 4:49 in the mile, was 6th at the MAC XC Championships last fall and was 44th at the 2021 Great Lakes Regional XC Championships.

Then there is Sophie Baumann who is a respectable distance talent from Switzerland, owning times of 2:50 (1k) and 4:23 (1500). Despite her limited results in the longer distances, one has to think that she could eventually play a role on this cross country team.

Sarah Schiffmann is another overseas talent, this time from Australia. Her times of 4:45 (mile) and 9:31 (3k) reflect great potential, although there is still work to do if she is going to have a heavy impact on this team in 2022.

Laura Taborda is a very strong transfer from Eastern Kentucky. In fact, she could easily emerge as a scorer this fall if her track success translates to the grass. Her recent 9:58 steeplechase PR, which qualified her for the outdoor national meet, is one of the better track results currently on this Ole Miss roster.

In the past, Taborda has placed 21st at the Southeast Regional XC Championships and won the Ohio Valley Conference Winter XC Championships.

Jocelyn Long is another transfer, this time from Notre Dame. The incoming graduate student may not appear as a scorer this fall, but she can offer respectable backend support at times.

Together, this group of newcomers gives Ole Miss some of the best overall depth in the NCAA. On paper, Coach Adam Smith should have a ton of realistic varsity options to choose from when it comes to crafting his 2022 cross country lineups.

Of course, finding the right names and ensuring that they make noticeable scoring impacts is far easier said than done.

* * *

Despite losing so many vital runners from last year's squad, the Ole Miss Rebels still have numerous women who could emerge as top-seven runners in 2022. In fact, one could argue that this SEC powerhouse is one of the deepest teams in the country.

However, trying to find additional firepower and greater low-stick scoring is not going to be easy. The Rebels need multiple women to step up and act as true front-runners if they are going to compete with some of the better teams in the NCAA.

The returners on this team will also need to be more consistent throughout this fall in order to fully capitalize on their potential. If Kristel van den Berg, Ryann Helmers, Skylar Boogerd and Loral Winn can reproduce their best results from the 2021 over the next three months, then Ole Miss shouldn't fall too far from where they were last year.

A new era is set to begin in Oxford, Mississippi. But before that era truly begins, Coach Adam Smith will look to capitalize on the talent of numerous returners who now hold far greater scoring responsibilities than ever before.

But as we saw this last fall, if there's any team capable of beating their preseason expectations, it's the women from Oxford, Mississippi.