TSR's 2022 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Women): #3 Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Written by Maura Beattie, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin

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What do you get when you combine an NCAA champion, a top-tier group of veteran returners, a star-studded recruiting class and a high school 5k national record holder?

The Oklahoma State Cowgirls, that’s who.

Despite what the last few cross country national meets have suggested, the women from Stillwater, Oklahoma look like they could be major problem for practically anyone who toes the line against them.

Their overwhelming firepower paired with improved depth and high upside makes this a team that is capable of pulling off upsets and maybe, just maybe, contending for a national title.

But before we jump into analyzing where the Oklahoma State women will go this year, let’s reflect on their 2021 fall cross country season, a three-month span that ultimately set the stage for this year's podium campaign.

* * *

The Cowgirls opened up the fall of 2021 with two home meets: the Cowboy Preview and the Cowboy Jamboree, the latter of which would feature some elite competition.

There was admittedly not much to focus on with the Cowboy Preview, a 3000 meter race over the grass, as the women's team was led by Kelsey Ramirez’s runner-up finish. Veterans Molly Born, Taylor Roe and Clarissa Morales followed in 3-4-5, respectively, while Maddie Salle rounded out the scoring in 10th.

It was an easy win for the Cowgirls on their home course, outpacing the Tulsa women 24 points to 42 points.

But the Cowboy Preview was nothing more than a rust-buster. The Cowboy Jamboree, however, was the race that truly set the tone for Coach Dave Smith’s squad.

Roe dominated the race upfront, winning by nine seconds over teammate Gabby Hentemann. Not only that, but Born snatched a huge 4th place finish while Ramirez placed 8th!

If the meet was scored through four runners, then the Oklahoma State women would have scored 15 points compared to Colorado’s 21 points. That was a phenomenal display of low-stick scoring against a team that had plenty of firepower of their own.

Of course, that’s not how cross country works.

The Cowgirls' fifth scorer, Morales, crossed the line in 21st placing, scoring 18 points. And with the Buffaloes simply flexing far greater depth, the Cowgirls ended up falling three points shy of getting the win on their home course.

Still, there were plenty of silver-linings from this race.

It was promising to see Molly Born back up in the mix of things, running within spitting distance of Roe and Hentemann. Together, those three created a formidable scoring trio heading into Nuttycombe. The only thing that Oklahoma State needed was to close out the scoring at the backend of their lineup much faster.

The Cowgirls eventually traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to face some of the nation’s best teams at the Nuttycombe. And after building some exciting momentum at the Cowboy Jamboree, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this squad on this massive regular season stage.

Once there, Taylor Roe did what Taylor Roe does. She solidified herself as a national title contender by finishing 3rd overall, only four seconds away from the win. And we also couldn't look past Born producing another fantastic result, finishing 17th overall.

However, without Hentemann in this Nuttycombe lineup, the Cowgirls' scoring stability started to get a little shaky. Oklahoma State likely needed Hentemann to finish amongst the top-25 to keep the women from Stillwater as a top-three team, an aspiration that never came to fruition.

Even so, Ramirez had a respectable performance of her own, earning a strong 44th place finish. Then-sophomores Stephanie Moss and Sivan Auerbach stepped up to finish in the top-75 and were only separated by three seconds.

All things considered, that was a promising top-five effort for a team that was missing one of their best low-sticks.

Oklahoma State would have to settle for a 5th place finish, although that was probably a best-case scenario without Hentemann in their lineup. The Cowgirls' top-five time-spread of 1:08 would eventually need to come down, but all things considered, it was a promising result.

Returning to their home course in Stillwater, the Cowgirls went into the BIG 12 XC Championships with high expectations. Of course, the Cyclones from Ames, Iowa would aim to play spoiler.

Over the course of the race, the Oklahoma State women were, surprisingly, neck-and-neck with Iowa State. The race ended up coming down to the wire between the conference rivals as both squads put four runners in the top-10 overall.

Roe and Born were able to pick up 3rd and 4th place finishes, respectively. Ramirez, who had lurked in the latter-half of this lineup earlier in the season, finished 6th while Hentemann returned to the team with a 7th place result of her own. Just like at the Cowboy Jamboree, Oklahoma State flexed the better firepower.

Through four runners, Oklahoma State held the advantage over Iowa State, 20 points to 24 points. Of course, as we suspected might happen, this race came down to the fifth and final scoring spot in each lineup.

And in the end, everything worked out in the home team’s favor.

Morales, who came up a bit short at the Cowboy Jamboree in mid-September, redeemed herself in a big way on the conference stage. The former D2 standout crossed the line in 15th place. And although she was three places behind Iowa State’s fifth scorer, her teammates' low-stick scoring ultimately led to the Cowgirls earning a 35 point to 36 point victory.

Pulling out a win like that over another nationally ranked team in Iowa State sent the women of Oklahoma State into the Midwest Regional XC Championships with even greater than momentum than they had during the regular season.

But at the regional level, Oklahoma State would not only face Iowa State again, but also Minnesota, a team that beat them at Nuttycombe. When the final results were tallied, the Cowgirls were unable to keep pace with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, finishing 30 points behind them. Still, they still managed a runner-up finish and earned a ticket to the Big Dance.

And frankly, that's all that really mattered.

Coming into the NCAA XC Championships in Tallahassee, Oklahoma State had to be extremely happy about the results that they had produced throughout the fall months.

They were within three points of a loaded Colorado team, were the 5th place team on the nation's biggest regular season stage (without one of their low-sticks) and they took down a top-ranked conference rival.

On paper, the Cowgirls seemed like clear favorites for a top-10 finish at the national meet and maybe even a podium result if everything went perfectly. And truthfully, Coach Smith's team hadn't given us much of a reason to doubt them heading into their final meet of the season.

But unfortunately for the OSU women, they would not match any of those expectations.

Roe, whose name was in the conversation for the individual title, gave her team a huge 5th place finish. That, of course, wasn't too surprising.

However, neither Hentemann nor Born were all that close to Roe, leaving Oklahoma State with no one else in the top-60 of the national meet. Hentemann’s 61st place finish was decent, but nothing jaw-dropping. Born, an All-American from the 2019 season, unfortunately had her first "off" day of the 2021 fall season, fading to 73rd.

Hentemann and Born didn't run to their full potential, but they weren't necessarily bad, either. They offered some strong scoring stability in the middle of this lineup and kept the prospects of a top-10 team finish intact.

However, with Oklahoma State's final two scorers placing 174th and 184th overall, the lineup gaps were far too great for the Cowgirls to recover. As a result, the women from Stillwater, Oklahoma had to settle for an underwhelming 13th place team finish.

* * *

When it comes to the 2022 cross country season, the Oklahoma State women surely have a date circled on their calendars: November 19th. That's the date of this year's NCAA XC Championships, a meet that will be held on their home course like it was in March of 2021.

Multiple-time All-American and indoor 3k champion, Taylor Roe, is back. She has been a mainstay at the top of the NCAA distance running scene and is an outside favorite to win the individual national title this fall.

At the NCAA Winter XC Championships, Roe jumped onto the scene in a major way and was rewarded with a runner-up finish to Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat.

Fast forward to the 2021 fall season and Roe continued to impress.

Over the course of last fall, the returning veteran consistently finished amongst the top-four. A 3rd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational was the highlight of the regular season for Roe before she finished in the top-three of both her conference and regional meets.

She would go on to challenge for the win at the cross country national meet, falling short of true contention with a still-outstanding 5th place finish.

But that would just be the beginning of something far greater for Roe. The 3000 meter finals at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships was the best race of Roe’s career as she took off with 800 meters to go and dared anyone to follow her. She held on for the win, capitalizing on her 4:33 mile speed.

Then, on the outdoor oval, Roe dropped a 15:21 (5k) early in the season before earning a 3rd place finish at the national meet.

With her experience, accolades and personal bests, there’s no doubt why Roe can’t once again compete for the individual national title in her own backyard this fall. She's a true superstar and arguably the most reliable woman on this team.

If she falters, then her team may follow in the overall scoring. But when you consider that she hasn't really had a poor race since the fall of 2019, then you can understand why we're not concerned about her in the slightest.

Instead, the real x-factor of this team will be Molly Born, a veteran runner and former All-American of Coach Smith’s program. She was the 16th place finisher at the 2019 cross country national meet and after a few setbacks, has risen back to the top of this Oklahoma State roster once again.

In our eyes, Born could make another run for a top-40 finish at the national meet three months from now. She is, after all, listed at TSR #35 in our preseason individual rankings.

The 2021 fall cross country season saw Born prove herself on multiple highly important stages. Her best finish of the season was a 17th place finish at Nuttycombe. But things didn’t materialize for Born at the national meet, faltering on our All-American expectations for her.

There is no doubt that, when she's at her best, Born can be a top-40 runner in the NCAA. Her regular season performances from last fall, paired with her prior top-20 All-American result from 2019, makes her an extremely valuable low-stick for Oklahoma State this fall.

But Born has been up-and-down in her last few cross country seasons and in certain races. Still, while her performances aren't necessarily the be-all-end-all for Oklahoma State's success this fall, Born being a top-tier All-American candidate gives the Cowgirls a somewhat realistic shot at bringing home the national title.

And that brings us to another top-tier returner, Gabby Hentemann.

A fringe All-American contender, Hentemann enters this season after gaining exciting momentum on the outdoor oval. Her 6th place finish at the outdoor national meet in the 10k, en route to running an outstanding 33:18 personal best, is momentum that should be massively beneficial for this Oklahoma State star in the fall of 2022.

Hentemann may not have quite the same cross country resume that teammates Taylor Roe and Molly Born do, but this returning veteran is absolutely on the rise -- and we truly believe that. After all, we have her ranked at TSR #33 in our preseason individual rankings.

If Hentemann can mirror her recent outdoor track season on the grass, then there’s no stopping her from aiding in a podium finish for the Cowgirls this fall. We'll admit, there's no guarantee that her recent spring season success will translate over the next three months, but it feels more likely to happen than not.

From last year's top-seven at the fall cross country national meet, Oklahoma State also returns Stephanie Moss and Rilee Rigdon. These two women gained valuable experience racing on the NCAA’s biggest stage last fall. However, Rigdon hasn’t raced since the 2021 NCAA XC Championship and Moss has not raced since a late-January indoor track meet.

If these two women are back in tip-top shape, then they could find themselves amongst this scoring lineup. That will admittedly be a challenge given who Oklahoma State returns (and adds), but it feels like both of those women can only go up in 2022.

And yes, despite all of those women returning later this fall, there are key scoring gaps from last year's lineup that will need to be filled -- and they are by no means easy to replicate.

Oklahoma State's two biggest losses from last year are Kelsey Ramirez and Clarissa Morales. Those two women were the backbone of the Cowgirls' varsity group last fall, often putting themselves in middle-lineup positions at most meets.

It will admittedly be hard to fill the shoes left by the two scorers. Their reliability was sneaky-good and they often stabilized this lineup in some of the Cowgirls' most important meets.

However, with the new additions that Coach Dave Smith has brought in, the Oklahoma State women should have an ample of scoring options to replace their now-departed scorers.

In fact, some of these women could do more than just "stabilize" this lineup.

In a few select instances, these newcomers could put OSU in the national title conversation.

* * *

Leading this year's Oklahoma State recruiting class is high school 5k national record holder, Natalie Cook from Texas. And in theory, she could be just as good as Roe this fall.

The 15:25 (5k) runner not only has monstrous talent, but she also has some serious range. Cook has posted times of 2:12 (800), 4:36 (1600) and 9:48 (3200). With her mix of speed and endurance, it was impossible for us to leave Cook out of our top-50 preseason individual rankings, earning a TSR #24 spot back in July.

Part of that is because this incoming freshman also has experience racing against the best women at the high school, collegiate and professional levels.

Cook was the winner of the 2021 Garmin RunningLane and Eastbay XC National Championships, both of which she had some wiggle room en route to her titles. Her 3rd place finish in the 5000 meters at the Stanford Invite last spring, the meet where she ran her 15:25 PR and beat Colorado star Abby Nichols, is poise that simply can't be taught.

Cook has a lot going for her this fall. She is expected to be running alongside the trio of Roe, Hentemann and Born in the coming months. There's no telling how this rookie will handle the biggest stages that the NCAA will throw at her...but it's hard to imagine this Texas native not being the same megastar that Katelyn Tuohy was/is for NC State.

She'll simply be that good in our eyes.

And yes, believe it or not, there are other talented women in this recruiting class.

Staying in-state, Payton Hinkle will make the trek from Broken Arrow to Stillwater with stellar PRs and multiple Oklahoma state cross country titles to her name. Hinkle might not have the same national experience that some other incoming freshmen across the nation have, but she has shown that her ceiling is very high.

Personal bests of 2:09 (800), 4:49 (1600), 10:35 (3200) and 16:48 (5k) standout on Hinkle’s resume. Her ability to drop down in distance could provide promising finishing speed for the incoming Cowgirl in her final moments of her cross country races.

Plus, Hinkle knows what it takes to win. Just look at her three consecutive cross country state titles, as well as a handful of gold medals on the track to her name.

Another fellow Oklahoma native is joining Hinkle at Oklahoma State this fall.

Cayden Dawson was the runner-up to Hinkle at both the 2020 and 2021 Oklahoma State XC Championships. She also had a respectable high school career, recording times of 4:53 (1600) and 10:37 (3200), as well as competing at numerous Oklahoma state meets.

Dawson also gained national meet experience last fall when she traveled to the Garmin RunningLane XC Championships, recording a huge 14th place finish in a deep field.

While Dawson might not be a shoe-in for a top-seven varsity spot this season, she clearly has the potential to reach that point if her transition to the collegiate level goes smoothly. That 14th place national meet result is not to be overlooked.

In addition to Cook, two Texas natives, Cameron McConnell and Aubrey O’Connell, are also arriving in Stillwater with strong high school resumes.

McConnell has some natural foot speed with her 58-second PR for 400 meters. However, she can also translate that speed to a 16:50 (5k) personal best on the grass. She not only earned a cross country state title last fall, but she also earned an 11th place finish at the Garmin RunningLane XC Championships!

McConnell’s potential to be a varsity contributor as soon as this fall is very much there. Much like the rest of these rookie stars, it will just be a matter of how fast she can acclimate to a new training system.

As for O’Connell, she owns marks of 2:08 (800), 4:49 (1600) and 10:24 (3200). She is a versatile athlete who could thrive on both the oval and the grass over the course of her time as a Cowgirl.

O’Connell might not have much experience racing on the national stage, but that doesn’t mean that her resume should be pushed aside. On paper, she is just as good as most of these other rookie superstars...but maybe not all of them.

That leads us to one of the biggest x-factors for this Oklahoma State cross country team, both now and in the future.

Allow us to introduce you to Kenyan distance star Billah Jepkirui who is joining the Cowgirls this fall. On paper, she has the potential to put this team over-the-top, maybe into national title contention.

The overseas newcomer owns jaw-dropping marks of 4:11 (1500) and 9:25 (3k) to her name, both of which could easily make her a top-five athlete for this team if she can translate that track success to the grass.

In theory, Jepkirui could be the missing piece who the Cowgirls need this fall. Not just to land on the podium, but to challenge the next two teams in our rankings for the national title.

Of course, our knowledge about Jepkirui is admittedly limited. While we do know that she is one of the most elite freshmen in the NCAA this fall, regardless of nationality, we don't know what her consistency or cross country experience is like.

But if Jepkirui is an All-American candidate, then Oklahoma State may have five women who are realistic top-40 candidates for the national meet. And even if the other title favorites have their best days, the Cowgirls could be able to match them.

One final newcomer to note is French distance standout Jinane Mahi.

As a 9:45 (3k) runner, Mahi has the opportunity to improve upon that mark and then some over the next year of competition. Admittedly, she hasn’t shown up in race results since August of 2021, but that shouldn’t be a point of concern given the way that Coach Smith is able to develop his athletes.

* * *

As the 2022 cross country season approaches, the Cowgirls have the chance to stand on the podium given all of the possible lineup combinations that they can make on their roster. Roe will be leading the charge and Cook is expected to make a massive splash right away.

And as for the remaining spots, so many women can slide in and out of those scoring position on any given weekend. Their All-American options past their first two runners is extremely impressive and their depth, while still young, holds far more upside than downside.

Yes, we'll admit, this team isn't completely perfect. We're not 100% sure what we'll get out of Born, there's no guarantee that Hentemann will be the All-American that we think she can be and the youth of this roster could create some vulnerabilities.

Still, what Oklahoma State brings to the table is too much to ignore. In a perfect world, they have just as much firepower as any other team in the country.

However, maybe more importantly, this year's cross country national meet is on Oklahoma State's own playground. It’s a notoriously tough 6k venue, known for its rolling hills, but the familiarity with the course could play into the Cowgirls’ hands this fall.

And who knows? Maybe that will put them at the top of the podium on November 19th.