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TSR's 2022 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #40-31 (Women)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 20, 2022
- 11 min read
40. Kayla Windemuller, Rs. Sophomore, Michigan
If you don't know who Kayla Windemuller is, then you probably weren't paying attention to the steeplechase results from this past spring.
The rising Michigan standout secured a huge 9:47 steeplechase personal best a few months ago and was able to amass a small collection of solid times in other events, running 4:44 (mile), 9:14 (3k) and 16:01 (5k).
However, anyone familiar with Michigan's cross country program probably could have told you that her breakout season was coming.
Much like teammate Ericka VanderLende, it was tough to gauge her Windemuller's cross country success during the regular season. She appeared in a few unexciting meets, but always held her own and rarely faltered.
But then Windemuller validated her rise with a promising 6th place finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships, an 11th place finish at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships and a 79th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
None of those results were bad, and her BIG 10 showing was truly excellent, but her national meet appearance probably could have been 10 to 20 spots better.
In summary, Windemuller is an excellent steeplechase runner with a great BIG 10 performance on her resume and one decent-ish result at the national meet. While there aren't necessarily a ton of career-defining highlights on her cross country resume, her recent list of results features far more good takeaways than bad takeaways.
We don't entirely know what her ceiling will be this fall, but we feel like she has a far greater chance of improving than regressing.
39. Abbe Goldstein, Senior, New Mexico
Most people will view Abbe Goldstein, the Harvard turned New Mexico runner, as a 1500 meter runner. After all, Goldstein was an outdoor national qualifier in the event and has run 4:10 (unattached) as well.
But what some people fail to realize is that Goldstein is an exceptional talent on the grass as well, specifically after seeing her performances last fall.
In a lot of ways, Goldstein mirrors the trends and the resume of Sami Corman. The New Mexico veteran slowly got better as the 2021 fall cross country season progressed and peaked at the right time, all before having success in the middle to long distances the during indoor and outdoor track seasons.
Goldstein started her fall season with an unexciting 40th place finish at Joe Piane before making a noticeable improvement and placing 24th at the loaded Nuttycombe Invite. This, of course, is where her momentum began.
Goldstein would go on to place 4th at the Mountain West XC Championships, cruise through her region and then place 47th at the national meet, just seven spots out from All-American honors.
Much like Corman, there isn't a ton on Goldstein's resume that is going to truly blow you away. Yes, her results are very solid, but the Lobo ace hasn't necessarily posted a result that leaves you 100% convinced that she'll be an All-American this fall (depending on how you feel about her national meet result).
That said, Goldstein has proven that she can be reliable, consistent and peak in the postseason. She's continually getting better despite her veteran status and she seems to thrive in larger invitationals (which is a massive plus for almost any team).
On paper, there are far more pros than cons on Goldstein's resume.
38. Sami Corman, Senior, Georgetown
On paper, Sami Corman's resume may not blow you away. However, her career-long consistency, specifically in the postseason, has been encouraging to see. Not only that, but the 2021-22 academic calendar was easily the best year of her career.
During the winter cross country season, Corman secured wins at both the Spider Patriot Classic and the BIG East Winter XC Championships. She would later settle for an 89th place finish at the NCAA Winter XC Championships.
Her fall cross country season started out with a 10th place finish at Paul Short before she placed 27th at Pre-Nationals, 6th at the BIG East XC Championships, 2nd at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships and then 44th at the NCAA XC Championships.
On the track, Corman secured upper-echelon times of 2:46 (1k), 4:36 (mile) and 9:08 (3k), validating the encouraging postseason success that she had in the fall.
There's not a ton to talk about with Corman's resume. Sure, she may not have the flashiest list of results, but she's consistent, rarely has poor races, has multiple examples of postseason success (conference, regional, national meets) and has made improvements across all three seasons.
Don't be surprised if Corman steps into an All-American position later this year.
37. Haley Herberg, Senior, Washington
There's a good chance that if you're reading this section, then you know who Haley Herberg is. The Washington veteran is known as one of the most aggressive front-runners in the country, a tactic that has produced mixed results for the Huskies' star distance runner.
During the winter cross country season, she earned a strong 5th place finish at the Silver Stage XC Challenge. However, Herberg then placed 20th at the Battle Born XC Challenge.
At the PAC-12 Winter XC Championships, Herberg ran away from the field and established enough of a gap to pull away for the individual win...but then she placed 55th at the winter cross country national meet.
Last fall, Herberg placed 51st at Joe Piane and 49th at Nuttycombe. However, she reversed course and then placed 8th at the PAC-12 XC Championships. Unfortunately, a 91st place finish at the NCAA XC Championships would ultimately end her season.
Sure, we could do a deep dive into Herberg's track performances and try to pull additional insights from those marks and finishes. However, despite some of those times being super quick, they don't necessarily change our perception of Herberg's collegiate career.
This Washington ace is someone who has won a PAC-12 title over some highly elite competition. However, she has also struggled in some extremely important races. Trying to figure out where to rank her is extremely challenging, mainly because you're never sure what you're going to get.
We could certainly understand a higher ranking for Herberg, but until we see more consistency from her, this will be her spot until further notice.
36. Ericka VanderLende, Junior, Michigan
As a freshman, Ericka VanderLende caught the attention of almost everyone in the NCAA.
In 2019, the Michigan superstar finished 4th at the loaded John McNichols Invite before winning the Buckeye Preview, placing 5th at Pre-Nationals, securing a 6th place finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships and then earning a 25th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
VanderLende not only looked like the future of BIG 10 distance running, but she also looked like the future of NCAA cross country in general. Personal bests of 9:12 (3k) and 15:48 (5k) during the altered 2021 winter track season were also encouraging to see.
A 65th place finish at the NCAA Winter XC Championships wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a poor result, either. Considering the circumstances and what she had already accomplished, it was hard to fault VanderLende for her result.
The 2021 fall cross country, for the most part, provided signs of encouragement, although VanderLende's numerous top-five finishes in the regular season were largely a product of the limited competition that Michigan faced at meets like the Louisville Classic and the PSU National Open.
Luckily, a silver medal result at the BIG 10 XC Championships suggested to us that VanderLende was not only returning to top form, but she was also peaking for the postseason yet again...or so we thought.
A 108th place finish at the latest cross country national meet now leaves us with some questions.
There is no denying that VanderLende is an exceptional talent. We also can't ignore the fact that, when it comes to cross country, the Wolverine star rarely has poor races.
However, much like Molly Born, her recent national meet showings on the grass have left us wanting more. VanderLende has a fantastic history when looking at her results, but (most of) her greatest performances in cross country came during the 2019 season.
Trying to figure out a "fair" ranking for VanderLende is admittedly difficult, but we also can't ignore the upside and her proven execution in competitive meets. For now, this seems like a reasonable ranking for her, but we could see her rising as well.
35. Molly Born, Senior, Oklahoma State
In 2019, Molly Born was one of the biggest breakout stars in the NCAA.
The Oklahoma State veteran had secured a monster 16th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships that year and returned to the pandemic-headlined season as one of the nation's top overall returners.
Naturally, there were big expectations placed on her shoulders.
However, Born would simply not reach that level again. After not racing for most of the 2020 fall, where she was rumored to be recovering from an injury, Born would eventually place 54th at the NCAA Winter XC Championships.
And all things considered, that was actually a pretty decent result.
Then, during the fall months, Born looked like she was nearing the elite low-stick fitness that we had once witnessed in 2019.
The Cowgirl star started her season with a 4th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree which was essentially a Colorado vs Oklahoma State dual meet.
Then, Born flexed her lethal fitness, finishing 17th at the loaded Nuttycombe Invite and later placing 4th at the BIG 12 XC Championships. She would place 7th at the Midwest Regional XC Championships and advance to the national meet.
On paper, Born's resume suggested that she could be an All-American. While she maybe wasn't going to be the top-20 All-American that she was in 2019, it was hard not to be high on the Oklahoma State veteran this fall.
Unfortunately, an underwhelming 73rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships left us wanting more from someone who was very clearly capable of being one of the 40 best cross country runners in the nation.
Even so, time and time again, Born has proven that she can be an elite distance runner. It's abundantly obvious that she has incredible talent and even her "bad" days are still pretty darn solid.
That being said, Oklahoma State needs Born to deliver on her All-American potential just as she did in 2019. If she does, then this team will absolutely be on the podium. But after seeing every different kind of performance possible from this Cowgirl ace, trying to figure out her ranking is admittedly a challenge.
34. Kaylee Mitchell, Junior, Oregon State
Kaylee Mitchell was one of our more challenging names to rank.
She has had numerous instances throughout her career where she has proven to be an elite-level distance talent. However, the fall of 2021 was far from her best and trying to balance her past seasons was tricky to do when constructing these rankings.
Admittedly, the fall of 2021 wasn't Mitchell's best cross country season. The Oregon State veteran was 17th at Dellinger and 42nd at Nuttycombe. Her 6th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships was strong, but a 77th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships left us wanting more.
However, we can't forget that this Beaver standout placed 7th at the PAC-12 Winter XC Championships and went on to place 20th at the NCAA XC Championships. Those are two high-caliber results which suggest that Mitchell could be a lethal low-stick yet again in 2022.
Now, in fairness to Mitchell, seeing her run 8:58 (3k) and 9:34 (steeple) this past winter and spring is very encouraging. In theory, those results would emphasize her winter cross country results more than her fall cross country results.
We feel like a TSR #34 ranking is a good middle ground for Mitchell. It rewards her for the best aspects of her career, but it leaves her ranking with room for improvement if she can put together greater season-long consistency.
33. Gabby Hentemann, Senior, Oklahoma State
If you're a die-hard fan of The Stride Report, are familiar with Maura's ranking tendencies or have listened to the podcast, then you probably could have expected Gabby Hentemann to be high up in our rankings.
And sure enough, she slots in at TSR #33.
For the most part, Hentemann is a solid cross country talent. While not all of her performances on the grass are jaw-dropping, there are still far more positives than negatives on her resume.
Yes, we could talk about the winter cross country season, but Hentemann's 11th place finish at the FSU Winter XC Open paired with her 250th place finish at the NCAA Winter XC Championships essentially negate each other.
This past fall, however, is when Hentemann was consistently solid every time she toed the line. She was 2nd at the Cowboy Jamboree, 7th at the BIG 12 XC Championships and 61st at the NCAA XC Championships.
Those were good finishes, but the indoor and outdoor track ovals are where Hentemann began to validate herself as a top-tier long distance runner in the NCAA. She ran 9:04 (3k) and 15:54 (5k) on the indoor track before running a 33:18 (10k) personal best at the outdoor national meet en route to a 7th place finish.
This Oklahoma State standout is one of the rare names in our XC Top 50 whose track performances heavily support their ranking -- and rightfully so. Few women in the NCAA have the momentum that Hentemann does relative to past expectations.
Hentemann still has much more to prove, but we struggle to see a scenario where she has a cross country season that doesn't belong in our XC Top 50 this fall.
32. Ruby Smee, Junior, San Francisco
Smee may be the most underrated distance runner in these rankings.
Maybe that's because she goes to a lesser-known school like San Francisco. Maybe that's because she competes in a conference dominated by BYU. Maybe that's because she doesn't go to many big-time meets.
Whatever the reason is, Smee is much better than people realize and her past year of racing proves that.
The long distance standout from San Francisco had a strong, but relatively quiet, cross country season for most of last fall. The biggest regular season meet that Smee toed the line for was the Dellinger Invite where she placed 14th.
In her other three races, she earned wins or a 2nd place finish.
Smee later earned a runner-up result at the slightly more competitive West Coast Conference XC Championships, placed 2nd again at the West Regional XC Championships and then validated her season with an excellent 34th place All-American finish.
Smee would go on to have a great year on the track, running top times of 9:06 (3k) and 15:36 (5k). That string of personal bests would effectively prove that Smee's All-American performance wasn't a fluke, but rather an accurate indication of her overall talent.
For better or for worse, we're not entirely sure what else there is to say about Smee. She hasn't truly had a poor race and she gave us pretty much everything that we asked for in our rankings rubric.
Still, Smee has yet to truly compete in high-level meets during the regular season. While that isn't necessarily her fault, it does force us to essentially rely on her national meet performance to get the most accurate ranking possible.
31. Rachel McCardell, Senior, Northwestern
There's a very real possibility that you've never heard of Rachel McCardell before. She's never been an All-American in any season, is often overshadowed by the powerhouses of the BIG 10 and has never run faster than 9:33 (3k) or 16:22 (5k).
So how did she get ranked?
Well, McCardell wasn't just good this past fall, she was exceptional. The Northwestern superstar had one of best cross country seasons of any woman who wasn't an All-American last fall.
At Joe Piane, McCardell placed 13th in a loaded field, taking down Esther Gitahi, Megan Hasz, Emma Heckel, Bethany Graham, Billie Hatch, Sam Bush, Lauren Ryan, Tori Herman and many others.
Those are some no-joke names. In fact, many of those women became All-Americans.
McCardell's 10th place finish at the Penn State National Open was fine, but her 5th place finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships was far more impressive. That result effectively validated her huge 13th place finish at Joe Piane and made her a legitimate All-American threat.
After placing 3rd at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, McCardell would end her season with an admittedly underwhelming 82nd place finish. And while that result wasn't necessarily awful, it also wasn't anywhere near her true potential.
We'll admit, ranking some like McCardell, who doesn't have a top-80 national meet finish, feels like a risk. For a website that has admitted that national meet results hold the most weight, there are probably a few names behind McCardell who believe that they deserve a higher ranking...and they may be right!
Even so, McCardell took down top-tier talents in two very different, but highly accomplished fields (Joe Piane and BIG 10s). We don't necessarily know if this is the right ranking for the Northwestern star, but we'd rather be too aggressive with her ranking than too cautious.
