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TSR's 2022 Preseason D3 XC Top 20 Rankings: #20-16 (Women)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 30, 2022
- 7 min read
20. Rachel Hirschkind, Junior, SUNY Geneseo
19. Emily Konkus, Senior, Washington U.
Obviously, there are tons of talented distance runners in our D3 XC Top 20 rankings, many of whom hold exciting star power and plenty of name recognition.
However, one D3 ace who has gone under the radar is Emily Konkus, a quietly dynamic distance threat from Washington U.
Last fall, Konkus never finished outside of the top-10 going into the national meet and never finished out of the top-five leading up to her regional meet.
At the Tom Hoffman Invitational, Dan Huston Invitational and UAA XC Championships secured finishes of 3rd, 4th and 4th, respectively. In those latter two meets, Konkus held her own in fields which featured a small handful of top-ranked talents. While she only beat a handful of those women, it was clear that the Washington U. veteran was still in the upper-echelon of of distance talents in those fields.
A 9th place finish at the Midwest Regional XC Championships was solid, but that result largely didn't change our perception of Konkus going into the national meet. Once there, Konkus finished 41st overall, settling for the first spot out from All-American honors.
On paper, that was a very solid season. It was far from perfect, but it set Konkus up for a promising 2022 cross country campaign. Of course, what actually elevates Konkus into our rankings isn't her performances on the grass, but rather her performances on the track.
During the spring, Konkus flexed her newfound fitness with outstanding times, posting marks of 4:29 (1500) and 16:56 (5k). She advanced to the outdoor national meet in the 1500 meters, advanced to the finals and settled for a 9th place finish.
For perspective, Konkus' prior personal bests were 4:42 (1500) and 18:15 (5k) -- that is a HUGE improvement which we feel wasn't fully reflected in her 2021 cross country results.
If Konkus was already in the All-American conversation last fall and had not yet had her breakout season, then what can she do this fall with a clear uptick in fitness on her side?
There is still a good bit of uncertainty about how her track success will translate to the fall, but everything that we've seen suggests that Konkus will thrive over the next few months.
18. Shaelyn Hostager, Junior, Wartburg
Another year, another up-and-coming talent from Wartburg who could be a major problem for her D3 competitors if her recent rise is any indication.
Teammate Aubrie Fisher showed promise during the early portions of her cross country career. Now, in the second-half of her NCAA timeline, she has become one of the most elite distance talents that Division Three has to offer.
And on paper, Hostager has the potential to follow that same trajectory.
This Wartburg standout first made her cross country debut during the altered 2020 cross country season. Despite the limited competition, Hostager still held her own, ending the unusual season with a 5th place finish at the American Rivers XC Championships.
Fast forward to the following year and Hostager gave us a few mixed results. A 14th place finish at the Dan Huston Invitational was fine, but not great. The same can be said for the Augustana Interregional Invitational where she placed 25th.
At her conference, regional and national meets, Hostager finished 5th, 12th and 72nd, respectively, leaving us shrugging our shoulders and saying, "Yeah, that seems about right."
But then Hostager stepped foot on the track.
And from there, she began to turn heads.
The Wartburg ace ran a solid 17:16 (5k) personal best and then truly stood out with a 35:53 (10k) PR. That latter mark would advance Hostager to the national meet where she continued to surprise everyone, earning a 7th place All-American finish to end her season.
When you look at Hostager's 2021 cross country season, it's admittedly hard to rank her in our D3 XC Top 20. However, it should be abundantly clear after her spring season that Hostager wasn't racing at her fullest potential last fall.
An All-American finish in the 10k is, in theory, the most ideal result one can have when talking about translating track success to the grass. And when you look at the women who beat Hostager in that 10k race, they either don't return this fall or are viewed as some of the best D3 distance talents of the past decade.
If this series of results happened to anyone not from Wartburg, then there's a good chance that we would look at this situation differently. But the Knights are one of the most established programs in the NCAA and we've seen Aubrie Fisher rise to national prominence in the same way that Hostager is now.
We still need to see how her improved fitness translates to the grass, but there is so much to like about Hostager going into the fall months.
17. Molly FitzGibbons, Junior, Williams
We are very high on Molly Fitzgibbons. The Williams star has been fantastic as of late, posting upper-tier results and forcing us to reevaluate where she fits in Division Three's hierarchy of all-star talents.
But her 2021 cross country results have put us in a tricky position.
From rankings perspective, FitzGibbons wasn't exactly amazing last fall. In six meets, she earned only one top-10 finish and a total of just two top-20 finishes. She was 21st at the NESCAC XC Championships and 31st at the Midwest Regional XC Championships.
However, the Molly FitzGibbons that we saw on the track was far superior to the Molly FitzGibbons that we saw on the grass. In fact, if you took off the name from her seasonal resumes and put them side by side, I would have said that they were different people.
That's how much better this Williams standout was on the track.
During the winter months, FitzGibbons emerged as one of the most elite milers in Division Three. She ran sub-five in the mile prior to the indoor national meet and on the national stage, she earned a huge All-American 5th place finish with a 4:55 PR.
But things got even better for FitzGibbons in the spring. She ran a solid 17:20 (5k) personal best, but truly established herself as a steeplechase standout. Over the barriers and water pits, the Williams star ran 10:30 in the steeplechase finals of the outdoor national meet, a time which ultimately earned her bronze.
Yes, it's true, FitzGibbons' cross country resume is far from great, at least as far as our cross country rankings go. But to think that a two-time All-American on the track (in two different events), who has run 4:55 (mile) and 10:30 (steeple), won't be one of the nation's best runners this fall is highly unlikely.
Do we have a perfect gauge of FitzGibbons' cross country potential? No, not quite, but her success on the track was far too strong to leave her out of our rankings.
16. Windsor Ardner, Junior, SUNY Geneseo
For the sake of our rankings, we consolidated our analysis and put TSR #20 and TSR #16 together given that they are teammates.
The SUNY Geneseo women are headlined by Kathleen McCarey, but what Rachel Hirschkind and Windsor Ardner have achieved on the grass is just as impressive. And in 2022, this duo, along with McCarey, could give the Knights one of the most lethal scoring trios in Division Three.
Last fall, Hirschkind and Ardner were exceptional. In their season opener, the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, Ardner took home the win while Hirschkind settled for 6th. However, at the Mike Wood Invitational, the roles were reversed. Hirschkind placed 2nd overall while Ardner was 4th.
At the Rowan Interregional Border Battle, Hirschkind had slight "off" day while Ardner continued to put together a promising season, placing 5th overall.
The Knights would go on to sweep the top-four spots at SUNYAC XC Championships and take four of the top-five spots at the Niagara Regional XC Championships. Then, at the national meet, Ardner would impress with a huge 23rd place finish.
Hirschkind, unfortunately, would falter to 59th place.
On paper, Ardner was outstanding last fall. She peaked when it mattered the most, was fairly consistent and emerged as a promising low-stick. Her performances on the track advanced her to the national meet (mainly in the mile and the 1500 meters) and she is one of the top returners in the country from last year's schedule of cross country meets.
Hirschkind, however, is a different story.
Our TSR #20 runner had a very respectable cross country season. She even beat Ardner a few times and took down a few decent names as well. She had multiple instances where she flashed promise and if her national meet result was the "worst" result of her season, then there could certainly be greater concerns.
Still, Hirschkind didn't always have that low-stick edge and trying to argue a spot for her in our rankings could have been more challenging if it hadn't been for her outstanding steeplechase performances this past spring.
That's because at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hirschkind threw down an outstanding 10:36 personal best in the steeplechase, cutting off two seconds from her PR from earlier in the season. That result ultimately put the SUNY Geneseo ace at 4th place on the national stage, earning upper-half All-American honors.
For perspective, I looked at the last five years of D3 women's steeple results (I skipped 2020) and identified everyone who ran under 10:40 in the event, either during the regular season or at the national meet.
I then checked to see if those athletes returned for the following cross country season and where those sub-10:40 steeplechase returners placed at the ensuing cross country national meet.
Here is what I found...
Aubrie Fisher (Wartburg): 6th at 2021 NCAA XC Championships
Marissa Mount (Whitworth): 38th at 2018 NCAA XC Championships
Hannah Becker (Wheaton (IL)): 14th at the 2018 NCAA XC Championships
Annie Rodenfels (Centre): 3rd at the 2018 NCAA XC Championships
Annie Rodenfels (Centre): 12th at the 2017 NCAA XC Championships
Alison Lindsay (Washington U.): 25th at the 2017 NCAA XC Championships
Alison Lindsay (Washington U.): 14th at the 2016 NCAA XC Championships
Sarah Fowler (Ohio Wesleyan): 5th at the 2016 NCAA XC Championships
To put it simply, the past five years of D3 women's steeplechase competition (excluding 2020) suggests that if you run under 10:40, then you're essentially guaranteed to be an All-American. In fact, your chances of being an upper-half All-American look pretty darn strong.
Now, admittedly, suggesting that Hirschkind is on the same level as Rodenfels and Fisher may be a bit misleading. The outdoor national meet steeplechase results were also exceptionally fast and the NCAA as a whole is getting deeper.
Still, it is hard to dismiss the potential that a 10:36 steeplechaser holds...
