TSR's 2023 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Oct 16, 2023
16 min read

Updated: Nov 6, 2023

Written by Maura Beattie & Finn Birnie, additional edits & commentary via Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria.

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.

25. Wisconsin Badgers (-3 / 22)

There's truthfully not much to discuss with Wisconsin. They finished 16th overall on their home course at the Nuttycombe Invitational and that was pretty on par with our expectations.

Leane Willemse (34th) has been a very pleasant surprise for this team as a lead scorer while Alexa Westley (69th) and Danielle Orie (94th) had nice races of their own. With Emma Watcke (104th) and Vivian Hacker (124th) closing out the scoring, the Badgers had a solid day despite not having Shea Ruhly.

Wisconsin is a respectable team that can make a jump in these rankings if Ruhly returns to this lineup in top form. But until then, there's not much to analyze.

24. North Carolina Tar Heels (-15 / 9)

We'll admit, this has not been a good season at all for the North Carolina women.

An 11th place finish at the Virginia Invitational is understandable. It was a rust-buster without two key scorers (Sasha Neglia and Brynn Brown) and their top ace (Kelsey Harrington) had a clear "off" day.

But at the Nuttycombe Invite, Brown remained absent, Harrington wasn't at her best and a lot of other women on this team also had tough outings. All of that resulted in a highly underwhelming 22nd place finish on Friday.

There is still way too much talent to give up on this team and Brown's absence hasn't made things any easier. However, the ACC XC Championships may ultimately determine whether or not the Tar Heels stay in our rankings.

23. Utah Utes (-5 / 18)

They may be dropping five spots in our rankings, but the Utah women didn't do anything that surprised us on Friday. For the most part, their 15th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was fairly on par with our expectations after seeing how they ran at the Griak Invitational.

The Utes have to be thrilled that Annastasia Peters (23rd) is a true low-stick and that veteran Mckaylie Caesar (76th) has been far better than expected. Behind those two, Katarzyna Nowakowska, Morgan Jensen and Clara Mayfield went 97-112-115, respectively, to close out the scoring for Utah.

The Utah women seemingly have a very standard (but effective) scoring lineup. They have a true low-stick, a strong secondary scorer and decent depth that won't wow you, but will still get the job done.

22. Providence Friars (-7 / 15)

It was not a pretty day for the Providence women at the Nuttycombe Invitational as they faded to 24th place overall. That was a surprising result given the encouraging effort that we saw from them at the Virginia Invitational.

Kimberly May (19th) continues to be one of the more pleasant surprises of this season, at least individually. Shannon Flockhart (45th) was yet again a very valuable secondary scorer who ensured that the Friars were in a good place through their top-two.

But from there, no one else cracked the top-120 and their bottom-two scorers failed to crack the top-175 spots. Veteran Annabelle Eastman (a transfer from George Mason) struggled in her debut and low-stick star Jane Buckley was nowhere to be seen.

Providence is obviously way better than what they showed on Friday. Their performance from a weeks ago proves that (which is why they are listed at TSR #22). Even so, the ongoing absence of Buckley isn't something that leaves us encouraged.

21. Ole Miss Rebels (+4 / 25)

Experience is paying off for the Ole Miss Rebels this fall. With four seniors in their top-five, the women of Mississippi finished 12th at the Nuttycombe Invite, toppling some of the nation’s best teams in a majorly unexpected way.

Ryann Helmers had the best race of her season thus far, finishing 28th. Her low-stick score was nicely complemented by the trio of Loral Winn, Kristel van den Berg and Skylar Boogerd. Those three Rebels were separated by only nine seconds as they would finish 62-78-93, respectively.

That was a great way to capitalize on Helmers' big effort while stabilizing this lineup and limiting downside. Their fifth scorer, Sarah Schiffmann (125th), didn't blow us away, but she still commendably kept the team score relatively in check. The Rebels are slowly moving up in the rankings this season, picking up momentum at the right time.

We'll admit, a TSR #21 ranking after that performance seems too low, but that's because other teams ahead of them either have significant reasons to be better in the future or they were better at a separate major meet such as the Virginia Invitational.

20. Furman Paladins (+1 / 21)

At first glance, an 18th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational doesn't look like the strongest result for the Furman women, especially after such a positive performance at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. But when you take a closer look at their performance from Friday, you begin to see that it was a real success.

Carly Wilkes was the star of the show for the Paladins as she produced her best cross country performance ever, finishing in 37th place. Not too far behind her was the trio of Kaylie Armitage, Abigail Robertson and Sierra Bower who packed together brilliantly by finishing 71-82-84, respectively. That trio provided Furman with some much needed scoring stability as the team saw their fifth scorer slip back to 170th.

While this result isn't too bad in itself, it gets much better when you factor in that two-time All-American Bethany Graham didn't race. If she had finished in 40th place, then the team would have skyrocketed to 7th place! Even if she had come in 100th place, then they would have been bumped up to 11th in the team standings.

With Graham looking to return to the lineup later this season, you can't help but be excited about this team's potential. That's why, despite the modest result, this group actually moves up one spot for now.

19. Alabama Crimson (-5 / 14)

Just to make it clear, the Alabama women haven’t done anything wrong! Nothing that they have done is why they are dropping in our rankings. The issue is that they just haven’t defeated anyone of note yet which makes it very difficult to gauge this team as we enter the postseason.

The Crimson Tide kept it local this past weekend as they raced on their home course. To nobody's surprise, they took home the win in a very comfortable manner, placing four runners in the top-eight. Hilda Olemomoi and Doris Lemngole were as impressive as always, crossing the line together in 1st and 2nd.

But for the most part, there isn't much to discuss with this team.

18. Washington Huskies (-6 / 12)

A 13th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was a very respectable result for the Washington women, although it certainly didn't blow us away.

Chloe Foerster (40th) and Julia David-Smith (50th) continue to be valuable scorers in what feels like their breakout seasons. Sophie O'Sullivan (65th), unsurprisingly, found an impactful role near/at the front of this lineup. But with their final two scorers placing 113th and 119th, the Huskies could only go so far in the standings.

Both Ella Borsheim and Tori Herman didn't have their best days relative to expectations. There is certainly some untapped scoring potential within those two women and that should give this team a boost if they can showcase that at the PAC-12 XC Championships.

17. Lipscomb Bison (Unranked)

What a weekend for the Lipscomb women!

The Bison were simply outstanding on Friday as their 10th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational completely shattered expectations. Yes, their run at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational was good, but what they produced in Madison was truly incredible.

The Bison put on an immaculate display of team-centric running as the quintet of Mackenzie Barnett, Kiara Carter, Lydia Miller, Harley Kletz and Liza Corso went 53-66-68-79-102, respectively. What makes this even better is that Elle Brewer, the team's sixth runner, was able to provide some scoring insurance as she was not far behind in 132nd place.

This team's growing cohesiveness is exceptional. We still need to see them continue to race at this level (which is why they only move to TSR #17), but that lineup structure could make this group a legitimate problem as we dive deeper into the postseason.

16. Oregon Ducks (-5 / 11)

There's no shame in losing to BYU at Pre-Nationals, but we did expect the Oregon women to beat Arkansas and/or Virginia. That, however, didn't happen and they finished 4th overall.

Maddy Elmore (2nd) was an awesome low-stick, more so than we ever thought she would be this season. Izzy Thornton-Bott (14th) had a decent day, but could've been a bit better. However, with their final three scorers going 26-38-39, the Ducks just didn't have enough firepower to match their opponents.

Of course, as we have already mentioned in earlier articles, Oregon has still not fielded Victoria Patterson, Lily Cridge, Kate Peters, Harper McClain or Emilie Girard this season. Those women could make significant impacts on this team if they enter the lineup in the postseason, although it's not totally clear if that will happen.

15. Virginia Cavaliers (-5 / 10)

Virginia falls back this week in our rankings after finishing 3rd on their home course at the XC23 Invitational. Margot Appleton, Anna Workman and Jenny Schilling were very solid on Saturday, finishing in 4th, 11th, 13th, respectively. That group continues to bring fantastic scoring value to the upper-portion of their lineup.

However, with a few women still missing from their lineup, their back-half depth just hasn't been quite as strong as we expected it to be.

Right now, Appleton is on a different level compared to how she competed last fall. Workman has solidified herself as Virginia’s number two runner with a handful of very underrated performances. Meanwhile, Schilling has transitioned well to the collegiate scene after competing for Virginia’s Club Running team. That trio is keeping their team afloat as Sophie Atkinson and Caroline Timm have held down the backend.

The ACC XC Championships are up next for the Cavaliers and the women are going to face a tough field headlined by NC State and Notre Dame. With the lineup that they have right now, Virginia will most likely finish in 3rd place. However, if Esther Seeland, Tatum David and/or Carmyn Menninger were to come back into this lineup, then the Cavaliers could make a return to the top-10 portion of our rankings and maybe give the the 2nd place team a run for their money.

14. Arkansas Razorbacks (+6 / 20)

Pre-Nationals was the first time that we have seen the Arkansas women square off against some notable teams this season. And while the field wasn't as deep as we have previously seen, the Razorbacks still produced a very impressive 2nd place finish behind a talented BYU team. And for that reason, they make a sizable jump in our rankings.

Freshman standout Paityn Noe (3rd) was excellent yet again and is quickly proving that she is of All-American caliber. With Sydney Thorvaldson hot on her heels in 6th place and Mia Cochran snagging a strong 15th place finish, this Arkansas team had a trio that was roughly as good as their top-three from last year.

Laura Tabora (27th) and Mary Ellen Eudaly (40th) continued to be decent backend scorers as they closed out the team's total. Those results were fairly unsurprising.

The team’s total of 90 points was enough to take down both Virginia and Oregon. And this was all done with the absence of Isabel Van Camp. However, we have recently learned that Van Camp might not be returning this fall, meaning that the Razorbacks will need to rally around their top-three and hope that their backend won't have any drop-offs.

13. Oregon State Beavers (+10 / 23)

Making a massive jump up in our rankings this week are the Beavers of Oregon State after they finished 7th at the Nuttycombe Invite. That was performance was incredible and it easily breezed past our expectations for this team.

Kaylee Mitchell did as she usually does by finishing 5th overall while Fetherstonhaugh had very a nice season debut with her 22nd place finish. Of course, everyone already knew how talented those women were. That 1-2 punch wasn't a surprise.

Syracuse transfer Sage Brooks moved up through the field en route to her 60th place finish on a rainy and muddy course, proving that her early-season success from last fall was no fluke. We figured that she would be an impactful name, but this was almost certainly a best-case scenario.

True freshman Ruby Broadbent and sophomore Katie Laurent were Oregon State’s fourth and fifth runners across the line. Broadbent held her own to finish amongst the top-100 and Laurent was 69 places higher than last season at Nuttycombe. It wasn't the best backend scoring, but it was still highly effective for a top-heavy team.

To give the Beavers another bump in the rankings, Oregon State will need to show that their stunning Nuttycombe performance wasn't a fluke. They can find major success at the PAC-12 XC Championships, but that will only happen if their back-half runners move as a pack and keep Sage Brooks within reasonable striking distance.

12. Colorado Buffaloes (-9 / 3)

For a team that we originally expected to be a podium contender, the Colorado Buffaloes drop out of our top-10 this week following a 14th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite.

In her season debut, All-American talent Ella Baran led her team with a 33rd place finish. She was followed by freshman Karrie Baloga in 39th place and veteran Emily Covert in 42nd place. A four-second spread between those three women was solid, but it would’ve looked even better for Colorado if they were separated by four seconds in the top-20.

Rounding out the scoring for the Buffaloes were Katie Doucette and Elliot Primbramsky, but by the time those two Buffs crossed the finish line, the damage had already been done. There was no way Colorado was going to contend for a top-five finish.

The fix for this team is obvious. Women such as Bailey Hertenstein, Natalie Cook, Marlee Starliper and/or Hannah Miniutti need to reenter this lineup (assuming they are healthy), specifically the former two. If they come back at full strength, then this is a very different looking team than what you saw in Madison, Wisconsin.

11. Iowa State Cyclones (+8 / 19)

From going unranked during the preseason to amongst the top-20 after our first update, the Iowa State women are on the move yet again after posting a strong 11th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational.

The Cyclones don’t have the same firepower that some of their upper-tier competitors do, but what they do bring to the field is excellent scoring options who can run together.

Senior Madelynn Hill crossed the line first for Iowa State with her 36th place finish. Janette Schraft and Maelle Porcher were a strong duo in their own right, finishing 59th and 64th, respectively. Dana Feyen, one of the team's better runners in 2022, had a bit of an "off" day in 90th place, but that was still a valuable and positively impactful result.

Four runners in the top-100 is a good day for a team that we didn’t have our sights on heading into the season. To elevate Iowa State a tad bit more, they will need the back-half of their lineup to improve after ballooning at the fifth scoring spot on Friday. A bit more potent firepower at the top of their scoring group couldn't hurt, either.

But for now, the Cyclones are riding a wave of momentum and they have way more to like about their team than dislike.

10. Michigan State Spartans (+6 / 16)

A 9th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational is definitely on the better end of where we thought Michigan State could place. But what was more surprising was seeing how strong their top-three women were relative to their depth.

The Spartans had Katie Osika, Makenna Veen and Lauren Freeland go 27-32-48, respectively, in the overall results. That is definitely some of the more potent upfront scoring that the Michigan State women have had in recent seasons.

Admittedly, their depth was surprisingly shaky (their final two scorers placed 117th and 121st), but that largely didn't matter. Freeland is the one who deserves major kudos. That was a massive race for her, especially with the Spartan's typical third scorer, Kaitlyn Hines, not being entered in their lineup.

9. California Baptist Lancers (+8 / 17)

For a team that only beat Utah by one point at the Griak Invitational, seeing them place 8th at the Nuttycombe Invitational was incredibly impressive. However, that was largely because a breakout performance gave this team some unexpectedly great scoring potency.

Grace McLaughlin* (29th) likely had the greatest race of her career, offering an unexpected low-stick to her team. Meanwhile, Yasna Petrova (32nd) continues to make solid improvements while Greta Karinauskaite (52nd) was still impactful despite having an "off" day. The Lancers' fourth scorer, Emilia Mikszuta (75th), was quietly-great as well.

Admittedly, CBU's grand day was limited to 8th place overall as their fifth scorer faded back to 134th place. Even so, we believe that the Lancers' depth can be slightly better in the future and that Karinauskaite can be even more potent when she's at her best.

Simply put, this may not be the best version of CBU that we see this season.

*Disclosure: Grace McLaughlin is a Division Two writer for The Stride Report.

8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-1 / 7)

The Notre Dame women finished an unsurprising 6th place at the Nuttycombe Invite with a lineup that didn't yield anything wildly unexpected. Olivia Markezich (9th) was great while Grace Schager (56th) and Erin Strzelecki (58th) were more impactful than expected.

Siona Chisholm (85th), Andrea Markezich (88th), Ericka VanderLende (96th) and Gretchen Farley (100th) all held their own, although those first three women all have the potential to be better, specifically Chisholm who was great at Joe Piane.

Regardless, we didn't really learn anything new about this team. They have room to improve, but that will require certain women showcasing greater consistency.

7. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (-1 / 6)

The Oklahoma State Cowgirls did not race over the weekend.

6. Florida Gators (-2 / 4)

The Florida Gators made their eagerly-awaited return to the grass at the Nuttycombe Invitational, and to no one's surprise, they put together a really solid performance.

Parker Valby was as impressive as ever and her sizable win over Katelyn Tuohy completely alters our understanding of the individual national title race in November. Meanwhile, recent graduate transfers such as Flomena Asekol (16th) and Elise Thorner (30th) both executed their jobs brilliantly, providing the team with some additional low-sticks to aid Valby.

However, it was junior Allison Wilson (an Alabama transfer) who was far more impactful than we anticipated her to be. A 38th place finish was key to helping the Gators claim 5th place in the overall standings -- an impressive result considering that their fifth scorer slipped back to 180th place.

While a 5th place finish for a team we have had in the conservation for a podium place finish may not sound all too impressive, it has to be noted that low-stick ace and recent graduate transfer, Amelia Mazza-Downie, didn't race. Adding her into the mix completely changes the team's scoring potential, putting them straight back into the conversation for a podium finish.

This team has very little room for error, and it's not great that Mazza-Downie was absent, but the rise of Allison Wilson is a key development.

5. BYU Cougars (+3 / 8)

It wasn’t the deepest field that we’ve ever seen at Pre-Nationals before, but the BYU women still got the job done by scoring a mere 32 points in Virginia. All five scorers for the Cougars were among the top-10, forming a compact group that simply couldn't be matched.

For the first time in her collegiate career, Carmen Alder got the victory by outpacing the field by 10 seconds. Jenna Hutchins has continued to have a strong season this fall and earned herself a 5th place finish in a top-heavy field. All-Americans Aubrey Frentheway and Lexy Halladay-Lowry weren’t too far behind in 7th and 9th place, respectively. Rounding out the top-10 was Riley Chamberlain.

Seeing Camren Alder shine like she did changes our perspective of this team in a significant way. If she's going to be a low-stick like that for the rest of the season, and other women like Hutchins, Frentheway and Halladay-Lowry can return to top form, then the podium seems like a very realistic possibility for the Cougars.

4. Stanford Cardinal (+1 / 5)

To be honest, there isn't too much to say about the Stanford women. Their 4th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational was exactly what we expected from them.

Amy Bunnage (13th) was awesome again, providing a crucial low-stick result that the Cardinal needed. Behind her, the unit of Lucy Jenks, Riley Stewart, Grace Connolly and Zofia Dudek worked together fantastically, finishing 43-46-55-72, respectively. Dudek still isn't quite at her best, but she is continuing to make a scoring impact and that's a major positive in our eyes.

We'll admit, the ongoing absence of freshman star Irene Riggs doesn't feel like a great sign as we enter the postseason, but the Cardinal are in a brilliant position as we transition into the championship portion of the season.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (+10 / 13)

The Georgetown Hoyas just keep getting better!

Entering the season, we were concerned about how the Hoyas would fare on the grass. This was largely due to the fact that they had lost a handful of heavy-hitters from their 2022 lineup. But after two races, it's safe to say that those losses haven't affected them one bit.

A 3rd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational actually bettered their terrific 5th place finish at the Virginia Invitational. Chloe Scrimgeour (somehow) continues to improve as her 7th place finish cements her as one of the top runners in the nation. Not too far behind was Melissa Riggins (15th) who effectively did the exact same thing!

Maggie Donahue (54th) made her return to racing with a really solid performance and from what we know about her, there is certainly more scoring that she can offer. Chloe Gonzalez (61st) and Kelsey Swenson (74th) continue to provide excellent backend support and their consistency this season cannot go unnoticed.

With championship season right around the corner, the concern that we have with the Hoyas is their depth after Swenson. But if the runners mentioned above all continue to show up, then that seemingly limited depth isn't going to matter.

2. NC State Wolfpack (-1 / 1)

The NC State women sustained a fairly major loss at the Nuttycombe Invitational over the weekend, finishing a surprising 2nd place. For the Wolfpack, this was the lowest that they had finished at a major meet since the 2021 Nuttycombe Invite (where they also finished 2nd).

Katelyn Tuohy, who was making her season debut, finished 2nd while teammate Kelsey Chmiel gave NC State a 3rd place finish. Sure, Tuohy not winning was surprising, but in terms of the team scoring structure, none of those results were stunning.

Things were looking okay for NC State through two runners, but then things fell off. Freshman talent Leah Stephens was next across the finish line in 14th place, a fantastic result for a true rookie who validated her great Joe Piane result. Even so, there were already four Northern Arizona women across the line before her.

Redshirt freshmen Grace Hartman (26th) and Hannah Gapes (51st) ran relatively well, but they certainly weren’t close enough to offset NAU's scoring. And as a result, the Wolfpack had to settle for a 43-point loss.

It would be silly to dismiss the Wolfpack from the national title conversation after Friday, there’s still time for them to recollect themselves. After all, Amaris Tyynismaa still hasn’t raced and Samantha Bush recorded a DNF in Wisconsin. We also haven't seen Abby Loveys race.

In other words, there are still a lot of ways that this team can find better scoring moving forward.

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (+1 / 2)

Gosh, what a performance for the women of Northern Arizona!

The Lumberjacks have been slowly making a name for themselves over the last few years and this past weekend, at the Nuttycombe Invite, they proved exactly that. A dominating victory, 43 points ahead of NC State, puts this Flagstaff-based team at TSR #1.

Veteran Elise Stearns, the 4th place finisher, continues to emerge as the team’s star low-stick. However, it's what Stearns’ teammates did behind her that stole the show.

Gracelyn Larkin, Annika Reiss, Ali Upshaw and Keira Moore went 8-10-12-18, respectively, in the overall results. For Larkin and Reiss, this was right on par with their previous finishes in major meets, although maybe on the better end.

But when it comes to Ali Upshaw, the junior had the race of her life. While competing for New Mexico, Upshaw finished 152nd at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invite. This time around, she jumped up 140 places and ran 1:06 faster to place 12th. She is a massive reason why the Lumberjacks were so dominant.

Redshirt freshman Keira Moore continues to impress us this season as she is rounding into a reliable scorer for the Lumberjacks. She has allowed NAU to close out their scoring far quicker than we were expecting them to.

If she can get teammates Ruby Smee and Maisie Grice to close the gap on one another, then a formidable trio at the backend of this roster will make it that much hard to take down NAU.