TSR's 2023 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #3

Written by Maura Beattie, Finn Birnie & Garrett Zatlin

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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.

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KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the team has moved in our rankings.

The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.

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25. Alabama Crimson (-6 / 19)

The Alabama women slip back in our rankings this week after a 4th place finish at the SEC XC Championships. Entering Friday, we had the Crimson Tide slotted for a silver medal. However, that was all highly dependent on their backend scorers running as well as they did at the Joe Piane Invitational.

Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, that wasn't quite the case.

Doris Lemngole (2nd) and Hilda Olemomoi (3rd) were brilliant as always and did exactly what they were tasked to do. Joy Gill (15th) also finished roughly where we expected her to. However, the team's final two scorers slipped back to 28th and 36th place. If that backend scoring pair were able to stay more compact, then then Crimson Tide probably would have leap-frogged the Tennessee women to earn a 3rd place team finish.

With the South Regional XC Championships right around the corner, the Alabama women will have to be on top of their game if they want to gain an automatic bid. If the Crimson Tide’s final scorers can keep the gap between them and their front-three relatively small, then they may not need to worry about Kolas points.

24. Tennessee Volunteers (Unranked)

Welcome to our rankings, Tennessee! A somewhat surprising 3rd place finish at the SEC XC Championships caught our attention as the Lady Vols were able to take down Alabama and previously ranked Ole Miss.

Ashley Jones, someone who has emerged as the focal lead scorer for her team this season, earned a 10th place finish. Jones has been a nice addition to Coach Sean Carlson’s roster this season after transferring from High Point University, but she has been running beyond our expectations for her.

Junior Rachel Sutliff placed 13th while freshman Jessie Secor was 14th, crossing less than seven seconds behind Jones. Giving Tennessee their final points were Jillian Candelino and Caroline Lyerly. Those two freshmen kept the Volunteers ahead by four points en route to their third top-five finish of the season.

Veteran Kayla Gholar, a 16:05 (5k) talent, had an "off" day and finished as the team’s eighth runner. If Gholar can regroup between now and the South Regional XC Championships, then Tennessee will attempt to run down Lipscomb and Alabama for the second automatic bid, only behind Florida, to the cross country national meet.

23. Utah Utes (0 / 23)

Through four runners, the Utah women were fantastic during Friday's PAC-12 XC Championships.

Mckaylie Caesar (9th) continues to emerge as a true lead scorer. Behind her, Katarzyna Nowakowska (14th) and Annastasia Peters (15th) offered great support while Morgan Jensen (20th) was a competitive fourth scorer with many of the other top teams in the field.

However, with their fifth runner fading to 46th place overall, the Utes' team score ballooned to 103 points, only two points ahead of Oregon State. And in the end, the women of Salt Lake City settled for a 5th place team finish.

In the grand scheme of things, that wasn't a terrible result. The Utes were still great through four runners and they took down a strong team in Oregon State. They have basically zero margin for error (much like we explained with Oregon State), but this team has done a lot of good this season -- we still like them at TSR #23.

22. Providence Friars (0 / 22)

A 2nd place finish at the BIG East XC Championships was exactly what we expected to see from the Providence women.

Kimberly May (2nd) was superb yet again while Shannon Flockhart (9th) continues to be an excellent supporting scorer. The rest of the Friar’s quintet was able to sneak into the top-20, giving the team a comfortable 2nd place finish, but we were hoping that they'd be a bit more competitive with Georgetown.

The ongoing absence of star Jane Buckley, however, continues to be a concern. While it may not have impacted this race in any major way, her absence could certainly stunt this team's potential as the postseason fields get deeper.

21. Utah Valley Wolverines (Unranked)

We knew that the Utah Valley women had a good squad this season. In fact, they were much better than we expected them to be.

And yet, despite that, we didn't have much of an argument to list them in our rankings going into this past weekend. Earlier this season, the Wolverines dominated the UC-Riverside XC Invite, comfortably took home gold at Paul Short and cruised through the Arturo Barrios Invitational. However, none of those fields held nationally competitive teams for UVU to compare themselves against.

At the WAC XC Championships, the Wolverines had the opportunity to go up against a top-10 team in TSR's rankings -- and they took full advantage. By packing the top-10 portion of the overall results, Utah Valley stunned the California Baptist women, pulling off what may be the biggest upset of the season so far.

Despite taking down the Lancers, it is still a challenge to rank this team. One small conference meet (which basically turned into a two-team race) only gives us so much info on Utah Valley.

For now, we'll place them at TSR #21 with the understanding that their ceiling may be much higher than where we currently have them.

20. Wisconsin Badgers (+5 / 25)

The Wisconsin women snagged a runner-up finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships, surprising no one with their collective team effort.

Leane Willemse (2nd) continues to get better and better while Alexa Westley (9th) offered great scoring value of her own. The Badgers' final three scorers, Kylie Finger, Bella Jacobsen and Samantha Stieve went 21-24-25, respectively, in the overall results.

This was a fine performance for Wisconsin, but truthfully, the biggest reason why they move up is because other teams struggled and fell back in our rankings. In other words, the Badgers' steadiness is being rewarded with a five-spot bump.

19. Furman Paladins (+1 / 20)

It’s no surprise that the Furman women won the Southern Conference XC Championships, earning their 11th-straight title in the process.

Abigail Robertson and Carly Wilkes led the Paladins with their 1-2 finish. Kaylie Armitage finished 5th and was later followed by a slew of Furman women who crossed the line between 6th and 10th place.

It does need to be noted that for the second-consecutive meet, Furman has been without All-American talent, Bethany Graham. If Graham is healthy and back in the lineup for the remainder of the season, then this team could find a few more points to get them closer to the top-15 portion of our rankings.

18. Oregon State Beavers (-5 / 13)

Despite their outstanding performance at the Nuttycombe Invite, we knew that the Oregon State women had a very small margin for error this season. And sure enough, a 6th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships confirmed our suspicions.

To nobody's surprise, Kaylee Mitchell (2nd) and Grace Fetherstonhaugh (3rd) were terrific on Friday. Unfortunately for the Beavers, that monster firepower didn't have the scoring support that it needed to be truly impactful.

Ruby Broadbent (31st) was the third Beaver across the line which was a fairly decent result for her. She was closely followed by Sage Brooks (35th) who has traditionally been the team's third scorer. It was then Kate Laurent (38th) who closed out Oregon State's top-five.

Had some of the Beavers' scorers replicated their performances from Nuttycombe, then Friday's performance would have been a totally different story and Oregon State would have been battling with Oregon and Colorado for a 3rd place finish.

We have seen how dangerous this team can be, especially when Brooks is running at her best, so it's important not to overreact to this performance. However, after this not-so-little hiccup, we have been forced to move the Oregon State women back a few spots.

17. Lipscomb Bison (0 / 17)

The Lipscomb ladies remain steadfast at our TSR #17 spot after a dominant win at the ASUN XC Championships.

Recording a perfect score of 15 points, the Bison produced one of the most immaculate team performances of the weekend. Kiara Carter took the individual victory in 16:54 (5k) while Lydia Miller, Harley Kletz, Colbi Borland and Ellie Brewer were only separated by 20 seconds.

While the competition may not have been outstanding, winning in the manner that they did is still plenty impressive. Oh, and if that wasn't impressive enough, their next two runners also featured in the top-10.

16. Oregon Ducks (0 / 16)

Another team that remains firm in its ranking is the Oregon Ducks. A 4th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships is a respectable result, but it wasn't a performance that we felt warranted a jump in our rankings.

Maddy Elmore's terrific 4th place finish validated her cracking run at Pre-Nationals a couple of weeks prior and Izzy Thornton-Bott (11th) helped keep the Ducks in contention. Anika Thompson (22nd), Katie Clute (24th) and Klaudia Kazimierska (27th) closed out the team scoring, but that wasn't quite enough to topple Colorado who finished 3rd, just one point ahead.

After some speculation when it comes to their lineup personnel, it seems as though the Ducks won't be altering their current group all that much from what they have shown us so far.

Elmore has cemented herself as a true low-stick while Thornton-Bott has provided some solid secondary scoring. The success of the team, however, is going to be heavily reliant on how compact the trio of Thompson, Clute and Kazimierska can be and where they finish in these larger championship fields.

15. Colorado Buffaloes (-3 / 12)

It's looking more and more likely that the Colorado women will be without Natalie Cook, Bailey Hertenstein and Marlee Starliper this season. And if that's the case (which is not at all confirmed, at least not by TSR), then it's hard to see Colorado being a top-10 team this fall.

At the PAC-12 XC Championships, Karrie Baloga (8th) came through with yet another great result, emerging as the lead scorer for this team despite only being a rookie. Veteran teammates Emily Covert (12th) and Ella Baran (13th) held their own, but it felt like they were capable of top-10 finishes.

With the Buffaloes' final two scorers placing 25th and 29th, Colorado settled for a "just ok" 3rd place finish as they barely beat Oregon by one point.

Truthfully, when it comes to the women who did run for Colorado this past Friday, we didn't really learn a lot. Baloga, Covert and Baran are going to be the lead scorers for this moving forward and their supporting cast will likely be enough to get by. Their most recent outing doesn't change our thoughts on that.

14. Iowa State Cyclones (-3 / 11)

To no fault of their own, the Iowa State women fall back three places this week in our rankings. The Cyclones had a tough challenge ahead of them at the BIG 12 XC Championships as they competed against BYU and Oklahoma State. Even so, they held their own and scored 70 points to finish 3rd.

With a home course advantage, the Cyclones had a top-five time spread of 32 seconds. Madelynn Hill led her team with a 9th place finish and was closely followed by teammates Maelle Porcher and Janette Schraft in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

Rounding out the scoring were veteran Dana Feyen and freshman Sheridan Wheeler, crossing the finish line in 17th and 24th place, respectively. This was a promising performance for Wheeler as she wasn’t even in Iowa State’s varsity lineup earlier this season.

Consistency and depth has been key for the women of Ames, Iowa this season. Even without a true low-stick (although Hill is developing into one), the Cyclones have continued to showcase how effective their team-centric scoring model can be.

13. Arkansas Razorbacks (+1 / 14)

It was another brilliant weekend for the Arkansas women who finished 2nd at the SEC XC Championships, a result that validates their strong showing at Pre-Nationals a couple of weeks prior.

Paityn Noe (5th) and Sydney Thorvaldson (6th) were strong as always and their runs helped the Razorbacks keep pace with Florida and Alabama. But truthfully, we figured that they would be top-10 finishers. They were, after all, excellent at Pre-Nationals.

Instead, the real surprises on this team came in the latter portion of the Razorbacks' scoring group. Laura Taborda (12th) was fantastic, delivering one of her strongest performances to date. A 16th place finish for Mia Cochran was solid, but it was Mary Ellen Eudaly (20th) who arguably had the best performance of the day to close out the Razorback’s scoring.

Entering this race, we felt that the Razorbacks lineup structure wasn’t suited for this field, but evidently, we were proven wrong! The Arkansas women have shown us that they are flexible within their top-five and if everyone is able to carry this momentum into November, then they could be a squad knocking on the door of a top-10 finish.

12. California Baptist Lancers (-3 / 9)

The California Baptist women slip back ever-so-slightly in our rankings after a shocking defeat at the hands of the Utah Valley women at the WAC XC Championships.

Entering the weekend, the Lancers were the overwhelming favorites. They were superb at the Nuttycombe Invite and we saw them as a top-10 team in the nation. However, an “off” day for some of their key scorers left the door open for a talented group of Wolverines.

That, in turn, led to an upset.

Greta Karinauskaite (1st) and Grace McLaughlin (3rd) were fantastic and their low-stick performances helped give the Lancers an edge.

However, with Marina Trave (8th) emerging as the only other Lancer in the top-10, the UVU women overwhelmed CBU with pack-running. The Wolverines put four of their scorers into the top-10 and seized the victory by six points.

As surprising as that loss is, it shouldn’t necessarily change how we view this CBU team. The Lancers have excelled in larger fields this season, something that is going to be pivotal come November. If everyone in California Baptist's scoring quintet is firing on all cylinders, then they still have the potential to be a top-10 team this fall.

11. Washington Huskies (+7 / 18)

Wow, what a shockingly great race from the Washington women on Friday!

The Huskies were a tough team to gauge this season. They were excellent at the Virginia Invitational, but they also underwhelmed slightly at the Nuttycombe Invite.

But upsetting Stanford for the PAC-12 title? Well, that is not at all what we expected.

Sophie O'Sullivan (6th) has evolved into a true low-stick and Chloe Foerster (7th) looks like she's ahead of schedule in terms of her fitness. Julia David-Smith (10th) and India Weir (14th) had the best races of their careers while Tori Herman (21st) kept the Huskies' scoring in check. If Herman hadn't been recruited from Kentucky (and therefore wouldn't have been in this race), then Washington doesn't win the PAC-12 title.

Every single woman in that top-five had their best races of the season. We can't say enough good things about Foerster, David-Smith and Weir who provided a potent scoring punch at the middle portion of Washington's lineup. Weir, in particular, was incredible.

It's not a guarantee that we'll see the Huskies replicate that kind of scoring contingent on the national stage. But if they do, then there's no question that they'll be a top-10 team.

10. Virginia Cavaliers (+5 / 15)

On the rise this week are the Cavaliers after they were a mere two points behind Notre Dame at the ACC XC Championships.

Front-runner Margot Appleton improved upon her 9th place finish at the 2022 ACC XC Championships by finishing 5th this past weekend. Meanwhile, first-year runner Jenny Schilling held her own for the third time this season, finishing a remarkable 10th place in her first conference championship. Schilling has been a nice surprise for Virginia this season and continues to provide the Cavaliers with upfront scoring potency.

Gradiate transfer Caroline Timm and veteran Anna Workman crossed the line one second apart in 15th and 20th place, respectively. Timm was a pleasant surprise as she closed down on a significant gap that had formed between her and UVA's top-three at Pre-Nationals. She is a major reason why this team almost pulled off the upset over Notre Dame.

Teammate Sophie Atkinson, who is typically a part of that duo, was missing from the lineup on Friday. Instead, rookie Gillian Bushee (34th) closed out the scoring. If Atkinson had been in that race, then maybe Virginia could have upset the Irish for the runner-up spot...

Regardless, the Cavaliers make their way back into our top-10 following a bounce-back from their 3rd place effort at Pre-Nationals.

9. Michigan State Spartans (+1 / 10)

There's not too much to talk about when it comes to Michigan State. The Spartans comfortably took home the BIG 10 team title on Friday over a respectable Wisconsin team.

Makenna Veen (3rd) and Katie Osika (4th) did their jobs as lead scorers while Lauren Freeland (10th) continues to be an excellent replacement for Kaitlyn Hines. With three more runners cracking the top-20, the Michigan State women were just the flat-out best team in the field.

That, of course, is something that we already knew.

8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0 / 8)

To be quite frank, there isn’t too much to analyze when it comes to this Notre Dame team. The Fighting Irish finished an unsurprising runner-up to the NC State women at the ACC XC Championships in Tallahassee this past Friday.

Olivia Markezich (4th) continues to excel as a low-stick while Siona Chisholm (13th) was able to regather some (but not all) of her momentum after a tough outing at the Nuttycombe Invite. The remaining trio of Erin Strzelecki (16th), Andrea Markezich (23rd) and Grace Schager (24th) all had solid races, keeping Notre Dame's team score somewhat in check.

I don’t it’s unfair to say that this wasn't the strongest performance that we have seen from the Fighting Irish this year. While they did enough to keep a talented Virginia squad at bay, we expected them to be further ahead of the Cavaliers.

Luckily, it feels like many of these women (other than Markezich) all had the potential to be just a couple of spots better on Friday. In our eyes, we think there is still some untapped scoring talent within this group.

7. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (0 / 7)

To be completely honest, we weren’t sure what to expect from the Oklahoma State women this past weekend. The Cowgirls had only competed twice this season, both times on their home course, and were missing key front-runner Taylor Roe in each effort.

Regardless, the Cowgirls came out charging on Saturday, attempting to win their fourth-consecutive BIG 12 XC Championship title. However, they were derailed by the BYU Cougars.

Roe didn’t need a rust-buster as she easily won her conference meet, finishing seven seconds ahead of teammate and runner-up, Billah Jepkirui. Veteran ace Molly Born picked up another top-five finish after she was the runner-up finisher at the Cowboy Jamboree.

Things were looking good for the Cowgirls through three runners, but then there was a bit of a drop-off. Middle distance specialist Gabija Galvydyte and Payton Hinkle finished together in 15th and 16th, respectively, but that wasn’t enough for Oklahoma State to win.

Four points separated them from BYU, but that is no point of concern heading into the final two meets of the season.

Oklahoma State was missing multiple names who could have made a difference on Saturday. The absence of veteran Gabby Hentemann and freshman Victoria Lagat leads us to believe that there is still some secret, unreleased scoring talent on this roster.

6. Stanford Cardinal (-2 / 4)

A stunning, two-point upset loss to the Washington women at the PAC-12 XC Championships was probably not how the Stanford women wanted to begin their postseason campaign.

Amy Bunnage (1st) and Lucy Jenks (5th) were both fantastic in their roles, delivering on the better end of their expectations. But while their final three scorers -- Riley Stewart (17th), Grace Connolly (18th) and Zofia Dudek (19th) -- each had solid outings, there wasn't enough scoring potency in the middle of this lineup to counter Washington's four-person group in the top-15.

Firepower has not been an issue for Stanford this year and neither has depth. Both of those areas have been addressed. However, the need for greater support behind Bunnage and Jenks is what has ultimately left the Cardinal on the fringes of the podium conversation.

5. Florida Gators (+1 / 6)

For the first time since 2012, the Florida Gators are back on top in the SEC!

Following a dominant performance from NCAA individual title contender, Parker Valby, the Gators outscored Arkansas, 49 points to 59 points.

Valby took off a little after the 4k split, distancing herself from Alabama’s Doris Lemngole while winning her second-consecutive SEC XC Championship title by 34 seconds. She was joined in the top-10 by star transfers Flomena Askeol (4th) and Amelia Mazza-Downie (8th). Fellow teammates Elise Thorner and Allison Wilson recorded 17th and 19th place finishes, respectively.

Coach Will Palmer, in his first cross country season at Florida, is seeing immediate success thanks to the talents of Valby and the superb transfers who he landed. The Gators are a fringe podium team as we near the NCAA XC Championships, but for them to actually slide into the top-four, Thorner and Wilson need to close the gap on Asekol and Mazza-Downie.

4. BYU Cougars (+1 / 5)

Despite winning the BIG 12 title in their first-ever season in the conference, I'm not sure that there is a whole lot to analyze with BYU. The Cougars' ability to pack the top-10 on Saturday is what allowed them to take advantage of an Oklahoma State squad that was limited on scoring support after their top-three.

The scoring quintet of Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Jenna Hutchins, Carmen Alder, Aubrey Frentheway and Riley Chamberlain stayed compact yet again on Saturday, replicating their effort from Pre-Nationals.

With essentially zero gaps in their top-five and multiple All-American candidates headlining that group, there is an argument for the BYU women to be listed one spot higher at TSR #3.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (0 / 3)

The dream season for the Georgetown Hoyas continues following their 28-point victory at the BIG East XC Championships. The Hoyas showed up in Wisconsin, faced the cold and still found a way to put five runners in the top-10.

TSR-ranked athletes Chloe Scrimgeour and Melissa Riggins fueled their team with an individual title and 3rd place finish, respectively. Georgetown veteran Chloe Gonzalez finished 6th place while Idaho graduate transfer Kelsey Swanson secured 8th place, offering great scoring value of their own.

Oh, and let's not forget about All-American Maggie Donahue finishing 10th, someone we know has the potential to finish closer to Scrimgeour when she's in top form.

Heading into the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, things are going better than we expected for Georgetown this season. They have consistently surprised us with their top finishes and are making a case for themselves to land on the podium at the NCAA XC Championships come November.

2. NC State Wolfpack (0 / 2)

When it comes to the actual results of the ACC XC Championships, there were very few surprises. The NC State women dominated the team race while Katelyn Tuohy dominated the individual race. However, there are more nuanced discussions to have beyond that.

Amaris Tyynismaa did race, but was a DNF after being rumored to have gotten a calf crap in the final kilometer of the race. Meanwhile, Sam Bush produced a great 11th place finish after struggling during the regular season.

If we assume that Tuohy, Kelsey Chmiel and Leah Stephens continue to produce great results (specifically when they get to the national stage), then NC State's bid for yet another national title will likely depend on what kind of form Tyynismaa, Bush and/or Grace Hartman are in.

Also, shoutout to Gionna Quarzo (14th) who posted yet another really solid performance. She has been a highly reliable name that this team has leaned on this fall.

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0 / 1)

There’s not too much that needs to be said about the women of Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks absolutely demolished their competition at the BIG Sky XC Championships by not only scoring a perfect 15 points, but by also putting their entire lineup in the top-11 spots.

Elise Stearns secured her second-consecutive conference title, winning by 23 seconds. Annika Reiss, Ali Upshaw, Gracelyn Larkin, Maisie Grice and Ruby Smee were next across the line for Northern Arizona, separated by a mere nine seconds.

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ADDED

Utah Valley Wolverines

Tennessee Volunteers

KICKED OFF

Ole Miss Rebels

North Carolina Tar Heels

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Ole Miss Rebels

North Carolina Tar Heels

Colorado State Rams

Harvard Crimson

Syracuse Orange

Cal Poly Mustangs

Boston College

UCLA Bruins

Portland Pilots

Duke Blue Devils

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Princeton Tigers

UC-Davis Aggies

New Mexico Lobos

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Elon Phoenix

Penn State Nittany Lions

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Michigan Wolverines

Boise State Broncos

Army Black Knights

Notes

- N/A