TSR's 2023 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #4

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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ANOTHER NOTE: The Stride Report does not typically put much ranking weight on the regional meet results. Oftentimes, certain teams will not place much emphasis on these races and will simply run with the goal of advancing to the national meet. This is not to say that all regional results are negligible (as you'll see below). However, you may notice less movement within our top-25 lists than usual in this update.

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25. Syracuse Orange (Unranked)

Well, it took a while, but the Syracuse women have finally cracked our top-25 team rankings!

Throughout this season, the Orange have been good, maybe even really good, but they didn't necessarily have a "great" performance that truly put them ahead of a few other teams.

Their 10th place finish at the Virginia Invitational resulted in no wins over any national qualifying teams. Their 20th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was "just okay" and their 4th place finish at the ACC XC Championships, while strong, didn't put them ahead of any currently-ranked squads.

However, a Northeast regional title is enough to put this team over the top. Savannah Roark (6th) is slowly rounding back into All-American form and the rest of her teammates went 16-19-22-35 to give the Orange an automatic birth to the national meet.

Sure, they're not the flashiest team in the country, but having a true low-stick and a compact group of support scorers should, in theory, yield a fairly decent result at the NCAA XC Championships.

24. Alabama Crimson (+1 / 25)

A 4th place finish at the South regional meet was far from surprising for the Alabama women. We knew that Doris Lemngole and Hilda Olemomoi were going to be awesome, but the real determinant of this team's success was going to their support scorers.

Joy Gill (20th) continues to be a great middle-lineup scorer and veteran Elka Machan (32nd) had a somewhat decent outing as well. Yes, their fifth scorer faded to 41st place, but that was enough to put the Crimson Tide ahead of Lipscomb who pushed them into the national meet.

Despite the somewhat dramatic national qualification process (where Alabama was "pushed" into the national meet), we didn't really learn anything new about this team's lineup.

It's incredibly top-heavy, but the scoring support is just enough to get by.

23. Ole Miss Rebels (Unranked)

Ole Miss' 3rd place team finish at the South Regional XC Championships was a much stronger result than some people realize. Yes, the Rebels had faltered at the SEC XC Championships, but they were ALSO without a key name in Kristel van den Berg on Friday!

And yet, despite that, the Rebels snagged 3rd place which meant that they largely didn't have to worry about any other Kolas scenarios -- they were almost definitely going to qualify for the national meet.

Loral Winn (6th) is slowly building an argument that she's a top-50 talent in the nation, Ryan Helmers (15th) offered great scoring value despite a very minor "off" day and Skylar Boogerd (16th) provided tremendous stability as well.

However, the biggest saviors for this team were Hannah Ielfield (28th) and Sarah Schiffmann (30th) who closed out the scoring fairly quickly. For a team that was coming off of a poor race and were without a key talent, those two women gave Ole Miss a surprisingly complete top-five scoring contingent.

22. Utah Valley Wolverines (-1 / 21)

There really isn't much to discuss when it comes to the Utah Valley women. A 5th place finish at the Mountain Regional XC Championships is super unsurprising and pretty much spot on with our expectations for them.

That said, Morgan Nokes (12th) and Ari Trimble (17th) continue to be awesome lead scorers who have grown increasingly more potent as the season has progressed. That duo, along with an array of backend scoring options, is what has allowed the Wolverines to find so much success this fall.

21. Lipscomb Bison (-4 / 17)

The Lipscomb women take a small-ish tumble in our team rankings after an underwhelming 5th place finish at the South Regional XC Championships. Entering that race, we felt like they would be a shoo-in for an automatic qualification spot (top-two), especially after seeing how cohesive their scoring unit had been this fall.

Fortunately for them, their early-season work was good enough to punch their ticket to Charlottesville, Virginia.

Teamwork has been the name of the game for the Bison and their close-knit scoring quintet is what has set them apart from other teams this season. However, the South regional meet was the first time that we saw some sizable gaps.

Heading into their first-ever NCAA XC Championship, the crew from Nashville, Tennessee will need to replicate that collective scoring pack if they want to mix it up with the very best. And even if they don't do that, knowing that Kiara Carter has joined Lydia Miller as a lead scorer this season should provide some great value on the national stage.

20. Utah Utes (+3 / 23)

A 3rd place finish at the Mountain Regional XC Championships was certainly on the better end of our expectations for Utah. Even so, that was a fairly unsurprising result, especially with a few other teams in the region looking, "good," but maybe not "great."

Annastasia Peters (14th), Mckaylie Caesar (18th) and Morgan Jensen (19th) gave the Utah women three Utes in the top-20. And with their final two scorers finishing in the top-40, it was hard to find a flaw in their lineup.

What's maybe even more exciting is that both Clara Mayfield and Katarzyna Nowakowska can run with and/or be closer to that aforementioned top-three. And if that's the case on the national stage, then Utah is likely a team that should be ranked higher than TSR #20.

19. Colorado Buffaloes (-4 / 15)

A 4th place finish at the Mountain Regional XC Championships was fine, but the actual results of that race aren't nearly as important as the personnel and lineup structure of that we've seen from this Colorado squad over the last few months.

Coming into this season, the Buffaloes could have fielded Bailey Hertenstein, Natalie Cook, Marlee Starliper and/or Hannah Miniutti (among others). However, with the regional meets now behind us, it seems extremely unlikely that any of those women would toe the line in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday.

The rest of this team has been respectable, but a handful of women in the Buffaloes' lineup haven't been quite as sharp as they have been in the past. To be clear, this is still a competitive team, but this is certainly not the version of Colorado that we thought we were getting back in August.

18. Tennessee Volunteers (+6 / 24)

The Tennessee women are peaking at the right time. After their 3rd place finish at the SEC XC Championships, finishing 31 points behind the title-winning Florida women, the Volunteers impressed many of us by taking down the Gators by 18 points en route to their first South region title since 2005.

Sophomore Ashley Jones once again led her team, shattering preseason expectations by finishing in 7th place. And yes, her finish was excellent, but it was really the results of Jillian Candelino (10th), Jessie Secor (11th) and Rachel Sutliff (12th) that stole the show.

Those three women crossed the line within five seconds of one another, giving Tennessee the one-up on the field. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Vols was Caroline Lyerly in 21st place, keeping the top-five spread at a mere 20 seconds.

There is a point of concern for this team heading into the NCAA XC Championships. Of the seven Tennessee women who raced at the South regional meet, three are freshmen, two are sophomores and two are juniors.

There is very little national-caliber experience with this lineup, but if the Tennessee women race like they have this postseason, then the field is going to be surprised by what the Volunteers accomplish on Saturday.

17. Wisconsin Badgers (+3 / 20)

The Wisconsin women make another leap in our rankings as they beat out conference rivals Michigan State to the second automatic qualifying spot at the Great Lakes regional meet.

Leane Willemse (5th) continues to be the driving factor for the Badgers this fall while teammates Alexa Westley (13th) and Dannielle Ore (14th) were able to keep the scoring gap to a minimum. The Badger’s final two scores, Kylie Finger and Bella Jacobsen, placed 16th and 21st, respectively, in the overall results.

With every meet, the Badgers' quintet is seemingly becoming more and more cohesive. If their scorers are able to rally around Willemse, then their hopes of a top-15 finish in Charlottesville are still alive.

16. Furman Paladins (+3 / 19)

The Furman women proved that “teamwork makes the dream work” at the Southeast regional meet as their 12 second top-five spread was enough to get them an automatic bid to the NCAA XC Championships.

In what was a fabulous display of team-centric running, the Paladins went 13-15-16-17-21 which was enough to comfortably take down our current TSR #11 team, Virginia.

The quintet of Kaylie Armitage, Abigail Robertson, Carly Wilkes, Sierra Bower and Jenna Mulhern have proved time and time again that they are one of the most cohesive scoring units in the nation. If they are able to remain this tightly-knit this coming weekend, then they could well find themselves jumping even further up our rankings.

Of course, the biggest x-factor for this team is Bethany Graham. If the All-American ace is able to return for the national meet (even if she's only at 80%), then Furman will be far scarier than they already are.

15. California Baptist Lancers (-3 / 12)

After a stunning upset loss to Utah Valley at the WAC XC Championships, we dismissed that performance as somewhat of a fluke for California Baptist. However, after a 4th place finish at the West Regional XC Championships, the Lancers' momentum seems to be slowly eroding.

Part of the reason why CBU dropped to 4th place on Friday was because one of their top scorers, Grace McLaughlin, didn't run. If she had (and was firing on all cylinders), then we're looking at a team competing for the West regional title.

The gap between the two halves of the Lancers' scoring group is what ultimately pushed CBU back to TSR #15, but the possible (although not guaranteed) return of McLaughlin on Saturday is something to monitor.

14. Iowa State Cyclones (0 / 14)

Just as we had projected, the Cyclones finished runner-up at the Midwest XC Regional Championships. The women of Iowa State were in a close battle with Northwestern through three runners, but thanks to the finishes of Janette Schraft in 20th place and Kiki Connell in 26th, the Cyclones ran away from the Wildcats.

Madelynn Hill is rounding into an All-American contender after finishing 4th this past weekend. If the senior ace finishes amongst the top-50 women at the NCAA XC Championships while Dana Feyen and Maelle Porcher continue to run with each other, then Iowa State could finish in the top-half of the national field.

13. Washington Huskies (-2 / 11)

There really isn't much to talk about when it comes to the Washington women.

The Huskies finished 3rd overall on Friday thanks to a fairly balanced and evenly spread out group of scorers. The quartet of Chloe Foerster (13th), Sophie O'Sullivan (17th), India Weir (20th) and Julia David-Smith (25th) were just flat-out solid.

Tori Herman (40th) could have maybe been slightly higher up, but with no true flaw in their top-five, it was hard to imagine a scenario where this team didn't advance to the NCAA XC Championships.

12. Oregon Ducks (+4 / 16)

The Oregon women make a decent jump up in our team rankings after snagging a 2nd place finish and an automatic national qualifying bid at the hotly-contested West regional meet.

Saturday's effort was a seriously impressive run from the Ducks and, truth be told, it came as somewhat of a surprise. Yes, we felt fairly confident that they would make it to the NCAA XC Championships, but we felt that they would be heavily reliant on Kolas points (which in the end, they didn’t need).

Maddy Elmore (5th) was excellent yet again while Izzy Thornton-Bott (10th) and Anika Thompson (12th) provided some terrific scoring support to keep their team in it. Katie Clute (24th) and Tatum Miller (58th) rounded out the scoring for the Ducks to give them the edge over both Washington and California Baptist.

The Ducks will need Klaudia Kazimierska to be firing on all cylinders if they want to keep their top-10 hopes alive. The sophomore talent faded back to 74th place at the West regional meet. If she can get back up towards Thompson and Clute, then the Ducks will be flying high.

11. Virginia Cavaliers (-1 / 10)

A 3rd place finish at the Southeast regional meet was enough to give Virginia the opportunity to defend their home turf at this year's NCAA XC Championships. While they were a distant 3rd place to Furman (who was not initially projected to beat UVA), it was still a fairly respectable run from the Cavaliers.

Front-runner Margot Appleton (3rd) was as good as expected while first-year runner Jenny Schilling impressed yet again, this time with a huge 7th place finish. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, their remaining three scorers drifted back to 23-39-51. The separation amongst those scorers is what ultimately cost the Cavaliers an automatic national qualifying spot.

Thankfully, the team's tremendous season was enough to see them return home.

If the Virginia women wish to break back into our top-10 at the NCAA XC Championships, then they will have to close the gaps between their top-end and backend scorers. And luckily for them, they will have the home course advantage to work with.

10. Michigan State Spartans (-1 / 9)

Were the Michigan State women supposed to be automatic national qualifiers (top-two) at the Great Lakes regional meet? Yes. But did it matter that they finished 3rd? No.

Katie Osika (3rd), Mckenna Veen (4th) and Lauren Freeland (10th) have been a tremendous scoring trio this fall and that was further showcased on Friday. Teammate Emily Bardwell (22nd) has also been very solid this season, offering stability in the latter-half of Michigan State's scoring group.

The absence of Kaitlyn Hynes this season has been a bummer and the gaps at the tail-end of Michigan State's lineup on Friday weren't great. That, however, is a non-concern for us, especially given how compact that backend group was at the BIG 10 XC Championships.

9. Arkansas Razorbacks (+4 / 13)

There’s no need to go into detail regarding how the Arkansas women competed over the weekend. The Razorbacks opted to rest freshman Paityn Noe and even without her in the race, Arkansas took down the runner-up team, Texas A&M, by 54 points.

The Razorbacks are a young team, aside from Taborda, but they’re racing like veterans out on the course. And by adding All-American contender in Paityn Noe back into the lineup, a top-10 finish at the cross country national meet isn’t out of the picture.

8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0 / 8)

The Fighting Irish blew away the competition at the Great Lakes regional meet. Low-stick star Olivia Markezich won her second-straight regional title, outpacing the field by 12 seconds. Her teammates behind her went 6-9-11-12. Based on the pack formed, the women of South Bend are on the right track heading into the cross country national meet.

Notre Dame will need Siona Chisholm to bring her best scoring efforts to help the Fighting Irish finish higher than their current TSR #8 ranking. Chisholm crossed the line as the seventh runner back in 40th place, well behind her teammates.

Chisholm will be a game-changer for Notre Dame if she's running alongside Erin Strzelecki and Andrea Markezich, but the still-rising Irish distance talent hasn't been quite as sharp since the Joe Piane Invite.

7. Florida Gators (-2 / 5)

After winning the SEC XC Championships two weeks ago, no one would have been surprised if Florida won the South region title. However, with such little need to go all-out on the regional stage, and Amelia Mazza-Downie not racing, the Gators instead settled for a just-as-effective 2nd place finish.

Parker Valby will do what she always does: go out hard and dare anyone to go with her. Flomena Asekol, an All-American while at Alabama, is primed to be a low-stick for Florida.

Alison Wilson and Elise Thorner have been fairly reliable scorers for their new team, although they'll both need to be stronger if this team wants to get on the podium come Saturday. Not only that, but the Gators will need to add Mazza-Downie back into the lineup in order for that to happen.

For a team that was already operating with a very thin margin for error, Florida is going to need a few things to break in their favor if they are going to be on the podium.

6. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (+1 / 7)

On their home course, the Oklahoma State women had a solid 18 second split between their top-five runners en route to their 30-point victory at the Midwest regional meet. The Cowgirls didn’t need to go all-out to take down their competition and they did just enough to qualify through to the next round.

Billah Jepkirui, Taylor Roe and Molly Born continue to lead the team at the front. We were hoping to see freshman talent Victoria Lagat in the lineup, but the young Cowgirl hasn’t raced since September.

At this point, it’s hard to determine if Coach Dave Smith will race Lagat at the cross country national meet, but even if she’s not there, the Oklahoma State women have a few decent support scorers and an immense amount of firepower, maybe even more so than a handful of teams ranked ahead of them.

5. Stanford Cardinal (+1 / 6)

To nobody’s surprise, the Stanford women cruised through to the NCAA XC Championships after a commanding 32-point victory at the West regional meet.

The Cardinal scoring quintet was separated by a mere 22 seconds as they went 11-14-15-16-21. That team-centric effort worked with maximum efficiency as the Stanford women not only took home the automatic national qualifying bid, but they were also able to conserve their energy ready for next week's Big Dance.

With the NCAA XC Championships just a matter of days away, the Palo Alto women will be heading to Charlottesville with a full head of steam. They have not only proved that they have enough firepower, but that they also have the depth to match some of their opponents.

If Amy Bunnage and Lucy Jenks are provided greater support this coming weekend, then the Cardinal could be looking at a podium finish.

4. BYU Cougars (0 / 4)

As expected, the BYU women comfortably navigated the Mountain regional meet. Their 2nd place finish was enough to earn an automatic national qualifying bid to this weekend's NCAA XC Championships.

Despite opting to sit out star redshirt freshman Jenna Hutchins, the Cougars still put on a show with all five scorers earning All-Region accolades.

BYU’s firepower and depth are undeniable and adding Hutchins back into the mix is only going to make them more formidable. Plus, the Cougars have already picked up a win in Charlottesville this season which will certainly have filled them with confidence. If they can continue to remain compact, then a podium finish would certainly be in the cards.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (0 / 3)

Even without front-runner Chloe Scrimgeour toeing the line, the Hoyas easily won the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships. With Melissa Riggins, Kelsey Swenson, Maggie Donahue and Chloe Gonzalez finishing amongst the top-nine spots, the Georgetown women scored a mere 48 points.

At the NCAA XC Championships, the Hoyas will surely welcome Scrimgeour back into the varsity lineup as the women race for a spot on the podium.

2. NC State Wolfpack (0 / 2)

Like clockwork, the NC State Wolfpack won the Southeast Regional XC Championships behind a 1st place finish from Katelyn Tuohy.

Coach Laurie Henes chose to rest veteran Kelsey Chmiel and true freshman Leah Stephens this past weekend, but that didn’t matter. Sam Bush in 6th place and Grace Hartman in 9th place stepped up to fill the open spots.

NC State will be going for their third-consecutive title this upcoming weekend at the NCAA XC Championships, but it’s not going to be easy. We already know that Tuohy will be challenging rival Parker Valby for the win, but it's her teammates who will be the real ones to watch.

Chmiel is one of the most consistent runners in the NCAA and Sam Bush has tons of experience. However, Stephens, Hartman and Gionna Quarzo will need to bring their "A" game as Amaris Tyynismaa, an established runner on the national stage, has struggled in her past two races, recording yet another DNF on Friday.

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0 / 1)

A win for the Lumberjacks, our TSR #1 team, at the Mountain regional meet isn’t at all surprising.

The ladies of Northern Arizona didn't run a full squad as low-stick Elise Stearns, fellow ace Annika Reiss and All-American contender Keira Moore were absent from the lineup. But even without those three women, NAU still got the job done, outscoring the runner-up team, BYU, 39 points to 59 points.

Gracelyn Larkin was crowned the regional champion and was joined by teammates Ali Upshaw, Ruby Smee and Maggi Congdon in the top-10. Add Stearns, Reiss and Moore, the latter of whom has not raced since the Nuttycombe Invite, back into the Lumberjacks’ lineup, and they will be unstoppable at the NCAA XC Championships this upcoming weekend.

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ADDED

Ole Miss Rebels

Syracuse Orange

KICKED OFF

Providence Friars

Oregon State Beavers

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Providence Friars

Oregon State Beavers

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

North Carolina Tar Heels

Colorado State Rams

Harvard Crimson

Boston College Eagles

Penn State Nittany Lions

Texas A&M Aggies

Portland Pilots

Duke Blue Devils

Gonzaga Bulldogs

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

West Virginia Mountaineers

Columbia Lions

UC-Davis Aggies

New Mexico Lobos

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Virginia Tech Hokies

Elon Phoenix

Northwestern Wildcats

Michigan Wolverines

Boise State Broncos

Penn Quakers

Cal Poly Mustangs

Notes

- N/A