TSR's 2023 D3 Indoor Top 20 Individual Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Feb 7, 2023
15 min read

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Written by Hannah Thorn & Kevin Fischer

Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin

Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

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

20. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Sophomore, U. of Chicago (Unranked)

After only racing once during the 2022 cross country season, Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel is breaking out in a huge way this winter.

To put things in perspective, her 800 meter personal best going into this season was 2:30 and she just ran faster than that while racing a mile, clocking a 4:56 (mile) PR at the Aurora Grand Prix. The following week, she did not run any individual events, but took part in U. of Chicago’s "B" team DMR that ran 12:01.

She has only raced a few times this winter, but is already proving to be one of the most improved distance runners in Division Three. And if she continues to progress at this race, then the rising Maroon talent is in a great position to become an All-American by March.

19. Ella Ball, Sophomore, Williams (Unranked)

Since our last update, Ella Ball has run 9:59 in the 3000 meters.

On its own, that mark is not anything that is wildly impressive compared to results from other athletes who we considered for these rankings. But Ball has already shown that she can be really dangerous all the way back in December when she opened her indoor track season with a highly promising 5k time of 17:00.

And when looking at her most recent performance, we've now eased the doubt that she can replicate something like that again. She ran that 17:00 off of cross country fitness and two months later, she looks like she is gaining momentum again.

When someone of her caliber begins to pick up steam, it can be hard to stop them.

18. Kenadee Wayt, Junior, Mount Union (Unranked)

Kenadee Wayt has been one of the bigger names in the Division Three sprinting scene for a couple of years. In fact, she has earned All-American honors seven times, four of which came at last year’s indoor national meet (60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4x400 meter relay).

But recently, this Mount Union ace moved up to the 800 meters and showed enough middle distance prowess to be included in these rankings with a converted 2:12 mark which puts her at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard.

She has more pure speed than anybody else in these rankings, so she has the ability to be a threat in the 800 meters on the national stage solely due to her foot-speed. That impending threat only gets larger when you consider that last week was only the second time in her career that she raced that distance.

There is a good chance that she chooses to put her focus back on the shorter events when the postseason comes around, but her 800 meter potential is undeniable. She will remain at TSR #18 for now and we could see her slowly move up these rankings if she does decide to stick with the half-mile at the indoor national meet this season.

17. Sofia Carlson, Sophomore, Saint Olaf (Unranked)

Sofia Carlson had some struggles this past cross country season, falling uncharacteristically further back at both the MIAC XC Championships and the NCAA XC Championships.

But now, she has put that well behind her and recently put together arguably the best race of her career, posting a converted time of 16:58 in the 5000 meters.

She has only raced a few times this season, but she has bounced back incredibly well from a fall campaign that ultimately fell short of her individual expectations and is now nearing the level of some of the best distance runners in Division Three.

If she continues to build on this momentum, then she may be one of the last people who we would want to toe the line against come March.

16. Lexi Brown, Sophomore, Wartburg (-4 / 12)

Lexi Brown’s only race since our last update was a 5:03 personal best in the mile which converted to 5:00.

This rising Wartburg distance talent is not necessarily known for being a miler, so this was a really solid result at a distance that appears to be her secondary event. Her best performance of the season remains as the 9:46 (3k) time that she put down a few weeks ago which is currently sitting at NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard.

As we get closer to the postseason, it will be interesting to see Brown race again in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters. Her 5k personal best is only 17:50 (although she has a 17:45 conversion this season), so she is certainly capable of throwing down a huge PR in that event under the right circumstances.

And if she does that, then we will likely see Brown start trending in the right direction (and move higher in our rankings) as we near the indoor national meet. She's made one leap this year, but it also feels like she has another jump still in her.

15. Cyna Madigan, Sophomore, UW-Oshkosh (+3 / 18)

Since our last update, Madigan won the 800 meters at the Aurora Grand Prix with a personal best of 2:12.85. She then ran 1:35.17 over 600 meters on a flat track the following week.

Her speed is in a great place right now, and she has been one of the best middle distance runners in the country this season. The women’s 800 meters in Division Three isn’t as deep this year compared to last winter as many of the top returners have yet to meet expectations -- and Madigan is taking full advantage of that.

Yes, it's true, this UW-Oshkosh talent has never competed in an individual event at a national meet on the track. And while that inexperience isn't necessarily ideal, Madigan looks poised to change that this winter...and maybe record a very high finish in the process.

Of course, we'll have to see what she can do over the next few weeks before we can truly determine what her true potential on the national stage is.

14. Christine Albrecht, Junior, St. Olaf (-3 / 11)

Christine Albrecht, a recent breakout talent for Saint Olaf, flexed some respectable speed this past weekend with a converted 2:14 mark in the 800 meters.

The mile looks to be Albrecht's strongest event, having run a converted 4:55 PR which ranks at NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard. However, her range is just as impressive as any standalone mark she has run.

There aren’t too many people in the nation who can be a cross country All-American and also hold their own as well as Albrecht has in the middle distance events. That aerobic-based strength also leads us to believe that this midwest runner may have a bit more flexibility in terms of her race approach and tactics.

Overall, her success on the grass this fall translates perfectly to the oval. It will be interesting to see what she can do in the coming weeks when the big meets start kicking-off. And yes, she does drop in this edition of our rankings, but that's more because of others rather than anything that she has done.

13. Aubrie Fisher, Junior, Wartburg (+1 / 14)

A mainstay of these rankings, Aubrie Fisher is showing off just how consistent she is.

At the Jack Johnson Classic, she ran 5:03 in the mile which is just off of the 4:58 mark that she ran the week before. She also hopped into Wartubrg’s 4x400 meter relay for some more speed work.

The following week, she ran another 3000 meter race at the Wartburg Indoor Select Meet. There, she ran 15-seconds faster than she did earlier in the season, blasting a 9:44 mark for the distance. That’s a new PR for her and it converts to 9:39 which puts her at NCAA #2 in the country right behind Ana Tucker.

It’s too early to say this, and we may have mentioned this in our past analysis, but Fisher is looking increasingly more dangerous for when she contests the steeplechase during the outdoor track season.

But let’s get back to her current winter campaign.

Fisher will have her pick of multiple events to run at the NCAA Indoor Championships, but we could see Fisher going for the 3k/DMR double. Obviously, her team still needs to get that DMR national qualifying mark first, but that will come with time.

For now, she is sitting in a great spot and gets a one spot bump in our rankings in this edition.

12. Gillian Roeder, Freshman, MIT (Unranked)

We are happy to finally see Gillian Roeder in our rankings. And she isn't just cracking our top-20, she's making an assertive jump to just outside of our top-10 list!

The MIT ace has been teetering around our “Just Missed” and “Honorable Mentions” sections for months now. However, she finally made a splash big enough to enter these rankings.

At the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic, she ran 4:54.37 in the mile. That’s technically a PR, but it’s actually the first time that she has run the mile in college. Even so, to go not only sub-5:00, but sub-4:55 in your debut is a helluva way to introduce yourself to the national contender conversation.

Her time is sitting at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard as of right now.

Roeder seems to be racing sparingly which is smart for her overall durability given her youth and based on the fact that the national meet is still a month out from now. We think she could run a fast 3000 meter time later this season which would make her one of the better overall distance athletes in Division Three -- and there wouldn't much to argue against that.

That said, the mile is probably her best chance at making it to the indoor national meet and earning her first All-American honor. The only question now is whether her relative inexperience will limit her tactically or if that will allow her to tap into her youth-based upside.

11. Emily Konkus, Senior, Washington U. (-3 / 8)

Emily Konkus has already thrown down fast times in a variety of events this winter, although given her resume, no one should be surprised. At the Keck Select meet, she ran 2:16.97 in the 800 meters, contributed to a 4:13.09 result in the 4x400 meters and was part of a 11:40.93 effort in the DMR.

Those results are all over the place and that’s also the story of Konkus’ 2023 indoor track season -- she has been all over the place…well, on the national leaderboard, that is.

The Washington U. star is currently sitting at NCAA #14 in the 800 meters, NCAA #11 in the mile, NCAA #10 in the 3000 meters and is part of the NCAA #1 team in the DMR. That’s both a blessing and a curse for Konkus in our rankings.

Outside of the DMR, she doesn’t have any eye-popping times that comfortably put her in an "elite" tier. And yet, at the same time, she does have top-15 times in multiple events. So the question is, which do you value more? An athlete who is super fast in one event? Or an athlete who is pretty fast in multiple events?

Ultimately, we did have to move her back three spots as faster times have come through this season, but that is no fault of Konkus. There is plenty of time left in the season for her to improve her marks and focus on which events she wants to contest at the national meet.

10. Morgan Lee, Junior, RPI (+6 / 16)

Morgan Lee made her season debut after a long wait at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic the other weekend. Once there, she toed the line for the 3000 meters and finished with a time of 9:40.99.

That was an 11-second PR for Lee who has been on fire since the fall months. She got no conversion for her time, but that effort still ranks at NCAA #4 in Division Three right now.

Admittedly, a result like that was on the horizon for Lee, especially after she had the best cross country season of her life this past fall. Still, we needed to see her actually post that kind of mark to validate our high expectations for her -- and she did just that.

It was an interesting move to see Lee wait this long to make her season debut and then proceed to skip racing again this past weekend. We'll admit, we want to see more of Lee before the national meet. With her current fitness level, we could see her dip under 5:00 for the mile and even sub-17:00 for the 5k.

As the season winds down, expect Lee to ramp up her racing schedule in an effort to get ready for the national meet. And as she does that, we could see a monumental rise in these rankings for the RPI star.

9. Aoife Dunne, Junior, Washington U. (+11 / 20)

Aoife Dunne has been trending in the right direction these last couple of weeks. Alongside some fast 4x400 meter relays for Washington U., the Washington U. junior has also been throwing down fast 800 meter times and has been part of an impressive DMR effort.

At the Engineer Invitational, Dunne ran 2:13.13 for the 800 meters which received a conversion down to 2:11.62. That gave her the second-fastest time in the country behind her teammate, Emma Kelley.

We wish we had the 4x800 meter relay on the national stage because Washington U. would absolutely crush it. Imagine the quartet of Dunne, Kelley, Alessia Sarussi and Emily Konkus. The possibilities are endless for them, but alas, I digress.

Let’s get back to Dunne.

Dunne isn’t afraid to move up in distance, as shown at the Keck Select meet where she opened up the Bears’ DMR team with the 1200 meter leg. The team posted a time of 11:40 in a glorified time trial and with any competition, there’s good reason to believe that they’re capable of breaking that 11:40 barrier.

Dunne’s stock is rapidly improving and we still have over a month to go in the season. If she continues racing like this, then we could see her peak her head into the conversation for a national title. She still has a long way to go before she's there, but it's not an unrealistic scenario.

8. Alex Ross, Senior, Johns Hopkins (+1 / 9)

Alex Ross has not raced since our last update.

7. Maddie Kelly, Sophomore, U. of Chicago (0 / 7)

Maddie Kelly has raced in a medley of events already this season and that trend continued over the past two weeks.

At the Aurora Grand Prix, Kelly dropped a six-second PR in the mile and ran 4:53.94. That monumental result makes up for her DNF in the event a couple of weeks ago (which may have been due to a pacing scenario, anyways). She now sits at NCAA #3 in the event and has one of the few times in our top-10 that isn’t converted.

Oh, and she followed that up with two relay contributions at the Windy City Rumble.

Her 4x400 meter relay finished in 4:06 while her DMR received a conversion of 11:47, good enough for NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard.

Kelly is proving to be a valuable piece for U. of Chicago this indoor track season. Her improvement has made her an athlete worthy of being inside our top-10 with plenty of untapped potential.

6. Maddie Hannan, Junior, UW-La Crosse (0 / 6)

Maddie Hannan is currently having the best track season of her life.

She ran a PR of 4:55 in the mile a few weeks ago, which we covered in our last set of rankings. Since then, she has followed that up with a 3k time of 9:50.11 at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational. It was the first race on UW-La Crosse’s newest indoor track and it will be a hard performance to follow up.

Hannan’s 9:50 (3k) converts to 9:45.10 which is sitting at NCAA #5 on the national leaderboard. That pairs nicely with her NCAA #5 time in the mile. Both these times are a huge step up for someone who has only ever made the national meet on an individual level once.

And that was last spring.

We could still see Hannan pursue a fast 5k time and help UW-La Crosse to a fast DMR time. Ultimately, we think that her best route for success at the national meet is a mile/3k double. If she can race just as she has thus far, then we’re potentially talking about Hannan walking away with multiple All-American awards in her first try.

5. Clara Mayfield, Junior, Carleton (-1 / 4)

Clara Mayfield is moving back in these rankings, but it’s not because of her performance(s).

She went head-to-head against Fiona Smith in the 5000 meters at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi. As many D3 fans know, both Mayfield and Smith are very familiar with each other as competitors at this point in their careers and they seem to bring the best out in each other.

Mayfield ran 16:38 (5k) to Smith’s 16:36 (5k) which should qualify them both for the national meet in a few weeks. Mayfield’s time converts down to 16:31 which currently sits at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard as of right now.

Her 16:38 is only slightly off her lifetime best of 16:33, but it is the fastest she has run ever run on the indoor oval. And by quite a bit, too.

Her previous best was 16:50 at Iowa State almost a year ago to the date. She showed us in cross country this past fall that she is in the best shape of her life. That has obviously carried over to this winter and despite the one-spot slide, Mayfield looks primed to have the best indoor track season of her career as well.

4. Ana Tucker, Junior, Hope (-1 / 3)

Ana Tucker has not raced much since our last update, so there isn’t much to say here.

At the Windy City Rumble, Tucker anchored Hope’s DMR. They ran 12:02 which converted to 11:55. That lands them at NCAA #4 , but it’s technically the third-best time as U. of Chicago has two squads inside the top-three.

It’s almost too early in the season for DMR times to mean much, but it’s a step in the right direction. Tucker is currently sitting at NCAA #9 in the mile, NCAA #1 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #3 in the 5000 meters.

She has her choice of events to choose from come March and that likely explains why she is racing sparingly right now. Whenever Tucker decides to race again, we think it will be a tune-up for whichever events she decides to race at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

3. Annika Urban, Junior, Emory (+2 / 5)

Annika Urban took a small break from racing after opening her season at the Carolina Challenge -- and that decision paid off for her, big time.

At the South Carolina Invitation last weekend, Urban dropped a massive PR running 4:50.74 for the mile. That is six seconds faster than she ran two weeks ago, a massively encouraging development as she aims to peak a month from now.

Urban’s 4:50 mark is now listed at NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard and is less than a second behind Fiona Smith’s time (4:50.01). While there is still plenty of time for people to run faster, Urban is three seconds better than the athlete behind her on the national leaderboard.

Many people expect Smith not to run the mile, leaving Urban as the theoretical favorite for the mile national title in March. However, this Emory ace might have to choose between the mile and the 5k, the latter of which she has the NCAA #2 mark. And we haven’t even mentioned that she could still drop a fast 3k time before ultimately having to choose an event.

The world is her oyster. And whatever Urban chooses to do, we think she will see success. Now it's just a matter of what racing scenario puts her in the best position to win NCAA gold.

2. Emma Kelley, Junior, Washington U. (0 / 2)

Washington U.'s Emma Kelley keeps her TSR #2 spot in these rankings despite not improving her times since December. Most of that is because she has been very active in relays for the Bears. She has run in two 4x400 meter relays, helping her team to the NCAA #3 spot on the national leaderboard.

Kelley also hopped into a DMR with Aoife Dunne and Emily Konkus. That’s an all-star team and they proved it by running 11:40 which converts down to 11:33. That is easily the best time in the country right now.

Yes, it’s really early for DMR times to be analyzed, but that kind of performance should hold up and make the Bears one of the favorites for the national title.

As for individual events, Kelley has contested one 800 meter race since our last update. At the Engineer Invitational, she ran 2:10.97. That is just shy of her seasonal best of 2:10.51 and her indoor personal best of 2:09.41.

It’s reassuring to see that Kelley can drop a 2:10 over and over again and it makes us confident in saying that she is the current national title favorite for the 800 meters.

1. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (0 / 1)

Fiona Smith continues to impress and lead the entire division.

Smith finally dropped the 5000 meter time that we were all expecting. At the Mark Schuck Open and Multi, she ran 16:36. That time moves to 16:28 after a track conversion. That is the fastest time in the country and it finally gave her a mark to back up her status as the national title favorite.

Of course, she didn’t stop there, though. She has also been working on her speed.

At the Gopher Classic, she ran the 800 meters and mile, double running 2:19 and 4:52. Both are personal bests for Smith. In fact, that 4:52 mile was so good that it converted to 4:50.01 and it is currently the fastest time in the country right now.

Smith is currently ranked NCAA #1 in the mile, NCAA #3 in the 3000 meters and NCAA #1 in the 5k. All three times should hold up as top-five marks going into the national meet weekend.

We would be shocked if she runs the mile over the 3k, but anything is possible for Smith at this point. And because of that, she maintains the top spot in our updated rankings.