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

TSR Collaboration
Apr 18, 2023
10 min read

Written by Hannah Thorn & Kevin Fischer

Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin

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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.

20. Hope Murphy, Junior, Baldwin Wallace (-8 / 12)

Hope Murphy had a tough weekend at the Bison Outdoor Classic, running 4:52 in the 1500 meters and 2:14 in the 800 meters. That's a tough look for someone who looked so incredibly strong in the latter-half of the most recent indoor track season.

Even so, we know what her potential is when she's firing on all cylinders as she ran a 4:26 (1500) PR last year and covered the half-mile distance in a time of 2:10 as recently as February. Plus, she was someone who got off to a slow start during the winter months before eventually rebounding.

In other words, she may know when to peak when she has to.

History does help her stock and chances of staying within the top-20 portion of our rankings, but better performances in the near future would restore our confidence in Murphy.

19. Windsor Ardner, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked)

Windsor Ardner, the rising ace for SUNY Geneseo, is getting dangerously close to being in the best shape of her life...if she's not already there.

After running 4:38 (1500) and 2:15 (800) last week, the Knight standout improved upon that showing with marks of 4:30 (1500) and 2:13 (800) in yet another double at Bucknell this past weekend.

That 4:30 mark matches her personal best from last spring and puts her at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard in the event. She is looking more and more like a dark horse threat to contend for the 1500 meter title at the outdoor national meet this year -- although that will largely come down to how much momentum she can build and maintain until then.

18. Grace Hadley, Junior, WPI (Unranked)

Grace Hadley has had a massive last couple of weeks. And right now, it's hard to wonder if anyone is on the same kind of hot streak that she is on right now.

It was going to be difficult to follow-up her nearly two-minute PR of 16:53 in the 5000 meters from last weekend, but she nearly out-did herself with a 4:30.00 (1500) mark which now places her inside the top-three on the D3 national leaderboard.

The WPI junior broke through onto the national scene this past indoor track season. However, it's the spring months where she is building another highly successful campaign, one that will likely be even better than what we've seen so far this year.

17. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Sophomore, U. of Chicago (+1 / 18)

Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel’s last couple weeks have been quiet, but impressive, nonetheless.

Her 4:35 mark in her collegiate 1500 meter debut puts her in a really nice spot at this point in the season. And when you add in the fact that she’s already run 16:48 this spring for 5000 meters, it's hard to ignore the fact that she is a fairly dynamic threat in essentially any instance.

It will be interesting to see whether she focuses on the 1500 meters or the 5000 meters with the spring season coming to an end sooner rather than later. She has potential to thrive in both distances on the national stage and it wouldn’t come as a total shock to see her double in both events come May.

16. Ellie Rising, Junior, George Fox (+1 / 17)

Since our last update, George Fox standout Ellie Rising has raced just once, posting a 2:11 mark over 800 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Rising has been incredibly consistent since transferring to George Fox. The on-the-rise talent has run between 2:10 and 2:12 for 800 meters in all five of the times that she has toed the line for that event this year -- and we love that reliability.

The consistency that we are seeing from her will go a long way when we get to the postseason where almost everybody will be running on beaten-down legs after a long and demanding season. And when making predictions, you'll want to pick the runner who hasn't given you a reason to doubt her.

15. Maddie Hannan, Junior, UW-La Crosse (-1 / 14)

Maddie Hannan ran 16:47 in a stacked 5000 meter field at UW-Platteville this past weekend to finish in 4th place overall. That was a very solid outing from somebody who we largely think of as a 1500 meter runner.

The week prior to that, Hannan put together a nice double at the Ashton May Invitational, running 4:34 for 1500 meters and 2:14 for 800 meters. But those results were hardly surprising given what we already know her.

The versatility that this UW-La Crosse ace is showing at the moment right now is highly encouraging as she is extending her success from the winter months in a similar fashion. She is proving that she can be nationally competitive anywhere from the 800 meters to the 5000 meters.

Of course, on the national stage, seeing how effectively those racing aspects blend together will be vitally important to her postseason goals.

14. Sara Stephenson, Junior, Johns Hopkins (-1 / 13)

Sara Stephenson’s 5000 meter personal best of 16:57 was nice to see. That will will likely be enough for her to make the national meet in that event barring a barrage of breakthrough races from other women across the country.

Of course, whether or not she ends up actually running that race come late May is still an unknown. The steeplechase is still Stephenson's best bet to contend for a national title -- or at the very least, a top All-American finish.

Either way, this Johns Hopkins is showing some really promising signs as we move towards the heart of this outdoor track season.

We’ll await Stephenson’s next race, but as of now, we think she could contend for an All-American spot in either the steeplechase or the 5000 meters. And on her best day, she could walk away two top-eight finishes at the national meet in May.

13. Rachel Hirschkind, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (+1 / 14)

While known for her steeplechasing abilities, Rachel Hirschkind has been running great this outdoor track season, setting personal bests in both the 1500 meters (4:45) and the 5k (16:48).

As last year’s 4th place finisher in the steeplechase at the outdoor national meet, she’s going to be one of the top contenders in that event yet again in 2023, but she has certainly made a name for herself in the 5k as well. Her latest time at that distance puts her at NCAA #9 on the D3 national leaderboard so far this spring.

We’ll likely see her in another steeplechase soon. Can she approach or dip under 10:30 in that event? We think that's plenty likely...

12. Emily Konkus, Junior, Washington U. (-3 / 9)

The 1500 meters has always been a strong suit for Emily Konkus whose 4:29 PR in the event is one of the faster marks in Division Three, at least as far as overall resumes go.

The Washington U. veteran made her first attempt at that distance at the Lincoln University Open this past weekend, running 4:36 to place 2nd overall behind teammate Aoife Dunne. That's not a bad result by any means, but it doesn't necessarily tell us anything new.

If anything, that felt more like a rust-buster.

We’re still only a few weeks into the outdoor track season, so there is a lot more time for Konkus to continue to drop her times. She is simply too fit based on her winter campaign and we don't see that talent just disappearing over the next five weeks.

11. Ana Tucker, Junior, Hope (-1 / 10)

Ana Tucker has not raced since our last rankings update.

10. Lexi Brown, Junior, Wartburg (+1 / 11)

After a decent set of races at the Ashton May Invitational, Lexi Brown came back with vengeance at UW-Platteville, running 16:39 for 5000 meters to finish just behind Anna Kenig-Zeisler, setting a massive PR in the process.

While Brown has mainly been shining in the mile/1500 meters, this was her breakout race in the 5k, showing us that her range is a little more potent/flexible than we previously thought.

Might we see a 1500/5k double for Brown at the outdoor national meet this year? That might be a bit of a gamble, but it's hard to dislike the skillset that she's developing right now. She has been a very pleasant surprise throughout this academic year.

9. Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Senior, U. of Chicago (Unranked)

A loaded women’s field at the UW-Platteville Invitational in the 5k was a bit of a mixed bag, but Anna Kenig-Zeisler showed once again that the 5k is her strong suit, taking home the win and running 16:37, putting her at NCAA #4 on the D3 national leaderboard.

The reigning 3rd place finisher in this event from the indoor national meet, Kenig-Zeisler had already put together impressive 10k earlier this season prior to this past weekend. But the Maroon ace just ran her most impressive race thus far this spring, taking down some serious competition.

By having run top marks in the 5k and the 10k this spring, both of which will most likely qualify her for the outdoor national meet, we’ll be interested to see what Kenig-Zeisler's schedule throughout the rest of this season will look like.

Maybe she'll attack some 800 meter or 1500 meter races to work on her turnover/speed. If so, then we'd be curious to see what those marks look like.

8. Clara Mayfield, Junior, Carleton (0 / 8)

Clara Mayfield has not raced since our last rankings update.

7. Maddie Kelly, Junior, U. of Chicago (-1 / 7)

The middle distance events have called Maddie Kelly’s name over the last two weekends of racing. She won the NCC 1st Chance Invitational in the 1500 meters, running 4:32 (NCAA #6), and also won the 800 meters at the Wheaton Invitational, running 2:13.15 (NCAA #10).

We’ve seen how good Kelly is at the mile and the 3k from this indoor track season, but she’s only continuing to expand on her range. She first did so with an early-season 5k race at the Washington U. Distance Carnival. And now, with a strong 800 meter performance under her belt, it's impossible to deny that Kelly is one of the most versatile distance talent in Division Three.

With how dangerous her kick is, seeing Kelly throw down a speedy mark in the 800 meters only speaks positively to how her momentum is building this outdoor track season thus far.

6. Aubrie Fisher, Junior, Wartburg (0 / 6)

Aubrie Fisher has taken on a few non-barrier events over the last two weeks after opening up her season with a 10:35 steeplechase mark which still sits at NCAA #1.

This spring, the Wartburg star has finished very close to her personal bests in both the 1500 meters, where she ran 4:37 at the Ashton May Invite, as well as the 5k, where she ran 16:56 at the UW-Platteville Invitational.

Those marks are certainly not too shabby, especially with her 5k time sitting at NCAA #13 at the moment. Of course, we all know that Fisher’s speciality is the steeplechase, an event where she’ll truly shine.

It’s exciting to think about how fast she’ll go this year as the on-paper national title favorite.

5. Aoife Dunne, Junior, Washington U. (0 / 5)

Aoife Dunne must have wanted an NCAA #2 spot on the national leaderboard over 800 meters to match her NCAA #3 position on the national leaderboard in the 1500 meters.

At the Greenville College Select meet, Dunne ran 2:08.67 for the half-mile distance and now sits right behind teammate Emma Kelley in that event, nationally. The Washington U. ace was right off of her 800 meter personal best of 2:08.65 which she ran at the indoor national meet the other month.

While that wasn't a PR, seeing Dunne run that fast in the middle of April was wildly encouraging. In theory, we should see her smash that personal best in the coming weeks. The only question is...by how much?

4. Emma Kelley, Junior, Washington U. (-1 / 3)

Emma Kelley is no stranger when it comes to going head-to-head in the middle distances against her teammate, Aoife Dunne.

At the Greenville College Select meet, the half-mile indoor national champion once again got the best of her counterpart. In the 800 meters, the two women went 2:06.17 and 2:08.67, respectively. That is good for NCAA #1 and NCAA #2 on the D3 national leaderboard this year with Kelley’s time being a new personal best.

It also made her the fifth-fastest woman in D3 history for that event.

The Bear veteran also leads the nation in the 400 meters with a 55.15 mark from the Lincoln University Open and she is sure to feature on Washington U’s 4x400 meter relay team. She will have a very busy weekend if she opts to do all three events at the national meet, but frankly, she's such a heavy national title favorite in the 800 meters that it might not really matter.

3. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (-1 / 2)

The women of D3 decided to rewrite the history books this year.

Fiona Smith took her turn at the Mt. SAC Relays. She ran the 10,000 meters in an outstanding time of 33:23. That makes her the third-fastest woman in D3 history while also earning the fourth-fastest time in D3 overall. The Saint Benedict star currently sits at NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard in that event behind Kassie Parker, but over a minute ahead of fellow distance star, Ana Tucker.

Smith now has super fast times in both the 5k and the 10k this spring, but that is hardly surprising given her consistency when posting elite times. Of course, the national meet is going to be a different than it was this past winter. With the introduction of Kassie Parker back to the outdoor circuit, Smith isn't the national title favorite in either of those events.

For the next month, we would hope to see her to work on that speed and hope that she can kick down a few of these fast women (specifically Parker) if she can stay within striking distance or the Loras star.

2. Annika Urban, Junior, Emory (+2 / 4)

Relatively speaking, Annika Urban is making a big jump up in these rankings this week as she has been absolutely stellar so far this season.

Her most impressive result is probably a 4:26 mark over 1500 meters which she ran at the Flames Invitational two weeks ago. That was a big PR as her previous personal best was a modest, but solid, time of 4:30.

But now, Urban leads all other D3 1500 meter runners, nationally, by a solid three seconds.

The Emory juggernaut also had a big weekend at the Bryan Clay Invitational this past weekend where she ran the 5000 meters in a blistering time of 16:06! Her previous fastest mark came from an indoor track race at Boston University where she ran 16:29, so this was a huge step forward and a massive statement about her current fitness.

It also makes her the third-fastest runner in D3 history!

It’s crazy that Urban might not be the national title favorite in the 5k this spring after running that fast, but we still need to see how she will bounce back from the 1500 meter rounds on the national stage if she were to double.

And not to mention, there is a woman named Kassie Parker who is still running at the D3 level.