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

Written by Conor Daly, Kevin Fischer & Gavin Struve

Additional edits and commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve

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NOTE: These rankings are based on how an individual 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 individual has moved in the rankings.

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

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20. Caroline McMartin, Senior, Central College (-7 / 13)

It would be tempting to look at Caroline McMartin's drop in our rankings and think that she ran poorly at the Connecticut College XC Invitational, but that isn't necessarily the case.

Her 4th place finish didn't wow us, but it was still a solid effort in a fairly deep field. That being said, McMartin did fall to two women who she had previously been ranked ahead of. She'll get an opportunity to move back up when she faces the top Wartburg runners at the ARC XC Championships this weekend.

But even if she's not a headliner there, we should remind ourselves that McMartin is someone who has historically performed better than expected at the national meet.

19. Audrey Maclean, Freshman, Middlebury (Unranked)

Audrey Maclean has been the best true freshman in the Division Three landscape so far. This isn't a totally shocking development given that she ran 10:48 over 3200 meters in high school, but the adjustment from the prep to collegiate ranks is rarely so seamless.

Maclean's 3rd place finish at the Connecticut College XC Invitational was highly impressive and it shows us that we will likely be talking about her many times over the next few years.

As we enter the highest-stakes meets of the season, Maclean has suggested that she's undaunted by strong fields and more established competitors. However, her truthfully limited experience is also going to be an interesting aspect for her to balance in the postseason.

18. Meghan Owens, Senior, Centre (Unranked)

The 10,000-meter (and javelin) national meet qualifier is having the best cross country season of her career in what's likely her final fall season.

Finishing in the top-five in a loaded Augustana Interregional Invitational field bolstered an already impressive season enough to vault her into our top-20. That's a great complement to her 3rd place finish in the "Blue" race at the Louisville XC Classic earlier this year.

We don't expect anything to change after the SAAC XC Championships where Owens will get to continue to refine her front-running skills and tactics. She had a tough end to her 2022 fall campaign, but that performance at Augustana suggests that Owens has never been at this high of a level on the grass before

17. Hannah Preisser, Sophomore, Carleton (-11 / 6)

Hannah Preisser takes a sizable fall in our rankings after a 6th place finish at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational. Of the five women who finished ahead of her, three of them were previously unranked.

That result in-and-of-itself isn't too damaging, but we can't keep Preisser ahead of all the women who bested her. That's especially true when she was also a bit underwhelming to open her fall campaign at the Running of the Cows.

Preisser's 2023 fall campaign hasn't been representative of what she can be at her best -- we still believe that she is an elite talent. Luckily, the Carleton sophomore doesn't look too far from being in top form, so she will remain in our top-20, at least for now.

16. Rachel Hirschkind, Senior, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked)

We mentioned earlier that three previously unranked women beat Hannah Preisser at the Mike Woods Invitational. Well, one of them was Rachel Hirschkind in 3rd place.

Having run competitive track times and looking solid so far this fall, Hirschkind was on our radar as someone who could vault into our top-20. And after hanging with the likes of her TSR #4 teammate, Penelope Greene, and our TSR #5 runner, Sara Stephenson, this SUNY Geneseo ace seems to be in pretty good company.

On paper, it looks like Hirschkind is beginning to fully translate her steeplechase fitness to the grass. And if that's the case, then should could be even better on the national stage.

15. Gillian Roeder, Junior, MIT (+3 / 18)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

14. Grace Hadley, Senior, WPI (+1 / 15)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

13. Shaelyn Hostager, Junior, Wartburg (-3 / 10)

Through a couple of meets, Shaelyn Hostager appeared to have evolved into one of Wartburg's top options. However, she came back down to Earth a bit with an 8th place finish at the Augustana Interreional Invitational.

To be clear, that result was hardly poor, but it didn't necessarily align with where we thought she would be this fall, at least compared to last year. Luckily, a few strong performances from earlier this season don't allow us to drop this Wartburg ace too far in our rankings. She has an opportunity to end this season in a massive way for herself and her team next month.

12. Maddie Kelly, Junior, U. of Chicago (0 / 12)

Maddie Kelly, who finished one spot ahead of Hostager at Augustana, didn't necessarily help her stock in her most recent outing, but she didn't hurt it in a significant way, either.

More accurately, Kelly remains in place during this rankings update because she placed ahead of Hostager (who was 8th), while several of the women immediately below her were idle over the past couple of weeks.

Kelly has done little to change our opinion of her over the past couple of months which is probably mostly a positive development ahead of the ultimate proving ground next month.

11. Grace Richardson, Senior, NYU (Unranked)

Grace Richardson is another beneficiary of a massive jump thanks to her recent runner-up efforts. The Violet veteran finished behind only our TSR #1 runner, Fiona Smith, at the Connecticut College XC Invitational and beat a handful of ranked (or previously) ranked women in the process.

This NYU veteran has finished towards the front of every field that she has contested this season and has suffered a Division Three loss only to Fiona Smith. We don't expect much of that will change in the weeks ahead for someone who has discovered a new level of fitness this fall even after being a 37th place All-American in 2022.

However, it will be interesting to see how the Violets' newest ace handles other D3-centric fields which will hold far more established and potent talents than what we she saw at Connecticut College two weeks ago and earlier this season.

10. Maddie Hannan, Senior, UW-La Crosse (-3 / 7)

Maddie Hannan falls a handful of spots after posting a runner-up finish in a Drews/Neubauer Invitational field that she was admittedly expected to win. It's hard to know how much emphasis we should put on this kind of result given the small nature of the field, but it would likely be an overreaction to drop Hannan more than three spots.

Regardless, we know what this UW-La Crosse star is capable of when she's at her best (a top-half All-American finish last fall). She also has a very solid 3rd place result on resume from when she finished ahead of all the Carleton women at the Running of the Cows last month.

9. Carolyn Shult, Junior, UW-Eau Claire (Unranked)

A runner-up finish at a meet as stacked as the Augustana Interregional Invitational has the influence to vault you into the national top-10 picture, as is the case with Carolyn Shult this week. Provided, of course, that you have been strong in your efforts elsewhere this fall.

Shult hinted at improved fitness earlier this season with a sneaky-good win over the St. Olaf women last month. However, despite that result, there was still little indication that she would emerge in the way she did at Augustana. Losing only to Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel and defeating everyone else was not at all something that was favored to happen.

The Blugold standout may be new to this level of national relevance, but Shult should be emboldened by the fact that she has several national meet appearances to pull from as she heads into the postseason among a new tier of talent.

8. Aubrie Fisher, Senior, Wartburg (+1 / 9)

A 4th place showing at the Augustana Interregional Invitational was a really positive development for someone who was our preseason TSR #2 name in August, but didn't look quite that strong through the first month of the season.

Luckily, Fisher appears to be rounding back into form as perhaps the Knights' top runner -- and her timing couldn't be better.

A victory at the American Rivers Conference XC Championships would be the next step in her postseason progression. The last time Fisher contested a national meet, she won a (steeplechase) national title. We're not trying to get ahead of ourselves or suggest anything, but we think Fisher may be getting on a hot streak at the right time.

7. Natalie Bitetti, Junior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (-2 / 5)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

6. Lexi Brown, Junior, Wartburg (-3 / 3)

Lexi Brown may not have been the woman who we expected to see consistently leading the way for Wartburg this fall, but she has filled that role plenty well, nonetheless. After all, she has offered consistently great scoring value for a podium-contending team.

At the Augustana Interregional Invitational, Brown continued to take on lead runner duties for the Knights with a 3rd place finish. And although she drops with her first loss in a truly competitive setting (to women ranked below her), we’d still say that she had a very strong, but relatively unsurprising, performance.

5. Sara Stephenson, Senior, Johns Hopkins (-1 / 4)

While she was considered the pre-race favorite to win the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational, Sara Stephenson was unable to pull off the victory, falling to Penelope Greene on the latter's home course.

Losing by only a second isn’t terrible and that's hardly a poor performance overall. Yes, it does seem like Stephenson should have won that race, but it may be more likely that Greene is just at an entirely new level of fitness. She did, after all, beat Stephenson at Paul Short earlier this year as well.

Regardless, our high opinion of this Johns Hopkins veteran hasn't changed since the beginning of the season, let alone since last week.

4. Penelope Greene, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (+12 / 16)

Penelope Greene has been one of Division Three’s biggest breakout stars this fall.

She first impressed us when she finished ahead of Sara Stephenson at Paul Short. However, we didn’t give her too much of a boost back then -- wanted to see her replicate that kind of performance in a D3-centric field that didn't feature almost 400 people or pouring rain.

Well, sure enough, Greene delivered.

At her home meet, the Geneseo ace took home the individual title over Stephenson and a strong group from Carleton. After thriving in two different race scenarios this fall, both of which were nationally competitive, Greene has revealed that she is in nothing but elite form.

3. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Junior, U. of Chicago (+8 / 11)

Based on the way that Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel has been running this season, you would never have guessed that she had relatively limited collegiate cross country experience going into these fall months.

The Maroons' newest star has adjusted to racing on the grass unbelievably well. Not only that, but she has also been very tactically sound, something that was further evidenced by her most recent win.

The U. of Chicago junior beat a highly competitive national-caliber field at the Augustana Interregional Invitational, pulling away from the competition (seemingly) with ease. Battleson-Gunkel is having one of those seasons where she can do no wrong. Now we can't help but wonder how competitive she could be with Girard on the national stage.

2. Genna Girard, Junior, Williams (0 / 2)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

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

Fiona Smith hasn’t done anything that we haven’t seen her do before. She’s still out there dominating some of the better fields Division Three has to offer.

Her most recent race featured a victory over our TSR #11 runner, Grace Richardson, at the Connecticut College XC Invitational. Not only did Smith win, but she did so by over a minute. She's just on a completely different level than everyone else.

Not to state the obvious, but Smith remains as the heavy (borderline untouchable) favorite in the upcoming national title race thanks to her unmatched firepower and the fact that she's displayed no flaws up-and-to this point.

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ADDED

Grace Richardson (NYU)

Carolyn Shult (UW-Eau Claire)

Rachel Hirschkind (SUNY Geneseo)

Meghan Owens (Centre)

Audrey Maclean (Middlebury)

KICKED OFF

Olivia Rosenstein (MIT)

Ellie Meyer (Wartburg)

Claire Walters (Franciscan (OH))

Allison Sibold (St. Lawrence)

Lara Kallem (Simpson)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Allison Sibold (St. Lawrence)

Ellie Meyer (Wartburg)

Brigid Hanley (Emory)

Phoebe Ward (Carleton)

Kayla Aalpoel (George Fox)

Morgan Uhlhorn (NYU)

Ella Ball (Williams)

Molly Fitzgibbons (Williams)

Chloe Bullock (Redlands)

Elle Marsyla (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)

Lara Kallem (Simpson)

Vivian Kane (NYU)

Deyanneira Colon Maldonado (Aurora)

Kayla Werner (Lynchburg)

Olivia Rosenstein (MIT)

Rachel Krouse (UW-Stevens Point)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Alison Bode (St. Olaf)

Sydney Rankin (Colorado College)

Kate Sanderson (MIT)

Sydney Kholsa (Wittenburg)

Ella Webster (Wittenburg)

Kate Cochran (NYU)

Olivia Pisacano (RPI)

Lexi Fernandez (MIT)

Elliot Singer (Colorado College)

Sophie McManus (Carleton)

Kyah Holland (Hardin-Simmons)

Megan Johnson (Central College)

Katelyn Chadwick (UW-La Crosse)

Sylvan Wold (Amherst)

Katie Cline (Pomona-Pitzer)

Alexandra Blake (Washington U.)

Kendall Accetta (Colorado College)

Sophie Tedesco (U. of Chicago)

Sienna Ruiter-Diaz (Calvin)

Riley Martel-Phillips (UC-Santa Cruz)

Notes

- N/A