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TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Women): #19 Colorado State Rams
- Maura Beattie
- Aug 15, 2023
- 8 min read
Written by Maura Beattie, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On rare occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
This ranking may feel like slight déjà vu for the Colorado State Rams.
Heading into the fall of 2022, we ranked the Rams at TSR #18 in our preseason team rankings. And one year later, the ladies of Fort Collins find themselves listed at TSR #19, almost the exact same spot.
Last fall, the Colorado State women were a consistent group on the grass behind a core group of veterans, three of which will surely be missed from their lineup this year. Yes, it’s hard for a team to lose three national meet competitors, but their current roster has gained valuable experience and should only benefit from natural growth throughout 2023.
And in some cases, we've already seen that from some of the top women on this team this past winter and spring.
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In their first major test of the 2022 cross country season, the women of Colorado State came out swinging, holding their own with a 4th place finish at the Griak Invitational.
Led by the top-12 finishes of Sarah Carter, Lily Tomasula-Martin and Annabel Stafford, the Rams were a mere two points behind 3rd place finisher Michigan State and nine points shy of finishing runner-up to Utah.
Admittedly, the gap between CSU's top scoring trio and the rest of their lineup was significant. With no one else on the team finishing higher than 37th place, the Rams surprised us by struggling with depth -- the one aspect that we thought was their greatest strength.
Even so, it was on the hills of the Griak Invitational course that set up Colorado State for an even more challenging battle at the historic Nuttycombe Invitational.
At the biggest regular season meet of the year, both Carter and Tomasula-Martin established themselves as lead scorers, giving the Rams plenty of firepower by yielding a 62nd place and 73rd place finishes, respectively.
The duo was later supported by the trio of Ashlyn Hillyard (110th), Emily Chaston (130th) and Stafford (145th). A total of just 11 seconds separated those three Lady Rams and thanks to their pack-running style, Colorado State returned home with a strong 17th place finish.
No, it wasn't a perfect race, and there was still room for improvement, but the Colorado State women had to be happy with their effort. They needed greater firepower, but there wasn't a glaring scoring deficiency that dramatically held this team back in the final standings.
With momentum at a high heading into the Mountain West XC Championships, the Rams were able to record their highest conference meet finish since the fall of 2012. Tomasula-Martin flexed her experience at the Mountain West XC Championships with an 8th place finish while Stafford regrouped after a disappointing finish at Nuttycombe to place 9th.
Even though Carter had a slight "off" day by crossing the line as the team's third scorer (11th), teammates Hillyard and Chaston picked up the pieces. With all five Colorado State scorers among the top-18, a promising (but expected) runner-up finish was earned by the Rams.
The team later cruised through the Mountain Regional XC Championships and aimed for their best result to come in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
However, despite the expectations, the NCAA XC Championships wasn’t exactly Colorado State’s best race of their season. A 25th place finish left us wanting so much more as the Rams lost to some teams that they had beaten handily earlier in the year.
Carter had the best race of her season and came oh-so-close to an All-American finish when she crossed the line in 43rd place. That was a massive 173-place improvement from her last appearance at the NCAA XC Championships.
But from there, the scoring structure of this team began to deteriorate.
Tomasula-Martin, a now-departed senior, was further back from Carter than one would’ve expected, crossing the line in 137th place. Crossing the line one second behind her was Claudia Burgess in 144th place. That was Burgess’s first time scoring for her team in a major race that season and in our eyes, she was one of the few bright spots in the Rams' lineup that day after Sarah Carter.
Although they had been consistent all season long, the trio of Chaston, Hillyard and Stafford just didn’t have their best races on the grueling Oklahoma State cross country course. Hillyard was the final scorer for the team, but by her crossing the line in 181st place, the Rams were too far out from matching (or exceeding) our preseason ranking of TSR #18.
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The 2023 season will be here before we know it and the women of Colorado State have the opportunity to improve upon last year’s national meet finish. However, former veterans such as Tomasula-Martin, Hillyard and Burgess have since moved on, leaving returners, transfers and newcomers with some big shoes to fill.
And yet, they shouldn’t be daunted in doing so.
Coming back for her senior season is Sarah Carter, a woman who could be primed for a major fall campaign. After narrowly missing out on All-American honors last fall, Carter has only been getting better, both on the indoor and outdoor ovals.
This rising Colorado State star caught our attention during the winter after running a massive 15:45 (5k) PR at the Husky Classic, a time that earned her a qualifying mark for the indoor national meet.
On that stage, a near All-American finish was earned by Carter when she crossed the line in 9th place, setting herself up nicely for a strong spring season. With another second chopped off of her 5k PR, the Ram ace finished her year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, although she likely wanted more after settling for 23rd place.
Could a top-30 result at this year's NCAA XC Championships be in the cards for Carter with more national-level experience under her belt? She’s a veteran of the Colorado State program and has made a name for herself over the past year. Now, she just needs to capitalize on the growth that she has recently made.
And if she does make those improvements, then Colorado State will have made a dent in the lost scoring left behind by Tomasula-Martin, Hillyard and Burgess.
Behind Carter are two women who could end up being the difference makers for this team in 2023: Emily Chaston and Annabel Stafford. That duo is going to need to tap into their extensive experience to help Colorado State return to the national scene and deliver on the expectations that come with a TSR #19 preseason ranking.
Chaston always found herself in the mix for the Rams during the fall of 2022. The upcoming junior was finishing among the middle of the fields that she was in and she was always a scorer for her team.
We'll admit, without racing since the Mountain West Indoor Championships, it’s hard to gauge where Chaston’s fitness is at. A key February effort produced a strong time of 9:17 (3k), but is that a translatable result to the grass?
Colorado State needs Chaston at full strength this fall if they are going to deliver on expectations, but if she is, then she should be better than last year.
As for Stafford, we'll recognize that her consistency could be so much better. However, it's also clear that she has an incredible amount of potential, enough to be a true low-stick who can significantly cut-down on certain lineup gaps.
The redshirt junior had her best race of the 2022 cross country season at the Mountain Regional XC Championships where she took down a slew of talented runners to finish 6th overall. And although she wasn’t able to ride that momentum into the cross country national meet, there’s still potential for Stafford to be within 15 places of Carter given her recent success.
On the track, Stafford proved to be on a new level when she ran 15:49 (5k) and 32:45 (10k). The challenge for her this fall will be to translate that success from the oval to the grass, consistently. If she does that, then this team could be even better than TSR #19 by November.
Colorado State has a core group of returners in Carter, Chaston and Stafford. On paper, that is a much better trio than some may realize. But what about the other four spots in this lineup?
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The Rams' seventh runner at last year's cross country national meet was middle distance talent, Quinn McConnell. The redshirt junior might not have been scoring for her team last fall, but she was always playing a supporting role.
Recent efforts of 2:08 (800) and 4:24 (1500) from the track could come in handy on the cross country course if McConnell needs to run competitors down on the homestretch. But at the very least, she can at least build on her fitness and experience from last year.
McConnnell doesn't need to be a star, or even a middle lineup contributor in the coming months. She just needs to cut-off the Rams' top-five scoring relatively quickly. And in our eyes, we believe that she is more than capable of doing so (if called upon).
Redshirt senior Lauren Neugeboren also has some solid experience in her toolbox. She saw some time in Colorado State's varsity lineup in 2022, but missed out on racing at the NCAA XC Championships.
That, however, is not to say that Neugeboren won’t be there three months from now.
With her 16:10 (5k) personal best from the track, the Colorado State women could greatly benefit from the depth that Neugeboren can provide. For a team that is losing three crucial veterans, adding someone like her into the Rams' lineup could make all the difference -- or at least help the team avoid any poor outings.
Aside from the returners, Coach Kelly Hart is bringing in three solid transfers. One of these newcomers could make an immediate impact for the Rams later this fall while the other two could add depth.
Arriving from Lamar University, Yasmin Austridge has some serious range. The newest Ram has been able to post a 2:04 (800) PR while also dropping a 9:52 (steeple) mark. That latter time certainly caught our attention for a team that would be happy with more depth, but they could also be getting more than that.
Austridge might not be on the same level as women like Carter, Chaston and Stafford (yet), but her talent matches up nicely with Neugeboren. With similar 6k cross country PRs, the newcomer and veteran could round be the reason why Colorado State delivers on the expectations that come with this ranking.
Kensey May and Audrey Thronson also join the Rams this season after stints at Syracuse and Tennessee, respectively. Neither runner has much collegiate experience to their name currently as both enter with one cross country season contested. Still, they'll be nice developmental pieces.
If the opportunity arises, incoming freshmen such as Mari Konold and Ava Escorcia could also land a spot within Colorado State's top-seven later this fall.
Konold was the Utah 5A XC State Championship runner-up during her senior year and ran an impressive 17:16 (5k) PR on the grass. As a strength-based runner, this rising rookie could find early success in her collegiate career with the Rams.
Colorado native Ava Escorcia is just as stellar as her fellow incoming teammate. As a prep talent, Escorcia was a two-time Colorado cross country state champion in her respective division and carries with her a 17:24 (5k) PR. She is joining Colorado State at the right time as they search for an athlete capable of providing depth to a very middle-of-the-pack team.
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The Colorado State women have all the necessary pieces needed to improve upon their preseason ranking. Of course, that will require a lot of different favorable outcomes siding in the Rams' favor.
An early-season test in mid-September will give us a better gauge on who (and what) the Rams are bringing to the table this fall. We know Carter is capable of an All-American finish and we can rely on Chaston and Stafford to score well…but it’s the depth that will truly bring this team home.
The Rams are on the cusp of a great season, one that could be highlighted by a team title at the Mountain West XC Championships and a top-20 finish at the NCAA XC Championships. And who knows? If everything goes perfectly, those kind of results could even be their floor.
