TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #30-21 (Women)

Written by Scotty Loughlin, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin

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Click here to read our rankings rubric

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30. Zofia Dudek, Junior, Stanford

Few women in the NCAA have the raw, aerobic-centric talent that Zofia Dudek has. Since her freshman year, which was during the winter cross country season, this Stanford star has looked like a juggernaut low-stick.

The problem, however, is her consistency and health.

In the winter of 2021, Dudek was just as good as any individual cross country runner in the NCAA. Through three meets, she looked incredible. But on the national stage, she faded hard to 156th place, battling an injury along the way.

In the fall of 2021, Dudek never reached those same highs, but she was consistent across the board in nationally competitive meets. A 63rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships was a positive development, but it wasn't close to her full potential.

And then the 2022 cross country season happened.

In a season where Dudek was both fit and healthy, the Stanford ace began to look like her freshman year self. A 16th place finish at the always-loaded Nuttycombe Invitational was highly encouraging. The same could be said about her very solid 6th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships.

Then, Dudek reached the national stage, delivering an outstanding 20th place All-American finish. It took almost two years, but the Cardinal low-stick looked like she was truly "back".

This past winter, Dudek extended her success, running 15:40 for 5000 meters and qualifying for the indoor national meet (where she placed 13th). And at the beginning of the outdoor track season, the Palo Alto-based star dropped a fantastic 15:32 (5k) PR!

But from there, things haven't great.

Between a pair of DNF results and a handful of underwhelming times, Dudek simply struggled. She even competed at the Polish U23 Championships earlier this month where she ran 4:39 for 1500 meters and finished in 10th place.

While we won't offer any unfounded speculation, it does seem fair to say that Dudek just wasn't at 100% this past spring (or summer).

Truthfully, this Polish distance ace is a major wild card this fall. The quality of her results have varied dramatically and it's fair to have questions about her availability/health.

At her best, she's a top-20 runner in the NCAA this fall, and that may be conservative. And yet, at the same time, we're just not sure how she'll rebound from a tough outdoor track season.

29. Ella Baran, Senior, Colorado

At the Division Three level, Ella Baran dominated.

The former Johns Hopkins' runner was one of the best mile and 3k talents that the division had ever seen. And when paired with a top-10 finish at the 2021 D3 NCAA XC Championships, it felt possible that Baran could be a fringe low-stick with the Colorado women, a school that she joined as a graduate transfer last summer.

For the most part, our assessment of her potential impact was fairly accurate.

At the Cowboy Jamboree, Baran was a pleasant surprise, placing 17th overall. And while that didn't necessarily make her a top-tier low-stick, it did show us that she could be competitive at the Division One level.

A 47th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite admittedly dampened Baran's prior showing in Stillwater. The graduate transfer was still offering great value, but she wasn't necessarily a top-50 runner in the nation...yet.

When Baran entered the postseason, everything changed.

The Buffalo ace dropped an outstanding 7th place finish at the always top-heavy PAC-12 XC Championships. And with tons of momentum on her side, Baran snagged an excellent 30th place All-American finish on the national stage.

In our eyes, the Buffaloes' newest low-stick had shattered expectations.

But Baran was arguably just as good on the track. This past winter, she ran outstanding times of 8:57 (3k) and 15:33 (5k). She would qualify for both the indoor and outdoor national meets over 5000 meters.

As we venture into the fall months, it feels like we have a fairly clear idea of what we're going to get out of Baran. She's a high-octane scorer who can take advantage of momentum and she runs her best races late in the season (although not always on the national stage).

We would admittedly be surprised if she was able to crack into the top-20 portion of these rankings later this year. Even so, if Baran can become a little more consistent throughout an entire season, then a ranking that high may not be that crazy of a suggestion.

28. Margot Appleton, Junior, Virginia

Throughout last fall, Margot Appleton could be defined as a "good" cross country runner -- maybe even "really good". But after an incredible breakout year on the track, this Virginia superstar may skip the "great" tier altogether.

And by November, she may be "elite".

After a handful of rust-busting meets last fall, Appleton toed the line in Boston where she secured a great runner-up result at the Battle in Beantown. That was a solid performance, but it wasn't as impressive as her bronze medal effort at the Panorama Farms XC Invitational.

Still, those regular season races weren't all that competitive. The ACC XC Championships would, in theory, pose a far larger challenge.

Luckily, Appleton held her own at the conference level. The Virginia ace finished 9th place overall and gave her team a borderline low-stick to rally around. She wasn't blowing anyone away, but the Cavalier sophomore was delivering meet after meet.

Once Appleton reached the national stage, we saw her finish 55th place overall. Sure, there might have been potential for her to finish higher, but generally speaking, that result was on par with expectations.

Her results on the track, however, were not.

On the indoor oval, Appleton truly broke out. She ran a 4:33 mile PR, posted a new 3k PR of 9:04, qualified for the indoor national meet in the mile and placed 4th overall on that stage.

Then, during spring months, the Massachusetts native dropped an incredible 5k PR of 15:36. She also ran 4:08 for 1500 meters and finished 3rd overall in that event at the national meet.

To put it simply, Appleton is at an entirely new level in 2023 compared to 2022. In fact, she seems like almost a lock to be an All-American later this fall (the national meet is on her home course). But how high she'll go come October and November is still a little bit of a mystery.

27. Samree Dishon, Junior, Colorado

One of many former New Mexico women who left the Lobos this summer is Samree Dishon, a consistent and reliable long distance ace. She will now join a highly volatile (but dangerous) Colorado team that will happily welcome her scoring stability.

Dishon entered the 2022 cross country season on our "Just Missed" list. She had put together a very promising outdoor track season and she was trending in the right direction. However, when she placed 13th overall at the Joe Piane Invitational in her season debut, we realized that we still weren't high enough on her rising upside.

From there, Dishon had our attention -- and she took full advantage of the spotlight.

At Nuttycombe, the former Lobo had an almost-unbelievable race. In a field loaded with established stars, it was Dishon cracking the top-10 and leading the New Mexico women with a monstrous 8th place finish.

And suddenly, everything that we thought we knew about Dishon, and her team, completely changed. She wasn't just a great middle lineup scorer, she was a lethal low-stick!

But when Dishon toed the line at the Mountain Regional XC Championships (after not racing at her conference meet), the New Mexico runner faded hard. She placed 98th overall. And as the Lobos entered the national meet, there were legitimate questions from TSR about whether or not Dishon would rebound.

In the end, the sophomore was able to hold her own and grab a well-deserved 37th place All-American finish. But after seeing what she had done at Nuttycombe, her true firepower seemed to be untapped in the postseason.

Nowadays, Dishon is in Boulder, Colorado. She is preparing to act as a key piece for a lineup that will make a run at the national title this fall.

Dishon proved at Joe Piane and Nuttycombe that she could be a juggernaught low-stick for her team, potentially someone who would be ranked as a top-15 talent. And while her national meet performance was still encouraging, her 2022 postseason efforts felt like a step backwards.

Of course, if we meet in the middle between those two points of her cross country resume, then a preseason ranking of TSR #27 seems plenty fair.

26. Laura Pellicoro, Junior, Portland

Some people seem to forget how versatile Laura Pellicoro can be. With personal bests of 2:03 (800), 4:32 (mile) and 9:04 (3k) on her resume, this Portland standout can do it all.

And sure enough, she proved that to be the case last fall.

During the 2022 cross country season, the Pilot distance standout truly reached a new level. A 2nd place finish at the Dellinger Invite was encouraging and a 32nd place finish at Nuttycombe was respectable.

And after two runner-up results between her conference and regional meets, Pellicoro smashed expectations and secured a 25th place finish at the national meet.

Ranking Pellicoro isn't as easy as you may think. She never had a truly poor performance last year, but her racing schedule outside of Nuttycombe wasn't all that challenging. And when she did venture to Wisconsin, it felt like she left six or seven spots on the table.

With the amount of quality data points being fairly limited, but essentially nothing on her resume to complain about, we thought a top-30 ranking near TSR #26 seemed appropriate.

25. Bethany Graham, Junior, Furman

It may have been easy for some people to forget about how talented Bethany Graham is. The junior distance runner comes from a smaller mid-major school, is at her best on the grass rather than the track and hasn't raced since December.

That, however, hasn't stopped her from evolving into one of the more reliable All-Americans in the country.

To truly understand Graham's value on the grass, we need to take a look at what she did in both the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022.

In the fall of 2021, the Furman ace stunned the country with a monster 11th place finish at Nuttycombe before earning the final All-American spot (40th) at the national meet.

Then, last year, we saw a slight reversal in how her season played out. Graham had a solid regular season, but truly peaked for the national meet when she placed 27th overall.

Between the last two years of cross country, you could argue that the "worst" result that Bethany Graham has produced was a 30th place finish at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invitational. And if that's the "worst" result that Graham is ever going to produce, then Coach Rita Gary has to be thrilled.

We'll admit, not seeing Graham since December is a little concerning. If she had at least recorded a few recent results, then she may have been ranked slightly higher. But for now, this Paladin star seems at home just two spots ahead of where she finished at least year's national meet.

24. Doris Cherop, Freshman, Alabama

When it comes to Doris Cherop, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there aren't many races on her resume to analyze.

The good news? Her personal bests are incredibly fast.

In the steeplechase, Cherop has run as fast as 9:35. And according to World Athletics, that time was run in Nairobi, a Kenyan city which sits at nearly 5900 feet of altitude. And by using an altitude adjustment calculator (via Final Surge), we're looking at a converted time of 9:14.

If she had run that time without any conversions, then Cherop would be the new collegiate record holder over the barriers by roughly two seconds.

But if you thought that was absurd, then what if I told you that this incoming Alabama star had run 14:40 for 5000 meters? No, not 15:40, I legitimately meant to type 14:40. For 5000 meters.

Now, admittedly, that time was run in a French road race that is historically fast. For perspective, Yomif Kejelcha won the men's 5k race with a time of 12:50. And in the women's race, Cherop finished 3rd overall while three other women joined her under the 15-minute barrier.

We'll be honest, we have no idea what to think about those times. It seems highly unlikely that Cherop is going to run anything close to 9:14 in the steeplechase once she reaches the NCAA and it's hard to put much validity behind that 5k road race.

There's no question that Cherop has an unreal amount of raw talent. But until we see her fully translate her crazy times to the grass, we figured a spot near the exact middle of our preseason rankings probably made the most sense for now.

23. Savannah Roark, Junior, Syracuse

One of the biggest breakout performers of the 2022 cross country season was Savannah Roark, a then-sophomore who gave the Orange women a much-needed low-stick throughout last fall.

Roark had a few decent seasons during her first few years in upstate New York. But in the fall of 2022, she found a new level of fitness.

That realization first became apparent at the Cowboy Jamboree when the Syracuse ace stunned everyone with a fantastic 9th place finish. The third-year sophomore upset a handful of top veterans and left TSR searching through TFRRS asking, "Who is this?"

At Nuttycombe, Roark would mostly validate her performance from earlier in the season, finishing 31st overall. And while it wasn't quite as strong as her Cowboy Jamboree effort, the newest Syracuse low-stick proved that she could be the focal point of her team.

However, the ACC XC Championships was when we saw Roark have her first (minor) hiccup as she placed 15th overall. Luckily, that result didn't impact her for the rest of the postseason.

After finishing runner-up at the Northeast Regional XC Championships, the Syracuse star made a huge statement by securing a fantastic 23rd place finish, well ahead of the "fringe" All-American predictions that we made for her.

There's no easy way to balance the performances that we saw from Roark last fall. She was excellent at the Cowboy Jamboree, decent at Nuttycombe, a bit "off" at the ACC Championships and outstanding on the national stage.

We don't necessarily love placing Roark at the exact same spot as where she finished at the 2022 national meet. But from a resume standpoint, this seems like the right spot. We have to remember, this Syracuse talent was only a sophomore (by eligibility) last year -- we'll likely see greater upside and consistency from her later this fall.

22. Flomena Asekol, Senior, Florida

One of the biggest surprises of the summer was seeing Flomena Asekol enter the transfer portal and ultimately join the Florida women. Of course, just because it was surprising doesn't mean that we don't understand her reasoning.

By joining the Gators, this former Crimson Tide star will be able to reunite with former distance coach, Will Palmer.

Asekol has evolved into one of the best cross country runners in the nation, although being apart of a loaded Alabama squad last fall may have overshadowed that.

In the fall of 2021, Asekol was electric. She earned a jaw-dropping runner-up finish against a tier-one field at the Joe Piane Invitational. The Crimson Tide star would later place 29th at the NCAA XC Championships.

Last year, the start of Asekol's fall campaign was a little more mellow, finishing 18th at Joe Piane and placing only 10th at the North Alabama Showcase. But in the postseason, the Alabama ace finished 7th at the SEC XC Championships and produced a better-than-expected 14th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

Placing Asekol at TSR #22 is essentially a balancing act between her best performances and her more modest results.

For example, Asekol finished 14th and 29th at her last two national meets. This ranking is a fairly good middle ground when splitting the difference between those two results. Asekol has also placed 18th and 2nd in her last two appearances at Joe Piane. In theory, this spot is a decent compromise between those two results.

But consider this: If Asekol is able to replicate her best efforts on a more consistent basis throughout the entirety of this season, then Florida could potentially (emphasis on "potentially"), have three top-10 cross country runners in the NCAA this fall.

21. Aubrey Frentheway, Senior, BYU

Despite what TFRRS says, Aubrey Frentheway is returning to the NCAA this fall. And based on her history, we might as well go ahead and remove an All-American honor from this year's national meet -- because one of those spots will almost certainly go to this BYU veteran.

Few women in the NCAA have proven to be as reliable of an All-American talent as Aubrey Frentheway. In her last three national meet appearances on the grass, she has finished 15th, 38th and 32nd. And yet, it's her regular season results that may be just as good.

In the fall of 2021, this BYU star finished 13th in a loaded Nuttycombe field. And if you thought that was a fluke, then we should remind you that she also finished 11th in the 2022 version of the meet.

And just for kicks, Frentheway was the 4th place finisher at the Cowboy Jamboree last fall. She lost only to Natalie Cook, Taylor Roe and Everlyn Kemboi; numerous collegiate stars fell behind the BYU standout.

Now, admittedly, finishing outside of the top-30 in Frentheway's last two national meets would suggest that a TSR #21 preseason ranking is a bit too high.

Then again, two top-13 finishes at Nuttycombe, a top-five result at the Cowboy Jamboree and a 15th place All-American honor would indicate that TSR #21 isn't a good enough spot!

But frankly, the value that Frentheway brings to the table isn't so much her scoring as much as it is her reliability. To run at the level that she has without having an "off" day over the last three cross country seasons is an incredible achievement.