TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: Just Missed & Honorable Mentions (Women)

Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jul 18, 2023
10 min read

Updated: Jul 24, 2023

Here we go. Our 2023 men's and women's preseason individual cross country rankings. Let's start with our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

As a reminder, you can find our rankings rubric here. This week will be our D1 rankings while next week will be our D2 and D3 rankings. Let's begin...

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Chloe Scrimgeour, Junior, Georgetown

Gosh, this one hurts to write.

Leaving Chloe Scrimgeour out of our preseason rankings felt wrong. We sincerely looked for every way that we could fit her into our top-50. But ultimately, this Georgetown distance talent was probably the first woman left off of our list.

Last fall was a massive breakout season for Scrimgeour. The Hoya distance runner started her year by placing 3rd at the Coaching Tree Invitational and then 4th at Paul Short. For a moment, that was enough to move her into our rankings (at the time).

But then Scrimgeour produced an unexciting 14th place finish at the BIG East XC Championships and later settled for a still-strong 59th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

However, what truly makes Scrimgeour such a challenging omission is the fact that she was an 8th place All-American over 5000 meters this past spring! So naturally, one might ask, "How did she end up in your "Just Missed" section?"

Well, it's a combination of things.

There were a shocking number of top women who still have eligibility and are set to return later this fall. In fact, by our count, there were only FIVE All-Americans from the 2022 NCAA XC Championships that aren't expected to return.

There were also numerous women who had major breakout years on the track. And in our minds, we believe that their success from the oval will translate to top-50 status this fall.

Plus, by simply comparing resumes with the women at the backend of our rankings, it was hard to find arguments where Scrimgeour was convincingly better.

Even so, this could be a monumental year for the returning Hoya. With so much momentum on her side this past spring, and plenty of experience now under her belt, it wouldn't be surprising if Scrimgeour was a top-30 talent by season's end.

Joy Chirchir, Junior, Toledo

This was a name who sparked plenty of debate among our TSR writing staff.

Last fall, Joy Chirchir was the focal point of a Toledo program that evolved into a national-caliber cross country squad. The true low-stick led the Rockets throughout 2022 and for the most part, she was fairly reliable.

An 11th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational may have been Chirchir's best result from the 2022 cross country season (or ever). That was a VERY top-heavy field and the Toledo ace took down numerous All-American standouts in the process.

From that point forward, Chirchir had a solid cross country season, although her performance in South Bend, Indiana was never truly replicated. A 35th place finish at Nuttycombe was solid and deserved respect. The same can be said about her 52nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

Truthfully, there wasn't much about Chirchir to dislike. Yes, her runner-up performance at the MAC XC Championships wasn't ideal and it would have been nice if she was a bit more consistent. It's also clear that she is not at her best on the oval.

But if it was up to just me, I would have ranked her.

Brianna Weidler, Junior, UC-Davis

Few women have left us scratching our heads more (when crafting our preseason rankings) than Brianna Weidler.

Last fall, the UC-Davis standout produced a resume which should make her one of the better cross country talents in the NCAA. And yet, at the same time, her 2022 schedule made it hard to gauge how good she really is/was.

Finishing 14th at the University of San Francisco XC Invitational and 3rd at the UC-Riverside XC Invitational are results that we aren't putting much stock into. Her 7th place result at the Dellinger Invite, while nothing crazy, was still respectable.

And after finishing runner-up at the Santa Clara XC Invitational (losing only to Ruby Smee), we saw Brianna Weidler thrive in the postseason.

The UC-Davis ace won the BIG West individual title, finished a surprisingly strong 7th place at the West Regional XC Championships and capped off her fall campaign with a 51st place finish at the cross country national meet.

Weidler would go on to run 15:48 for 5000 meters in the spring and advance to the outdoor national meet in that same event.

With the exception of the NCAA XC Championships, Weidler's 2022 cross country season was void of any major invitationals. None of her results left us with any reason to doubt her, but we also didn't see a massive spark of firepower, either.

The "Just Missed" section seems like a good spot for this west coast distance runner. She's not quite at a point where she's a top-50 talent, but she has been more reliable than a good handful of women who fell into our "Honorable Mentions" grouping.

Gabby Hentemann, Rs. Senior, Oklahoma State

The 2022 cross country season was when we believed that Gabby Hentemann would assert herself as a dominant, All-American-caliber long distance runner. And in some respects, she did! In others, not so much.

There are really only two meets that hold any legitimate weight on Hentemann's 2022 cross country resume: the Cowboy Jamboree and the NCAA XC Championships. The Oklahoma State veteran didn't race at Pre-Nationals and she cruised through her conference and regional meets.

At the Cowboy Jamboree, the long distance veteran secured an excellent 12th place finish. That was the kind of result that we were hoping to see. And when you consider how successful everyone else in that field went on to be, it was hard to dislike Hentemann's performance.

But on the national stage, the Cowgirl ace faded a bit. While her 59th place finish was far from bad, Hentemann was someone who we expected to be in the All-American discussion.

Since then, the rising redshirt senior has only raced three times, most recently a 10k at the Stanford Invitational. That, however, was the last recorded race on her TFRRS profile.

We sincerely believe in Hentemann's potential to be an All-American on the grass. She was, after all, a 6th place finisher over 10,000 meters at the 2022 outdoor national meet.

But with a VERY limited resume over the last year, it's hard to make enough arguments to keep this Oklahoma State runner in our top-50.

Mia Cochran, Sophomore, Arkansas

Few women are more important for their respective distance programs than Mia Cochran is for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Allow me to explain.

The Arkansas women, after winning the cross country national title in the fall of 2019, saw a heavy number of departures from their roster. And since then, the women from Fayetteville have been waiting for their younger distance talents to develop.

Not every elite prospect who Arkansas recruited has panned out (yet). But Mia Cochran's successful 2022 cross country season should give the Razorbacks a true low-stick who they can eventually lean on once Isabel Van Camp leaves.

Last fall, the Pennsylvania native put together a pleasantly surprising 24th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree. And while Natalie Cook got all of the attention, it was Cochran who was also producing a (somewhat) nationally competitive result as just a rookie.

A 6th place finish at the Chile Pepper XC Festival and an 80th place finish at Nuttycombe were solid results, although not quite as strong what we had seen from Cochran in Stillwater.

But then the Arkansas freshman found some momentum.

Cochran placed 12th at the SEC XC Championships, 4th at the South Central Regional XC Championships and then 64th at the NCAA XC Championships to cap off her postseason.

Now, as she enters year two, the natural growth of this rising distance talent could bring her to an All-American level this fall. While not all of her performances from last year were perfect, Cochran was still surprisingly consistent given her youth and inexperience.

As much as we like Cochran, we can only put so much stock into her upside. Plus, she hasn't raced since February which is, admittedly, not a great sign. Even so, it's hard to imagine this rising sophomore not taking another notable leap in her fitness this fall.

Yasmin Marghini, Junior, Boise State

If you're a Boise State fan, then you're likely a bit frustrated with us -- and I can see why.

Yasmin Marghini was an All-American on the grass last fall. The Boise State low-stick finished 35th on the national stage, taking down multiple nationally-recognized names in the process.

So how is she not even listed in our preseason top-50 rankings?

As impressive as Marghini's national meet performance was, that effort was unquestionably the best race of her life -- by a considerable margin.

Last fall, the Bronco standout earned a 46th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational and then a slightly better 44th place finish at Nuttycombe. Those were fine results, but Marghini wasn't going to be in the top-50 conversation based off of those races.

A 10th place finish at the West Regional XC Championships was very respectable, but as most of our readers know, we don't put too much stock into regional meet results. Marghini would go on to finish 35th at the NCAA XC Championships.

In Marghini's defense, the Boise State runner did thrive at the Mountain West XC Championships, finishing 2nd place overall against a very top-heavy field. That result, paired with her All-American honor, gives this returning Bronco an argument to be ranked.

If we can see a bit more seasonal consistency, or another out-of-nowhere performance, then we are more than happy to put Marghini into our top-50. But for now, we'll have to put her on the outside-looking-in.

Molly Born, Rs. Senior, Oklahoma State

In 2019, Molly Born was one of the best women's cross country runners in the entire NCAA.

Alongside Taylor Somers, the Oklahoma State ace earned top finishes at major invitationals and eventually placed 16th at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships.

During the 2021 winter cross country season, Born placed 15th at the FSU Winter XC Classic and finished 54th at the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships.

That was a fine season, but it clearly wasn't as good as her sophomore year.

Born rebounded during the fall of 2021, putting together a fantastic streak of racing. However, she would eventually settle for an underwhelming 73rd place finish at the 2021 NCAA Fall XC Championships.

That was the last time that we saw Born race...until this past winter.

Between the fall of 2021 and the winter of 2023, this long-time Oklahoma State veteran was battling significant injuries -- navicular stress fractures, specifically. In fact, she had injuries in BOTH of her feet and ultimately underwent surgeries.

But now Born is healthy and her fitness is starting to return.

This past spring, the Cowgirl standout ran an excellent 32:42 (10k) personal best, qualifying for the outdoor national meet in the process. And suddenly, we have to ask ourselves, "Are we going to see the 2019 version of Molly Born in 2023?"

We don't know that for sure, and that's the main reason why she is being omitted from our top-50 rankings. But if she does return to that level of fitness, then this is someone who could eventually crack our top-20.

Alyson Churchill, Junior, Florida State

Truthfully, Alyson Churchill wasn't seriously in consideration to crack our top-50 rankings, but she did seem to fit the "Just Missed" mold fairly well.

The 2022 cross country season can best be described as "respectable" for this Florida State runner. She never blew you away with any of her results, but as a whole, she had a nice season.

Placing 22nd at Joe Piane, 51st at Nuttycombe, 23rd at the ACC XC Championships and 79th at the NCAA XC Championships were the main highlights of Churchill's season. And on paper, those results would be better suited for our "Honorable Mentions" section rather than our "Just Missed" group.

But it's not Churchill's performances on the grass that have caught our attention.

This past spring, the Seminole ace threw down excellent personal bests of 4:13 (1500) and 15:33 (5k), leading us to believe that a big-time cross country season may be in store for Churchill this fall.

She still needs to make a handful of improvements on the grass before we can rank her, but as far as experience and potential are concerned, this FSU ace could make some noise.

Maeve Stiles, Sophomore, Penn

Much like Alyson Churchill, this Penn sophomore was probably not one of the five women who were in contention for the final spot in our rankings. Maeve Stiles does, however, hold a ton of exciting potential as we enter the fall months.

For someone who was in their first season of collegiate cross country competition, Stiles held her own quite well.

A 15th place finish at Paul Short and a 14th place finish at the Panorama Farms XC Invitational were fine results (and great for a rookie). However, those performances didn't put Stiles in the top-50 conversation.

But then the Penn distance talent earned bronze at the Ivy League XC Championships and took home 4th place at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships. She later ended her season with a 60th place finish at the national meet -- a result far better than what her earlier races suggested she was capable of.

The difference between Stiles at the beginning of last fall and the end is clear as day. Once the Ivy League talent became more comfortable, she found momentum and took full advantage of her postseason opportunities.

Stiles is someone who has had her best races in championship settings, holds a ton of youth-based upside and now has national meet experience on her side. She may not be a superstar come November, but she could end up being far better than some people may realize.

Ruby Smee, Senior, Northern Arizona

There are a lot of different ways that we could talk about and analyze Ruby Smee's performances. However, the easiest way is just to give you her biggest highlights.

This former University of San Francisco runner is a clear aerobic-centric talent. Her personal bests include times of 9:04 (3k), 15:36 (5k) and 32:30 (10k). On the grass, she was a 34th place All-American in the fall of 2021 and later the 58th place finisher at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

The problem with analyzing Smee, however, is that her racing schedule during the fall months doesn't give us much insight into her actual talent.

Between the 2021 and 2022 cross country seasons, Smee never attended Nuttycombe, Pre-Nationals, Panorama Farms or the Cowboy Jamboree.

She did, however, finish 30th place overall at the Joe Piane Invitational last year. And while that's a decent result, it's not all that close to a potential top-50 ranking. Simply put, we don't have enough competitive data on Ruby Smee to know what she will do this fall.

Luckily, that will change in a few months.

Smee will be joining the Northern Arizona women as a graduate transfer later this year. And with meets like Nuttycombe often on the Lumberjacks' schedule, we will likely get a more complete understanding of what this Aussie distance standout can do over an entire season.