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TSR's 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Women): #5 Western Colorado Mountaineers
- Grace McLaughlin
- Sep 10, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Grace McLaughlin, edits & additional commentary by Gavin Struve & 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.
The Western Colorado women return to the cross country course this fall with both solid depth and huge upside. While they do lose one superstar, Katie Doucette, to Colorado via a graduate transfer, they return another premier low-stick and an up-and-coming ace.
Following a top-10 national meet finish last fall, Western Colorado will be looking to ride their current momentum and build upon that result. And they should have all the tools at their disposal to do so.
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Last fall, the Mountaineer women opened their 2022 cross country season with two small dual meets in Colorado. At the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite, Katie Doucette, Allison Beasley, Leah Taylor, Dulce Carlos and Emma Kjellsen swept spots 2-3-4-5-6 to take home the team victory by 20 points over Colorado Mesa.
The Mountaineers later repeated as the champions at the Gig Leadbetter Maverick Stampede with a perfect score of 15 points. Doucette, Beasley, Taylor and Emma Berg took the top-four places with Kjellsen (6th) and Gretchum Slattum (7th) also offering great value. True freshmen Jayda Nix and Lauren Willson took 6th and 8th respectively, but both were racing unattached.
While those two races were not particularly competitive, they gave us insight into the level of depth and talent that Western Colorado wielded last fall -- and it indicated that the Mountaineers were capable of improving upon their 9th place finish at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships.
The first true test of Western Colorado’s actual fitness and overall firepower came at D2 Pre-Nationals where the Mountaineers rose to the challenge. There, the historical distance running powerhouse posted a solid runner-up finish behind RMAC rival, Colorado Mines.
Doucette had a phenomenal race and took home silver while Allison Beasley also proved to be a valuable low-stick with a 9th place result.
However, maybe the most pleasant surprise was seeing Leah Taylor record a 13th place finish which solidified her as a reliable third scorer for the Mountaineers. That development gave this team better firepower than we thought they had.
Slattum had the race of her life with a 23rd place finish, providing great scoring stability. Meanwhile, Kjellsen fell a bit further back in 45th place, although there was no catching Colorado Mines regardless of how she ran.
Western Colorado achieved all of that despite Dulce Carlos (80th) and Emma Berg (93rd) not having their greatest races relative to previous results. As a whole, the Mountaineers’ silver medal performance at D2 Pre-Nationals was a huge performance and it extended their momentum from earlier in the season.
While Pre-Nationals included several of the best teams in the country, the ultra-competitive RMAC and South Central region proved to be just as competitive, and maybe even more so. Western Colorado needed to bring their "A game" to continue that level of success.
The Mountaineers placed 4th at the RMAC XC Championships with 109 points, losing to Adams State, Colorado Mines and UCCS. At any other conference meet, a 4th place finish would likely be a disappointing result for a team of this caliber. But this performance was (roughly) on par with expectations for Western Colorado considering that their opponents were among the best in the country.
Doucette and Beasley led the way with 6th and 9th place finishes, respectively, offering great firepower. They were followed by Taylor (24th), Slattum (31st), Kjellsen (44th) and Carlos (45th), a varsity group that largely mimicked their lineup structure from D2 Pre-Nationals.
It was a solid outing, but more work needed to be done.
Western Colorado lined up against similar competition at the South Central Regional XC Championships. And on that stage, the gap between Western Colorado's third and fourth runners led to a slightly less impressive team result, a 5th place finish.
Even so, it wasn’t a bad performance. The Mountaineers advanced to the cross country national meet which, obviously, held greater emphasis.
Western Colorado went into the 2022 NCAA XC Championships with the potential to place as high as 6th with a basement around 10th place. They had built momentum throughout the season and their lineup was extremely consistent, putting them in a good spot heading into Seattle. And for the most part, the Mountaineers ultimately ran on par with expectations, placing 8th overall and improving one spot from the 2021 national meet.
Beasley emerged as their top runner with her fantastic 19th place All-American finish while Doucette also broke into the top-40, placing 37th on what appeared to be a tough day for her. Taylor (78th), Kjellsen (99th) and Slattum (103rd) rounded out the top-five with fairly solid and stable performances. That latter group lacked the scoring potency necessary to finish 6th, but they also ensured that WCU didn't garner too many points.
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Looking at this fall, the Mountaineers lose Doucette, but return everyone else in their lineup. Most importantly, they have scoring leaders in Allison Beasely (TSR #12) and Leah Taylor (Honorable Mention).
Having experienced runners like Beasley and Taylor is a huge advantage, especially considering their recent success on the track. Kjellsen and Berg also return for their sophomore campaigns with more experience and a new level of fitness while Slattum has shown consistent improvement with each season.
Overall, the Mountaineers have a lot going for them. It could be argued that their level of depth and development as a whole balances out the loss of a superstar like Doucette which is why we see them improving this year.
In our eyes, Beasley is one of the more exciting athletes to have your eye on right now as she’s been on fire over the course of the past year.
Following her 19th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships last fall, the Mountaineer ace went on to add three more All-American honors to her resume and record PRs in several events. She won a bronze medal as part of the Mountaineers’ DMR team, placed 7th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships and ran marks of 4:48 (mile) and 9:34 (3k).
At the outdoor national meet, Beasley shocked us with her runner-up finish in the steeplechase before producing a solid 10th place finish in the 5000 meter finals. She also set new PRs of 16:23 (5k) and 4:27 (1500) at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
With her consistent success and current momentum, Beasley is the kind of incredibly talented front-runner who the Mountaineers can rely on to lead the way to the top of the NCAA. Not to mention, Beasley is also highly experienced on the grass and holds two top-30 All-American performances at the cross country national meet on her resume.
While not quite at the same level as Beasley, Taylor has been extremely successful over the past few months. Her recent uptick in fitness should translate beautifully to the grass this fall and likely give this team a second low-stick like they had in 2022.
The rising distance star ran personal bests of 9:39 over 3000 meters at the UW Husky Classic and 16:40 for 5000 meters at Bryan Clay; a clear improvement in her overall endurance.
Taylor placed 11th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships after setting a new PR of 4:49 in that event in the prelims. She later exceeded that finish and had one of the best performances of the entire NCAA Outdoor Championships with her bronze medal in the 1500 meters finals.
And if she continues to build on this incredible hot streak that she is on, then you may be looking at a Western Colorado duo that is even better than what they had last year.
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Following those two star-caliber talents is Emma Kjellsen. Last year, the rookie ace put together a fairly solid fall campaign, especially for someone who was only a freshman. Kjellsen was a consistent scorer throughout the fall months and finished 99th at the cross country national meet.
At the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, the current sophomore placed 13th in the 800 meters and ran the third leg of Western Colorado's bronze medal DMR team. She continued her momentum on the outdoor oval, posting times of 2:12 (800) and 4:31 (1500) at the RMAC Outdoor Championships prior to her 17th place finish in the metric mile at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Based simply on natural progression, we would expect Kjellsen to chop off a handful of points from the finishes that she posted last year. And as long as she can offer the same consistency as she did in 2022 (while closing the gap in front of her), then that should be considered a successful fall campaign.
Gretchen Slattum is another solid runner who the Mountaineers will again rely on this fall. While she hasn’t had a true breakout season or performance, she has been highly reliable and showed improvement with her 17:25 (5k) PR this spring.
While her postseason did leave room for some improvement, the 23rd place finish that we saw from Slattum at D2 Pre-Nationals was highly encouraging. If she can replicate that result on a more consistent basis, then the Mountaineers will be ahead of where they were last year.
Dulce Carlos struggled during the latter-half last fall, but she was a consistent scorer for the Mountaineers who has experience racing in the RMAC and at the cross country national meet. At the very least, Carlos should be a solid backend lineup piece for Western Colorado this fall.
In addition to their top returners, Western Colorado also has Jayda Nix and Lauren Willson who redshirted last fall, but showed promise in the races where they competed unattached in. They should join Kjellsen and Berg in making up the future structure of this lineup.
Sophomore Olivia Kaiser is another name who floated around the backend of the lineup last fall. She has the potential to be in the Mountaineers' top-five this year.
Western Colorado also adds two women who could fill a few gaps in their lineup. Laura Croll comes to Gunnison, Colorado by way of Tulane who has a 5k PR of 18:07. While she still has some development to do, her drop down to the Division Two level should give her the opportunity to thrive.
Aishling Fabian, an incoming recruit from the powerhouse Great Oak High School (CA), has personal bests of 17:32 for three miles and 18:17 over 5000 meters on the cross country course. She could also have an immediate impact if she is not redshirted.
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Western Colorado enters this fall with up-front firepower, a fortified middle lineup and no shortage of options to complete the backend of their varsity group.
The Mountaineers head into this cross country season with a lot of potential based on their momentum and the development of their top returners. Despite losing Doucette, the fact that they return the number of women they do, paired with their overall depth and reliability, gives them a high ceiling for success.
Sure, maybe a TSR #5 ranking comes off as a little overzealous, but the Mountaineers’ history of success and current momentum indicates that they’re fully capable of a top-five run at the cross country national meet if all goes their way.
