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TSR's 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 25 Rankings: #5-1 (Women)
- Grace McLaughlin
- Jul 31, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Grace McLaughlin, additional edits by Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
5. Eleonora Curtabbi, Senior, West Texas A&M
While Eleonora Curtabbi’s back-to-back steeplechase national titles are clear evidence of her aerobic strength, it’s her consistent progression and success on the grass that led us to placing her in the top-five of our preseason rankings.
Last fall, Curtabbi made a quick transition to the 6k distance, finishing 2nd at the Texas Tech Open and later 19th at the Louisville XC Classic, both Division One-laden fields. She was then 3rd at the Lone Star Conference XC Championships and later the runner-up finisher at the South Central Regional XC Championships.
And while that was certainly a strong lead up, none of it could have directly foretold a 6th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
Either way, Curtabbi’s 2022 cross country season as a whole was phenomenal. She was consistent, peaked for the postseason and greatly improved upon her 30th place finish from 2021 in which she was just as good in the regular season.
But Curtabbi’s momentum didn’t stop there.
The West Texas A&M star brought the same firepower to the indoor oval where she ran 4:40 in the mile and 9:08 for 3000 meters, the latter of which was briefly the Division Two record. The Buffalo ace went on to earn a bronze medal in the mile and a DNF over 3000 meters (after getting spiked in the foot) at the indoor national meet.
During the outdoor track season, Curtabbi ran PRs of 4:18 for 1500 meters and 9:57 in the steeplechase, the latter proving good enough for NCAA #6 all-time on the Division Two list. She repeated as the national champion in the steeplechase and placed 12th overall in the 1500 meters.
Curtabbi moved up to NCAA #3 all-time on the Division Two all-dates list (not eligible for NCAA records) earlier this month after running 9:40 over the barriers in Barcelona while competing for her home country of Italy. That is an unreal level of fitness to have just a month out from the start of collegiate cross country.
The current trajectory and improvement of Curtabbi over the past year indicates that she is fully capable of bettering her 6th place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships. In fact, we may even be robbing her of a spot in these rankings.
Outside of Curtabbi’s sub-par performances in aggressive double attempts on the national stage, we really found no flaws when examining where we should rank her heading into this season. She has experience, consistency, impressive range and still-growing firepower on both the track and the grass.
With her impressive new PRs and performances from this past spring and summer, we’re eager to see just how good Curtabbi will be in the fall.
4. Klaudia O’Malley, Senior, Grand Valley State
There are only a few Division Two athletes out there who could be deemed more reliable than Klaudia O’Malley on the cross country course.
The Grand Valley State senior has been a vital part of the Lakers’ success on the grass over the past few years and she’ll likely be their front-running leader this season.
O’Malley has a fantastic history at the NCAA XC Championships, recording a 24th place finish as far back as 2019, a runner-up finish in 2021 and a bronze medal last fall. That kind of long-term success at that level is extremely rare, especially for someone who is still heading into her final season of eligibility.
This Laker ace simply knows how to peak for the postseason and is the epitome of a true cross country runner who can be counted on to grind out great results on the grass.
She may not always have the most complete seasons for someone of her talent level, but O’Malley always arrives on time. Last fall, O’Malley placed 14th at the MSU Spartan Invitational, 35th at the Louisville XC Classic and 17th at the Bradley Pink Classic. All of that came before finishing 3rd at the GLIAC XC Championships and winning her Midwest regional meet.
On the track, O’Malley has been equally as impressive as she has been in the fall. The GVSU veteran is a nine-time All-American with several other top-15 finishes to her name.
The Laker veteran was a member of the national champion DMR team this past winter and placed 5th in the mile at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships. She also placed 6th in the 1500 meter finals this past spring and was the 13th place finisher over 5000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
O’Malley has run 16:07 (5k) and 4:19 (1500), showing us that she also has immense range for a cross country star. And with those results, few athletes can match O’Malley’s history of success and overall resume. She feels like a very safe bet for a third-consecutive top-five finish at the upcoming NCAA XC Championships.
3. Brianna Robles, Senior, Adams State
To put it simply, Brianna Robles is an elite D2 runner with a long list of accolades to back up that not-so-bold statement.
The Adams State megastar holds PRs of 9:06 (3k), 15:47 (5k) and 32:50 (10k). She has also won two individual national titles. Those marks suggest a level of firepower virtually unseen in the history of the Division Two women’s scene.
The Adams State veteran has been extremely successful on both the track and the grass and is a name who you can count on to be at the front of every race.
Last fall, Robles had a stellar season with a win at the Joe I. Vigil XC Open, a 4th place finish at the Highlander XC Invitational and a runner-up finish at the RMAC XC Championships.
Yes, the Grizzly star was a national title contender heading into the NCAA XC Championships, but she ultimately ended up placing 4th. Of course, that was hardly a disappointment and it actually represented a slight improvement from her 6th place finish that we saw from her at the 2021 national meet.
On the track, Robles’ endurance truly shines — she was the runner-up finisher in both the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the indoor track season, Robles also took silver twice on the national stage, finishing as the runner-up finisher in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters at the indoor national meet.
In fact, Robles even ran 15:47 over 5000 meters earlier in the year. And at the time, that was the Division Two all-time record (for the winter months).
Robles is a reliable superstar who brings firepower to every race that she is in. Her overall talent and consistency has aided the Grizzlies in their national title wins and she’ll be part of the foundation of the Adams State program this fall.
Robles has won a pair of 5k national titles before, both in 2022, and won the RMAC XC Championships in 2021. That’s why we feel safe slotting Robles above O’Malley even if her performances on the cross country national stage aren’t quite as high.
With her extensive list of accolades and competitive prowess, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this 12-time All-American comes in at TSR #3 in our preseason rankings.
2. Stephanie Cotter, Rs. Senior, Adams State*
NOTE: The Stride Report has made a handful of efforts to confirm whether or not Stephanie Cotter will be returning to the Division Two scene this fall. And while we were unable to confirm that, it is clear that, according to TFRRS, Cotter has one more season of cross country eligibility if she chooses to use it.
Deciding where to put Stephanie Cotter in our preseason rankings was a bit difficult due to the fact that she had to end her outdoor track season early due to injury.
We also aren’t absolutely positive that she’ll be returning this season.
But if she does, then it's impossible to ignore the fact that this Irish distance star has two cross country national titles to her name from the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2022. And she didn’t just win those titles, she absolutely dominated her competition. She won last year’s NCAA XC Championships by an astonishing 42 seconds and her title in 2019 came by 23 seconds.
On top of her cross country success, Cotter has also been extremely successful on the oval, with multiple national titles in the mile and the metric mile as well as a 9:06 (3k) PR which is a Division Two all-time record in that event.
In total, she is a nine-time All-American dating back to 2018 and has won a whopping eight individual national titles. Truthfully, the argument that she is the Division Two distance running G.O.A.T. has become challenging to disagree with.
With all of these accomplishments, you might be wondering why Cotter is ranked at TSR #2 instead of holding our top spot. Well, that mostly has to do with questions about her recent injury status and the insane long distance momentum that our TSR #1 runner currently has.
There’s not much else to say about Cotter other than she’s a historic force to be reckoned with. In our eyes, there’s only one athlete who could possibly take her down at the end of the season when she’s at her best…
1. Lindsay Cunningham, Junior, Winona State
Lindsay Cunningham returns this fall firing on all cylinders following her impressive 10k/5k double at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Winona State junior is on the biggest heater of any Division Two woman after winning both of those endurance events at the national meet and recording personal bests of 15:45 (outdoor 5k) and 32:43 (10k) at those same distances earlier in the season.
That phenomenal performance followed her impressive indoor track season in which she won the 5000 meters and earned a bronze medal over 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Not to mention her Division Two all-time record of 15:41 (5k) from the indoor national meet.
On the cross country course last fall, Cunningham was undefeated prior to her runner-up finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Every other meet (save for the final one) was filled with dominant victories.
She won the Roy Griak Invitational "Maroon race" by 13 seconds, the Lewis XC Crossover by 19 seconds, the NSIC XC Championships by 64 seconds and the Central Regional XC Championships by 44 seconds.
She also won every meet leading up to her NCAA XC Championships appearance in 2021 where she finished 7th.
Simply put, Cunningham’s combination of aerobic talent, consistency, experience and current momentum is a cut above the rest. Thus, she comes in holding the top spot in our preseason rankings.
When it comes to Cunningham’s overall resume, a national title on the grass is the only thing that she’s missing. And as of right now, there’s a very high probability of her adding to that accolade come November.
