TSR's 2023 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Rankings (Women): Just Missed & Honorable Mentions

Gavin Struve
Sep 4, 2023
5 min read

Written by Gavin Struve, additional commentary and edits 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.

Just Missed (in no particular order)

George Fox Bruins

Make no mistake, George Fox boasts one of the best low-sticks in this range of our preseason rankings, and in the country for that matter. But the Bruins are more than just their lead scorer. They return their top-four runners from last fall and each of those women carry varying levels of youth-based upside.

Everything starts with Kayla Aalpoel for George Fox. The sophomore was outstanding relative to expectations in her debut season. She was the top runner for a strong team throughout the entirety of her first collegiate campaign, displaying consistency and reliability beyond her years. Aalpoel’s season culminated in a 32nd place All-American finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships and has since emerged as a ranked preseason individual (TSR #17).

Fortunately for Aalpoel, she’ll have a horde of strong running mates and training partners. Ellie Rising, who is an excellent half-mile talent, was a frequent second scorer for the Bruins last year and finished one spot outside of the top-100 at the national meet.

While she didn’t have the same wide-ranging success as teammate Aalpoel enjoyed, Breanna Schmitt was nearly as good as Rising in her freshman campaign a year ago. Sarah Pullen is yet another woman who was a scoring mainstay as an underclassman last fall. She helped crowd the top-10 at the NWC XC Championships, leading to a dominant George Fox victory. She also finished a respectable 162nd at the cross country national meet.

Jessie Bailey provides one more returning varsity runner for this group. She holds both NCAA Championship experience and half of her career is still ahead of her eligibility-wise.

The Bruins won’t be contending for a podium spot (yet), but an inclusion in the top-10 of the team rankings later this fall is hardly out of the question. With the majority of their scoring contingent returning from last fall — and many of them still boasting plenty of eligibility and potential — there are few Division Three teams that can rival the upside that the George Fox women carry.

Yes, we'll admit, we still need to see some progression from the Bruins’ secondary scorers beyond Aalpoelut. However, for a team that was already 16th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, it won’t take much to reach the top-10 of our rankings this fall.

Colorado College Tigers

The Colorado College women are one of the more anonymous teams mentioned in our preseason rankings, but we expect that to change in a few months' time.

The Tigers showed promise leading up to the national meet last fall, finishing 7th in a deep field at the Augustana Interregional Invitational and winning the SCAC XC Championships with relative ease. But after the Tigers faded a bit to 20th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, casual observers should be forgiven if they don’t have this team headlining their watch lists entering this season.

Luckily, we do.

This team returns their top-three scorers from last year’s national meet and five of their seven varsity runners. On paper, this group is seemingly primed for a major leap, especially with valuable postseason experience now under their belts.

Sydney Rankin and Elliot Singer will be the bellwethers for Colorado College in 2023, and it would be a major boon if one of both of them could further develop into a true low-stick to minimize scoring. Each runner is listed as an “Honorable Mention” in our preseason top-20 individual rankings.

Rankin was nearly an All-American at the national meet last fall, placing 43rd. However, she wasn’t always the most consistent runner last fall. She was the Tigers’ top scorer at Augustana (4th overall), but the team's seventh runner on the conference stage. Now an upperclassman, she’ll be expected to be more reliable over the coming months.

Singer, meanwhile, emerged as the team’s top scorer at the conference meet before placing 74th on the national stage. Jane Mallach is a reliable middle-lineup scorer who also returns, as do Ella Fullerton and Alison Mueller-Hickler. Those latter two women were backend varsity contributors as freshmen just a year ago.

And for as much upside as this group holds for the fall of 2023, they may not all need to be scorers for the Tigers this fall. That’s because Kendall Accetta could join Rankin and Singer as a third lead scorer after missing the NCAA XC Championships last fall.

The senior was solid throughout the regular season and has All-American pedigree on the track. However, we’re choosing to temper expectations until we see her race for the first time in 10 months.

All things considered, the Tigers look to have enough returning depth, firepower and upside to expect to improve from last year. They should be a top-half team at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, and even perhaps better than that, come November.

UW-La Crosse Eagles

Another team that figures to be bolstered by continuity, the UW-La Crosse women likely won’t be as nationally competitive as their men’s squad this fall, but this group should hardly be an afterthought.

The Eagles bring back their first four women who crossed the line at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships. That day, the team finished 15th overall.

Maddie Hannan, a top-half All-American from last fall, enters this season with lofty expectations after her track seasons procured even more All-American honors. During the winter and spring months, Hannan showcased elite range and championship racing prowess. She’s slotted at TSR #7 in our preseason individual rankings.

Of course, this team is more than just their low-stick superstar.

Maddy Vantassel was close to becoming an All-American finish in the steeplechase this past spring and was a solid secondary scorer for the Eagles last year. They would certainly benefit if the senior cracks the top-100 individuals at the national meet in November as she did in 2021 and nearly achieved in 2022.

Despite not racing on the regional stage, Madelynn McIntyre seemingly peaked for the national stage and now has two cross country national meets under her belt. Jenna Lovejoy had the opposite experience after a consistent regular season, but she was a top-100 runner at the 2021 national meet.

While the Eagles will need to replace nearly the entire backend of their lineup, that’s a minor concern in comparison to what some of their competitors are facing. UW-La Crosse’s returning group is downright experienced. All of these women have raced at the cross country national meet multiple times and have been relatively competitive in that setting.

Not only that, but there may be a capable and established fifth runner already on their roster. Katelyn Chadwick was a scorer for much of last fall before falling ill ahead of the national meet where McIntyre filled in for her. But Chadwick appeared to be sharp on the track, qualifying for the outdoor national meet in the steeplechase. That should give this team some confidence as they look to rebuild their depth.

This team should be battle-tested and they appear to have the "favorite" status for both the individual and team titles at the WIAC XC Championships. There figures to be enough talent on-hand for the Eagles to find a couple more varsity runners to round out a formidable lineup.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

Amherst Mammoths
Calvin Knights
Lynchburg Hornets
UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Bates Bobcats