TSR's 2024 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Update #4

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NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria (which was published in 2023).

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KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.

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ANOTHER NOTE: The Stride Report does not typically put much ranking weight on the regional meet results. Oftentimes, certain teams will not place much emphasis on these races and will simply run with the goal of advancing to the national meet. This is not to say that all regional results are negligible (as you'll see below). However, you may notice less movement within our top-25 lists than usual in this week's update.

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25. Furman Paladins (-6 / 19)

Alright, I know what you're all thinking...

"What? How on Earth is Furman still ranked? They finished 8th at the Southeast regional meet! They should be dropping out entirely!"

Sure, there is certainly an argument that the Paladins don't deserve to be a top-25 team in our rankings. But these rankings, as we've said all season long, are meant to be aggregates of how good a team is overall. These lists are meant to reflect how a team has fared throughout their entire fall campaign, not just how they performed at one or two select meets.

Furman is a team that finished 6th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 14th at Pre-Nationals. Between those two meets, there were nine instances where the Paladins defeated a team currently ranked inside of our top-25 (some teams being repeats). Naturally, you can see the argument for why they took this final spot.

Will Furman remain at our TSR #25 spot when the national meet is over? I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, they likely will not. But for now, we're willing to say that they're collective body of work was among the top-25 resumes in the country.

24. Syracuse Orange (Unranked)

Going into Friday, we figured that the Boston College women or the Syracuse women would emerge with the second automatic qualifying spot in the Northeast region. And after seeing the Golden Eagles topple the Orange at the ACC XC Championships, we gave the nod to the former team in our regional predictions.

But the Syracuse women were ultimately the better group last Friday as the top-half of their lineup offered far greater scoring potency compared to the Boston College. In fact, the Orange put three women across the line before BC had anyone finish the race!

Savannah Roark (9th) continues to be great, but it's the recent rise of Emma Eastman (17th) who has been quietly excellent for Syracuse. Tack on a strong effort from Rylie Lusk (19th) as well as a decent enough backend, and the Orange look like they have a fairly complete lineup.

Sure, this team is far from perfect, but having Eastman running as well as she has, especially in the postseason, is very encouraging going into next weekend.

23. Tennessee Volunteers (-1 / 22)

A 4th place finish at the South regional meet is a fine result for Tennessee, but it also didn't tell us anything new about the Volunteers. Ashley Jones (8th) delivered a low-stick result while the rest of Tennessee's scorers simply packed together to go 22-26-30-37.

There wasn't much need for the Lady Vols to go all-out on Friday. As long as they finished in the top-four, they were almost certainly going to qualify for the national meet.

However, Tennessee was only 11 points away from not advancing to the NCAA XC Championships. And while we do believe that women like Rachel Sutliff, Jillian Candelino and Caroline Lyerly will be better in Madison, Wisconsin, it's also hard to imagine this team replicating their postseason magic from last year come Saturday.

22. Florida State Seminoles (+3 / 25)

The Florida State women have one of the more underrated duos in the nation in Agnes McTighe and Bieke Schipperen. Those two women finished 4th and 5th at the South regional meet this past Friday.

But while the scoring potency of the 'Noles was great, it was actually Elizabeth Barlow (17th) and Brooke Mullins (20th) who were the most crucial and valuable scorers on this team. Their ability to offer highly valuable stability in the middle of this lineup was pivotal as Florida State made an effort to comfortably secure their spot to the NCAA XC Championships.

This Florida State team has already smashed the admittedly low expectations that we had for them earlier this year. However, in order to further their success on the national stage, it's going to be Barlow and Mullins who need to have great days yet again.

21. Florida Gators (+2 / 23)

A win by Hilda Olemomoi at the South regional meet was nice, but the scoring contingent of Tia Wilson, Allison Wilson and Bethan Morley (who went 12-15-16, respectively) is the biggest reason why this team earned a runner-up finish.

The Gators' scoring nucleus is beginning to come together at just the right time. Florida has found scoring value beyond Olemomoi and despite certain women being relatively inexperienced, they have still been fairly steady.

Admittedly, Florida will need to figure out how their fifth runner can close the gap on the Wilson-Wilson-Morley trio at the national meet. Coach Will Palmer has a variety of different runners who are capable of doing that, but we haven't seen that happen yet this season.

20. Minnesota Golden Gophers (+1 / 21)

No surprises here. Minnesota cruised to a runner-up finish at the Midwest regional meet, finishing within reasonable reach of Oklahoma State. Not only that, but their lineup structure was, for the most part, roughly on par with our expectations.

Ali Weimer has been excellent for the Golden Gophers this season, emerging as a true star. However, she'll need someone else on her team to emerge as a lead scoring talent if this group wants any shot of a top-15 finish at the national meet.

19. Penn State Nittany Lions (+1 / 20)

For as good as Penn State is, the West Virginia women and Georgetown women were (and are) better. That was evident at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships where the Nittany Lions settled for a comfortable-ish 3rd place finish.

Even so, we loved what we saw from the scoring reinforcements behind lead ace Florence Caron (4th). After her, Sophie Toti (12th) crossed the line with one of the better results of her cross country career. That kind of performance is closer to the expectations that we had for the Nittany Lion runner after she had a big breakout year on the track.

With Hayley Kitching, Claire Daniels and Madaline Ullom going 22-23-24, respectively, Penn State has a complete scoring group. And although they weren't all that close to West Virginia or Georgetown, you could argue that Friday was the best that the Nittany Lions have looked all season.

18. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (0 / 18)

Business as usual for the Cowgirls. The Oklahoma State women easily cruised to the Midwest regional title this past Friday. By putting four runners in the top-13 spots, the overall scoring prowess of this group was far too great for any other team like Minnesota to match.

Earlier in the year, it seemed like Oklahoma State had an identity that was centered around three women. But lately, Colleen Stegmann has looked quietly great while complementing Josphine Mwaura who has also been sneaky-good as well.

The backend portion of their lineup will need to close down on the gap in front of them, but all things considered, Friday felt like a day full of positive for the Cowgirls.

17. Gonzaga Bulldogs (-2 / 15)

For the most part, the Gonzaga women have done everything that we have asked of them this season. That was especially true at the West regional meet this past Friday as the Bulldogs settled for a 4th place finish (as expected) behind Oregon, Stanford and Washington.

There is certainly no shame in losing to the three juggernaut programs mentioned above. But at the same time, it feels like the Bulldogs haven't been quite as sharp as they were at the beginning of the season when they placed 8th at the Nuttycombe Invite.

Maybe that's because Gonzaga hasn't defeated Portland by as much as we thought they would in their last two outings. Even so, there isn't anything specific that we can point to and say, "We are very concerned about this aspect of their lineup."

And with one meet remaining, that's a good thing.

16. Wisconsin Badgers (+1 / 17)

Friday's performance from the Wisconsin women didn't produce the flashiest result, but it didn't need to be and it wasn't expected to be (especially when you look at who they rested).

At the Great Lakes regional meet, the Badgers put forth a classic effort where they didn't have much firepower, but they did showcase plenty of depth and limited gaps.

By going 12-16-17-22-30, Wisconsin comfortably secured a runner-up finish. And the best part? They did that while resting two lead scoring talents in Leane Willemse and Lindsay Cunningham!

The depth on this team is looking as strong as ever. However, a top-10 finish at national meet would require Wisconsin to have multiple top-70 finishers or have their collective scoring pack move up higher than expected.

15. North Carolina Tar Heels (-2 / 13)

Seeing the North Carolina women place 3rd at the Southeast regional meet isn't really a surprise. The NC State women and the Virginia women are both great teams who, on their best days, were capable of giving the Tar Heels some trouble.

However, seeing UNC drop to 3rd place and only beat Wake Forest by seven points was surprising.

Now, to be clear, the Demon Deacons had a sneaky-good team this year. Plus, North Carolina would have pushed them into the national meet even if the Tar Heels faded to 4th place. Even so, UNC is undoubtedly the better team and we expected just a little bit more.

Regardless, it's hard to put much stock into regional meet results and North Carolina still had all five of their scorers finish inside of the top-40. Friday was not a proper indicator of how good they are (or are not) this fall.

14. Virginia Cavaliers (0 / 14)

Not much to say here. At the Southeast regional meet on Friday, Margot Appleton and Jenny Schilling produced excellent top-10 finishes while Gillian Bushee (21st) bridged the two halves of this lineup. Of course, the latter-half scorers, Sophie Atkinson (24th) and Tatum David (30th) weren't really that far behind.

On paper, it's hard to dislike this UVA team. They have great low-sticks, a high-upside underclassman in Bushee, accomplished veterans and plenty of depth. Their floor theoretically seems pretty high, but what about their ceiling?

13. NC State Wolfpack (+3 / 16)

Securing a win at the Southeast regional meet was a nice bounce-back performance for an NC State team that struggled greatly at the ACC XC Championships.

Grace Hartman and Hannah Gapes continue to look incredible, but what really encouraged us was that the next few scorers behind them held their own quite well on Friday.

Brooke Rauber (9th) had an excellent race, maybe one of the best of her career, after struggling a bit in her earlier two outings from this season. Her unexpected boost in firepower was complemented by freshmen Bethany Michalak (19th) and Ellie Shea (29th) quickly closing out the scoring.

This is the version of NC State that we expected to see this season...well, with Leah Stephens also included. Rauber and Michalak were shockingly good (relative to expectations) and Shea continues to be one of the more underrated backend scorers in the NCAA this fall.

This team is far from perfect, but they're seemingly putting the pieces of the puzzle together at the right time. I suppose we'll see if that's actually the case this Saturday.

12. Utah Utes (-2 / 10)

A 4th place finish at the Mountain regional meet this past Friday doesn't really change our initial perception of Utah as a team. However, their lineup structure wasn't ideal and it feels like the Utes haven't been quite as sharp as they were at the beginning of the season.

It was nice to see Utah put four women inside of the top-30 and it was also great to see Annastasia Peters run alongside Erin Vringer near the top of their lineup. Even so, a 22-spot gap between the team's fourth and fifth scorers isn't ideal, especially as the Utes prepare to enter the most important race of their season.

Now, in fairness, Utah didn't have Katarzyna Nowakowska who would have absolutely cut-down on that gap. But when it comes to recent momentum, it feels like other teams are gaining more of that than Utah is.

11. New Mexico Lobos (0 / 11)

The New Mexico women snagged 3rd place at the Mountain Regional XC Championships behind a pair of top-10 performances from Pamela Kosgei and Mercy Kirarei (the former of whom took home the title).

Were there large gaps after those two women? Yes, there were, but it's not like their supporting cast was significantly worse than what Utah put together. I'm also under the impression that women like Klara Dess, Natalie Bitetti and Sophie McDonnell are all capable of better performances in larger fields.

10. Alabama Crimson Tide (-1 / 9)

Alabama's victory at the South regional meet was one of the least surprising results from the entirety of Friday. The Crimson Tide looked great with Doris Lemngole, Brenda Tuwei and Pheline Cheruto all cracking the top-10 to give their team potent firepower (as expected).

The gaps, however, began to form after those three women as Addison Dorenkamp (19th) and Franziska Drexler (32nd) closed out the scoring.

Those are fine efforts and Dorenkamp in particular has been sneaky-good this season. However, this is a team that we expected to contend for a podium spot this fall. And without Joy Gill, Alabama has one less lead scorer and therefore a fairly large backend gap that they need to address.

9. Stanford Cardinal (+3 / 12)

Up until Friday, the Stanford women had been racing without their focal star, Amy Bunnage. Of course, that all changed when the Aussie ace toed the line at the West regional meet to give her team a much-needed injection of scoring.

Bunnage would go on to win the West regional title while fellow teammates Sophia Kennedy (6th), Riley Stewart (13th) and Zofia Dudek (16th) offered excellent scoring value. It has also been great to see Stewart slowly rally after an underwhelming performance at Pre-Nationals.

Admittedly, the Cardinal still had to deal with a fairly significant drop-off to their fifth runner back in 35th place, but it largely didn't matter. Stanford was an automatic qualifier in the West region and their firepower now looks dramatically more potent.

It would be an overreaction to say that Stanford is now a realistic podium contender (everything would need to go perfectly in order for that to happen). However, they are far more dangerous. They don't have much room for error, but their ceiling has risen quite a bit now that their star ace, Amy Bunnage, is back.

8. Providence Friars (0 / 8)

It was an easy win for the Providence women at the Northeast regional meet as they put four women in the top-10 to take home the title. Watch out for Lauren Mooney who snagged 10th place. She is slowly becoming a great scorer who could offer better-than-expected value at the fourth spot in the Friars' lineup.

Otherwise, this was a very predictable result that didn't really tell us anything new about the Providence women.

7. Georgetown Hoyas (0 / 7)

The Georgetown women comfortably secured a runner-up effort at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, earning an automatic qualifying spot to the national meet in the process.

The Hoyas didn't field Melissa Riggins on Friday, mainly because they didn't need to. Chloe Scrimgeour and Lucy Jenks offered great scoring potency with three other Georgetown runners sneaking inside of the top-20.

Georgetown's depth is very underrated and it's the main reason why they can rest an All-American threat like Melissa Riggins at their regional meet. Could it also be the reason why they upset a few programs and make it onto the podium come Saturday?

6. Washington Huskies (-2 / 4)

The Washington women haven't necessarily been running poorly as of late, but it does feel like the rest of the NCAA's podium contenders are catching up to them.

After thriving in the regular season and looking like a borderline podium lock, the Huskies seemingly lost some steam at the BIG 10 XC Championships after they were trounced by Oregon. Then, this past Friday, Washington settled for 3rd place at the West Regional XC Championships behind the Ducks and Stanford.

We'll admit, we don't put a ton of stock into regional results, so maybe this is an unfair drop for Washington. Even so, the firepower on this team doesn't seem to be quite as potent as it was at the Nuttycombe Invite. And when it comes to podium contention, the Huskies will need plenty of firepower if they want to be part of that conversation.

5. West Virginia Mountaineers (+1 / 6)

Gosh, the West Virginia women looked incredibly strong this past Friday at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships. Sure, we knew that Ceili McCabe and Joy Naukot were top-tier talents, but seeing Sarah Tait, Emily Bryce and Madison Trippett go 10-11-13, respectively, to close out the scoring was wildly impressive.

The backend scoring portion of the Mountaineers' lineup isn't just better than expected, but they're also improving with each passing race. If you had told us at the beginning of the season that West Virginia was a podium threat with Tecla Lokrale not being a scorer, then I'm not sure I would have believed you.

Admittedly, there still remains zero margin for error for West Virginia. If just one woman slips up, then it's game over for the Mountaineers' hopes to get on the podium. But frankly, who cares? This team has shattered expectations in 2024.

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+1 / 5)

It's not at all surprising that the Notre Dame women cruised to a Great Lakes regional title. However, the underclassmen in this lineup continue to get better and better. And believe it or not, they've been incredibly reliable despite their youth!

The Fighting Irish put five women in the top-20 during Friday's race. But more importantly, it was Mary Bonner Dalton (9th), Isabel Allori (14th) and Gretchen Farley (20th) who stepped up to provide outstanding scoring value.

The Fighting Irish look awesome right now. While you could point to their youth as a point of concern going into the national meet, you have to remember that low-stick ace Emily Covert didn't even run on Friday. This team isn't a lock for the podium, but they do feel like a very safe choice when making your predictions.

3. Oregon Ducks (0 / 3)

The Oregon women won the West regional title just as we expected them to. With four women in the top-11 and the best fifth runner in the field by a good margin, the Ducks somewhat validated their BIG 10 title victory from the other week.

We know how good Silan Ayyildiz, Maddy Elmore and Mia Barnett are, but the key to Oregon making it onto the podium on Saturday is going to be their fourth and fifth runners. Thankfully, Klaudia Kazimierska (12th) proved that her finish from the BIG 10 XC Championships wasn't a fluke.

If Kazimierska is able to translate this recent postseason success to the national meet, then Oregon will almost certainly make it onto the podium, ceteris paribus.

2. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0 / 2)

1. BYU Cougars (0 / 1)

We would try to dive into the results of the Mountain regional meet, but there really isn't any need to. The BYU women didn't have Jenna Hutchins and the Northern Arizona women didn't have Alyson Churchill (nor were they going all-out).

There is seemingly more upside within BYU's lineup, but there is arguably more depth and greater safety in Northern Arizona's lineup. We'll figure out which aspect is more impactful at the "Big Dance" this Saturday.

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ADDED

Syracuse Orange

KICKED OFF

Boston College Golden Eagles

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Lipscomb Bison

Boston College Golden Eagles

Connecticut Huskies

Portland Pilots

Harvard Crimson

Michigan State Spartans

Toledo Rockets

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Arkansas Razorbacks

Texas Longhorns

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Liberty Flames

Princeton Tigers

Villanova Wildcats

Boise State Broncos

Ole Miss Rebels

Tulane Green Wave

LSU Tigers

Utah Valley Wolverines

Northwestern Wildcats

Colorado Buffaloes

Notes

- N/A