TSR's 2024 D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): Update #2

TSR Collaboration
Oct 28, 2024
7 min read

Written by Marissa Kuik, Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin

Edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve and Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: These rankings are based on how an individual 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).

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

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

10. Wingate Bulldogs (0 / 10)

Holding strong at our coveted TSR #10 spot, after a South Atlantic Conference title, is the Bulldogs.

Wingate easily won their conference meet, scoring only 27 points and sweeping spots 2-3-4 in what was a display of their balanced scoring spread (just 37 seconds). Having a tight pack of runners always helps when it comes to the bigger races, which will aid this team immensely upon entering the NCAA XC Championships without any All-American favorites.

If a true low-stick does emerge for the ‘Dogs, this squad has the potential to comfortably finish in the top-10. For now, they will rely on the entirety of their lineup, a formula that has been fruitful thus far.

9. Western Colorado Mountaineers (-2 / 7)

The reality is that Western Colorado is just not as strong without low-stick superstar Allison Beasley, who has yet to race this season. After a less-than-ideal performance at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, the Mountaineers finished 4th at their loaded conference meet.

Now, in fairness, that effort is nothing to scoff at. However, this team came into the season with podium expectations and seemed like perhaps the second-best team in the RMAC.

Even without Beasley, this is still a nationally competitive squad. Peyton Weiss continues to outperform expectations in the postseason, finishing as the conference runner-up.

Leah Taylor may have had a slight “off” day in finishing 7th, but she was still quite potent as WCU’s second scorer. Lauren Willson also looked like a fringe low-stick in placing 14th. Where Beasley’s presence would have helped the most was in alleviating the drop-off after the Mountaineers’ top three runners.

As is, the Mountaineers look to have a top-10 team with three All-American favorites even in the absence of their most accomplished runner. That’s not a bad place to be.

8. Lewis Flyers (+1 / 9)

After finishing runner-up at the Lewis Crossover, the Flyers used their same balanced yet potent lineup structure to win a conference title.

The entirety of the team’s top five crossed the line within 22 seconds of each other (after doing so in just 31 seconds at the Lewis Crossover) en route to winning team and individual titles at the GLVC XC Championships. Lewis posted a perfect score, led by Hannah Smrcka.

If Srmcka continues to emerge as a true low-stick on a team with several fringe All-American candidates after she struggled a bit at the Lewis Crossover, then there’s a possibility of this team finishing higher up in the top-10 than this ranking suggests.

7. UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions (+1 / 8)

The Mountain Lions continue to impress with the depth of their squad really stepping up when needed. UC-Colorado Springs finished 3rd overall at the RMAC XC Championships, a mere seven points from runner-up status.

UCCS was led by Anna Fauske, who was less than a second away from finishing 2nd, although the rest of their pack was a little further back. Kate Hedlund finished “only” 19th, but the rest of the scoring five did a great job keeping close to her. The Mountain Lions’ third through fifth runners finished 21st, 26th, and 28th, making for a tight spread.

There’s not much separation between many of the nation’s top-10 teams beyond the best one or two. If Hedlund can close part of the gap behind Fauske and the rest of the scoring five stays relatively close, then UCCS can finish in the top-five. First comes a competitive South Central Regional XC Championships.

6. CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves (0 / 6)

A strong runner-up result at the RMAC XC Championships has to feel good for a CSU-Pueblo team that took down multiple nationally ranked conference rivals.

Helen Braybrook (9th) was great as expected, but the trio of Margot Thomas-Gatel, Leah Keisler and Jadyn Herron went 17-18-19, respectively. That middle-lineup group was fantastic in terms of keeping the floor of this team fairly high on Saturday.

There was a small gap to their final scorer, Sarah Renberg (29th), but keeping all five women inside the top-30 of the RMAC XC Championships demands respect.

Admittedly, there is zero margin for error when the ThunderWolves reach the national stage. This is a very small roster and at their two biggest meets this season, there has been a clear drop-off to their sixth runner.

That being said, we really liked what we saw out of CSU-Pueblo and think their chances of podium contention have risen...even if they don't move up in our rankings during this update.

5. Augustana (SD) Vikings (-1 / 4)

The Augustana (SD) women took home a comfortable-ish win at the NSIC XC Championships this past weekend. There, they defeated U-Mary and Winona State by 18 points and 21 points, respectively.

Ella Bakken (4th) and Ashley Overgaauw (7th) both cracked the top-10 to offer strong scoring potency while five other Vikings stayed inside the top-20 spots of this race. However, it's important to note that All-American Aubrey Surage and veteran Amanda Overgaauw did not race this past weekend.

The latter name is likely not running this season as she has a "RS/Una" designation on TFRRS. The former name, however, is leaving us increasingly more worried. This is the second race of the season where she hasn't competed, having remained absent since the Roy Griak Invite.

When the Vikings have all five of their best women, then they are very much podium threats. And even if they don't have Amanda Overgaauw, then they should still remain in the conversation. However, whether or not they remain in our top-five will largely be determined by whether or not we see the much-needed Aubrey Surage in their lineup at the Central Regional XC Championships.

4. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (+1 / 5)

We'll admit, our opinion about West Texas A&M as a whole hasn't really changed much despite easily dominating the Lone Star XC Championships. There, they took five of the top-six spots and that was with veteran Elise Leveel (8th) not even scoring for the team.

However, the reason why the Buffaloes move up one spot in our rankings is because low-stick ace Sarah Koomson looks healthy and fit!

The sophomore star has truthfully struggled this season, looking a little "off" in a few rust-busters before recording a not-so-great DNF result at the Louisville XC Classic. Thankfully, Koomson stormed back into the spotlight this past weekend with a strong (and convincing) Lone Star title victory.

Seeing Koomson rounding into top form for the postseason is massive. With her, there is enough firepower on this team for West Texas A&M to be viewed as podium favorites. Sure, it's only one race, but this was a VERY big step in the right direction.

3. Grand Valley State Lakers (0 / 3)

While we're sure that Coach Jerry Baltes' powerhouse program doesn't take any conference title for granted, Grand Valley State's win at the 2024 GLIAC XC Championships was more or less a fait accompli.

More so than the Lakers' latest win, the most positive development from their most recent outing was the debut of their frontrunner: Lauren Kiley.

We kept the 2023 top-half All-American (who achieved that status as a freshman) in the top-10 of our individual rankings despite the fact that she did not race for the first two months of the season, and we were rewarded for that patience when she ran and won her first race of this fall.

Alongside fellow 2023 freshman All-American Allie Arnsman, Kiley gives this steady lineup the juice it needs to stand out as a podium favorite even after losing several key components from its 2023 national title team.

Assuming that star D1 transfer Abby Olson returns after scratching out of the GLIAC XC Championships, the Lakers (who finished 3rd at the Lewis Crossover without their three lead scorers) have as much firepower as any team outside of Adams State.

2. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 2)

Unfortunately, we did not see Colorado Mines field their varsity lineup at the RMAC XC Championships, so we have not seen this team's top runners in action since our last rankings update.

Given what we saw in their dominant Lewis Crossover victory a couple of weeks ago, the Orediggers would have been heavily favored to finish as the RMAC runner-up behind our TSR #1 team. It'll likely be the same case entering the NCAA XC Championships.

1. Adams State Grizzlies (0 / 1)

A team score of 30 points is about as impressive as you'll find at the RMAC XC Championships, which is Division Two's most competitive conference competition.

It was expected for Adams State, who achieved that tally by producing half of the RMAC's top-12 finishers on Saturday, including individual conference champion Ava O'Connor.

As her team's success suggests, O'Connor was hardly the only Grizzly who impressed. Tristian Spence (4th place) looked great in finishing her first race in six months. Meanwhile, Katie Hughes (15th) was only Adams State's seventh finisher but continued to look solid despite being a first-year runner who came in with more of a middle distance focus.

The Grizzlies are less than a month away from almost certainly winning another national title after a one-year absence from the top spot on the podium. The most intriguing storyline for this team moving forth may be the order in which Adams State's women finish on the national stage and how many land in the top-40.