TSR's 2024 D3 Outdoor Top 20 Rankings (Women): Update #3

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Written by Conor Daly, Kevin Fischer & Gavin Struve

Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve

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Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.

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20. Riley Buese, Junior, Lewis & Clark (Unranked)

The competition at the two meets that Riley Buese competed in over the past few weeks could hardly have been more different. She cruised to double gold in the 5k and the 10k at the Northwest Conference Championships and, over two weeks later, placed 5th over 5000 meters at the Portland Twilight.

Despite finishing behind one Division One talent and a few athletes from Canadian universities in the latter setting, Buese finished one second ahead of Division Two standout Precious Robinson and a few University of Portland runners. The main similarity between Buese's last two 5k efforts is that she ran PRs in both, first 16:48 and then 16:34.

If she carries that kind of momentum through the rest of this month, Buese should secure her third All-American honor through as many seasons during this academic year.

19. Rachel Hirschkind, Senior, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked)

While Rachel Hirschkind has historically been a bit inconsistent relative to her level of talent, it's hard to overlook the 10:17 steeplechase PR that she produced at Penn Relays. That mark sits comfortably at NCAA #1 this season (in D3), although saying that this SUNY Geneseo veteran is the sole national title contender wouldn't be a correct statement.

Fortunately, Hirschkind has long been at her best over the barriers and water pits and seems a near-lock for her third consecutive spring season with an All-American finish in that event. And if she can replicate her Penn Relays performance, then she'll have a shot at securing gold later this month.

18. Lexi Brown, Senior, Wartburg (+2 / 20)

Given that she had yet to begin her outdoor track season, Lexi Brown was on the precipice of dropping out of our rankings during our previous update. But not only has it been reassuring to see her debut in the time since, but she was quite sharp after five weeks off following the indoor national meet.

Perhaps coincidentally, Brown's three races over the past few weeks have resulted in a troika of runner-up finishes, but it's hard to be upset with what we've seen from her.

Brown lost to Deyanneira Colon Maldonado by two-hundredths of a second over 1500 meters, ran a 16:34 (5k) PR against Division One competition at Drake Relays and found herself sandwiched between a pair of Central College aces in the 5k at the American Rivers Conference Championships.

And if you know anything about the women who Brown fell behind, then you know that there is no shame in not being able to defeat them.

17. Kayla Werner, Sophomore, Lynchburg (0 / 17)

Kayla Werner has continued to hardly miss a beat in her first academic year in the D3 ranks, although it helps that she didn't even have to move cities after transferring from Liberty. Werner just won an ODAC title (already her fourth) in the 5k, nearly did so in the 1500 meters and then proceeded to run a 4:30 PR in that latter event.

The focus over the next couple of weeks will likely be deciding whether the 1500 meters or the 5k is Werner's optimal event after she contested the 3k at the indoor national meet. If we had to guess, the latter distance may be the best option given her history as a cross country specialist.

16. Dale Leonard, Freshman, Ramapo (-1 / 15)

Even though Dale Leonard has run PRs from the 800 meters up to the 5000 meters in recent weeks, we admittedly don't feel like we've learned much about her in the time since our last rankings update.

She won a metric mile conference title in dominant fashion with a 4:29 personal best effort but hasn't proven to be nationally competitive to nearly the same level in any other events beyond the 1500 meters and the mile. After a breakout top-half All-American result at the 2024 indoor national meet, we're eager to see Leonard's encore to that effort later this month.

15. Deyanneira Colon Maldonado, Junior, Aurora (+1 / 16)

Deyanneira Colon Maldonado's past few races have indicated that she's best-suited for the 1500 meters this season after falling just short of All-American honors in the 5k while also racing the 3k at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.

She earned a narrow metric mile victory over Lexi Brown while doubling back in two other events at the Wheaton 'Don Church' Twilight, finished a ways off from her 5k personal best at Drake Relays, won double gold at her conference meet and then ran a 1500-meter personal best.

In short, Colon Maldonado has competed in seven individual races since our last rankings update, and three of her four wins in that span have been in the metric mile. A 4:26 personal best in a narrow win this past weekend only adds credence to the notion that this versatile star has found her springtime sweet spot.

14. Haley Schoenegge, Freshman, Vassar (+5 / 19)

Haley Schoenegge's star continues to rise as she seemingly angles toward her first All-American finish after landing one place away this past winter.

The Vassar rookie ran strong PRs in both the 5000 meters (16:32) and the metric mile (4:25) in April -- that latter effort felt especially resonant given that it resulted in a comfortable win over fellow rookie star Dale Leonard -- and opened the month of May with a pair of gold medals on the conference stage.

Schoenegge's latest 1500-meter triumph, en route to a conference title, also came over two well-regarded names (Allison Sibold and Jules Bleskoski). Frankly, it's uncanny to see a freshman racing to win with this level of poise.

13. Julia Howarth, Junior, MIT (+1 / 14)

It’s crazy to think that Julia Howarth didn’t run the open 800 meters ever in high school or during her freshman year of college. That all changed during her sophomore year when she discovered the half-mile. Now a junior, that’s been her best event ever since. 

In our last rankings update, we talked about her breakthrough 2:08 (800) mark. And in the past few weekends, she has further validated that with a string of races that included another sub-2:10 (800) effort in addition to a top-30 mark (and PR) in the 400 meters.

In short, this sprint-based half-miler looks to be running as well as she ever has been.

12. Shaelyn Hostager, Junior, Wartburg (+1 / 13)

Shaelyn Hostager is about as true of a long distance runner as you’re going to find. She has run three 10k races already this spring, two of them recently. The first was at the Drake Relays where Hostager knocked almost 20 seconds off of her personal best to run 34:21. The second, in contrast, was anything but a time trial-style race.

At the American Rivers Conference Championships, Hostager was hardly challenged to take home the win in a time that was almost four minutes slower than her new 10k PR.

So far this spring, we haven’t seen any flaws from Hostager. Outside of her conference championship, she’s been in several competitive fields and has stacked up quite well. All signs point to her improving upon her 6th place finish in the 10k from the 2023 outdoor national meet.

11. Ellie Rising, Junior, George Fox (+1 / 12) 

This middle distance ace has raced twice in recent weeks, once over 1500 meters and once over 800 meters. Although Ellie Rising seldom contests the metric mile, her new 4:26 PR may suggest that's her best event. Even so, it’s not like that mark is worlds better than her 2:10 (800) effort from this past weekend. 

It could be advantageous for Rising to contest the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet since she could have a lot of untapped potential in the event, not to mention that having speed like she does could prove to be wildly helpful.

On the other hand, opting for the half-mile could be better since she has done so before and is more familiar with the tactics. That, of course, is plenty important because advancing out of the rounds is often not a matter of fitness, but positioning. 

10. Natalie Bitetti, Senior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (-1 / 9)

In recent weeks, this Athena ace nabbed a pair of SCIAC titles between the 1500 meters and the 5k while taking down some very solid teammates. That metric mile victory was no tactical affair as Natalie Bitetti ran 4:28 before doubling back the same day.

And while the SCIAC Championships are far from a national meet, it's still good to see Bitetti being able to double so successfully.

After earning a 5k national qualifying time the following week, Bitetti (who also ran in the 3k at the indoor national meet) will probably end up focusing on that event come the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Yes, her 4:26 (1500) PR is better (on paper) than her 16:37 (5k) seasonal best, but we must not forget that she was the national meet runner-up in cross country and has unquestionably thrived in the more aerobic-based events throughout her career.

Of course, having options like Bitetti does is a good problem to have.

9. Caroline McMartin, Senior, Central College (+2 / 11)

Caroline McMartin has greatly improved her stock as of late. A 10:21 steeplechase effort at the Drake Relays was awesome to see, especially so early in the season. Then, the following week, the Central College star ran a personal best of 4:30 (1500).

While both of those performances could have potentially put her in the top-10 of our rankings, it was her triple at the American Rivers Conference Championships that sealed the deal. In a two-day span, McMartin essentially repeated both of those performances and then some.

Her 10:24 steeplechase mark was good for silver and she finished ahead of the defending national champion in the event (Aubrie Fischer). McMartin then ran another personal best over 1500 meters, this time via a 4:29 mark, to take home the win. Finally, she returned in the 5k and still managed to run a very respectable time of 17:25.

While McMartin has had a fantastic past few weeks, we were unable to reward her much more than this in our rankings. The issue for her is that many other women have also fared quite well as of late. While it’s awesome that McMartin is nationally competitive-to-elite over 1500 meters, the steeplechase and the 5k, it remains unlikely that she will win a national title in any one event.

8. Hope Murphy, Junior, Baldwin Wallace (0 / 8)

After casually running the 5k and the 10k seemingly for fun, this 800-meter specialist has returned to her main event. At the OAC Championships, Hope Murphy took home double gold in the 800 meters and the metric mile.

The following week, Murphy neared her half-mile personal best of 2:09-low with a big win at the Harrison Dillard Twilight. While all of that was largely expected, it was still good to see her get the job done and continue to perform at the high level that we have been accustomed to seeing from her.

Murphy remains a steady pulse in the national 800-meter scene and the favorite for runner-up honors in the eyes of most.

7. Grace Richardson, Senior, NYU (-2 / 5)

We haven’t seen anything crazy from Grace Richardson in the last few weeks and we may have expected a bit more from her at the UAA Championships where she was the runner-up finisher in the 1500 meters. Even so, she’s done enough this season to maintain a high ranking within our top-20. She is, after all, safely inside the national qualifying bubble in the 1500 meters, the 5k and the 10k.

Her mark in the latter event from March still remains the second-fastest in Division Three this spring. And even though Richardson ranks outside the top-10 in the 1500 meters and the 5k, her indoor track success gives us reason to believe that she can contend for the top few spots in any event that she chooses to contest. 

6. Aubrie Fisher, Senior, Wartburg (-2 / 4)

A tough conference meet -- in which she finished 5th place in the 1500 meters and 4th place in the steeplechase -- should not take too much away from Aubrie Fisher’s strong body of work this season.

The two-time steeplechase national champion is having her best season yet in the flat events with lifetime best marks of 4:30 (1500) and 16:28 (5k). Yes, we'll admit, her 10:24 steeplechase seasonal best is a shade off of what she has done in the past. However, with the resume that Fisher has, it would be foolish not to consider her a serious contender for her third national crown in that event. 

5. Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, Junior, U. of Chicago (+2 / 7)

Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel's only appearance since our last update was a double gold effort at the UAA Championships between the 10,000 meters and the 5000 meters.

Grace Richardson's absence from those events made those wins a bit easier to come by, but Battleson-Gunkel still faced cross country All-Americans and track national qualifiers while putting a ridiculous gap between them and herself. Interestingly, she has moved up in distance this year while Richardson moved to the lower extent of her range at the conference meet.

This Maroon star ranks in the top-eight nationally in both the 10k and the 5k. And even though her metric mile fitness isn't at the same level this year, we saw in 2023 that she has some serious speed, which can certainly benefit her in a championship scenario. 

4. Megan Johnson, Junior, Central College (+2 / 6)

This Central College stalwart has been everything we hoped for and more this spring. Megan Johnson's improvement in multiple events throughout the indoor track season has translated nicely to the steeplechase where she has run 10:19.

Her efforts in flat events have been nationally elite as well -- 4:29 (1500), 16:35 (5k) and 35:00 (10k) marks from this season are all massive lifetime bests and they give Johnson some options for the outdoor national meet.

Johnson will be a threat to win the steeplechase national title, but it will be interesting to see if she tries to double her All-American chances and which event she does so in.

3. Fiona Smith, Junior, St. Benedict (-2 / 1)

It seems really harsh to drop Fiona Smith from TSR #1 to TSR #3 after she hasn't really done anything wrong. However, we continue to be too impressed by the performances of the two women who are now ranked above her. One is showing unparalleled range and value while another is an all-time talent in one event.

Frankly, it's hard to recall the last time so many women had a reasonable case for TSR #1 in one season (although the trio of Esther Seeland, Parley Hannan and Emily Pomainville in 2021 comes to mind).

Regardless of what this drop suggests, Smith is (probably) still the favorite to win both the 10,000 meters and the 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet before transferring to NC State. Smith's routine triple-gold effort at the MIAC Championships gave her team 30 points and she didn't seem to have to go too deep into the well to achieve it which is a good sign for the next few weeks. 

2. Emma Kelley, Junior, Washington U. (0 / 2)

Already a superstar with an incredible legacy, Emma Kelley has now entered rarified air. She has become only the third woman in Division Three history to run 2:02 over 800 meters, following legends Emily Richards and Esther Seeland.

There isn't much question that the 800-meter crown will be hers for the fourth national meet in a row. She also sits at NCAA #1 (D3) over 400 meters, but the time between those races (or lack thereof) makes that a difficult double.

If Kelley does opt for a second individual event on top of the 800 meters and the 4x400-meter relay, the more logistical option is the metric mile in which she ran 4:22 (1500) this spring and her speed makes her a serious threat off of a slower pace. 

1. Grace Hadley, Senior, WPI (+2 / 3)

The rise of Grace Hadley from star to superstar during the 2024 indoor track season was incredible to witness and through the spring months, she has made yet another jump into new territory. Sitting in the top-three on the national leaderboard in every flat distance event from the half-mile to the 10,000 meters is an incredible feat of versatility.

Hadley is also the only distance runner in Division Three history to hold a top-10 all-time mark in the 800 meters, the 1500 meters and the 5k. She should be a clear favorite to win the metric mile national title and she can't go wrong doubling back in either the half-mile (where she holds a new 2:06 PR) or the 5k (in which she recently ran 15:56).

Hadley is the top name in one distance event and next-best or close to it in three others. That was enough to anoint this Engineer upperclassman as TSR #1 heading into the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

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ADDED

Rachel Hirschkind (SUNY Geneseo)

Riley Buese (Lewis & Clark)

KICKED OFF

Allison Sibold (St. Lawrence) Genna Girard (Williams)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Allison Sibold (St. Lawrence)

Genna Girard (Williams)

Penelope Greene (SUNY Geneseo)

Alessia Sarussi (Washington U.)

Danielle Schultz (Washington U.)

Lexi Fernandez (MIT)

Maddie Kelly (U. of Chicago)

Cyna Madigan (UW-Oshkosh)

Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw (Goucher)

Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)

Audrey Maclean (Middlebury)

Brigid Hanley (Emory)

Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)

Amelia Lehman (UW-Oshkosh)

Faith Duncan (Wilmington (OH))

Megan Bell (Rochester)

Kayla Kass (Stockton)

Ellie Meyer (Wartburg)

Laura Zimmer (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)

Annessa Ihde (Bethel (Minn.))

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Kate Sanderson (MIT)

Helen Cross (Carleton)

Julia Schor (Amherst)

Mckayla Felton (UW-Stout)

Annie Huang (Johns Hopkins)

Rebecca Markham (Hope)

Peyton Steffen (Central College)

Estelle Snider (U. of Chicago)

Lara Kallem (Simpson (IA))

Mary Blanchard (Carleton)

Kendall Accetta (Colorado College)

Elle Marsyla (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)

Annika Carlson (Chapman)

Ella Whinney (Wellesley)

Alexandra Blake (Washington U.)

Pria Parker (Smith)

Riley Capuano (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)

Jules Bleskoski (RPI)

Kelty Oaster (Elizabethtown)

Paige Phillips (Coast Guard)

Elisabeth Camic (U. of Chicago)

Katelyn Chadwick (UW-La Crosse)

Jenna Allman (Calvin)

Notes

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