TSR's 2024 NAIA XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Women): Update #2 (Three Sentences or Less)

Marissa Kuik
Oct 31, 2024
7 min read

Written by Marissa Kuik, edits & additional details via Garrett Zatlin

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 NAIA 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 individual has moved in the rankings.

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

25. Corinne Braun, Freshman, Dordt (Unranked)

Making her debut in our rankings is true freshman, Corinne Braun. With each race, Braun has finished 1st overall, but we have hesitated to rank her because most of those meets have been fairly small. With a 4th place finish at the Blazing Tiger Classic and Braun’s first true test against other top NAIA talent, we believe that performance was deserving of an entry into our rankings.

24. Elizabeth Barrett, Junior, Indiana Wesleyan (-4 / 20)

With a 9th place finish at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, Elizabeth Barrett takes a small dip in our rankings. Though her finish at this very competitive meet is still strong, other names that were behind her in our top-25 -- including Brinkruff and Ramsey -- finished in front of Barrett, hence the small drop in our rankings.

23. Audrey Brinkruff, Senior, Taylor (+1 / 24)

Finishing just behind Ramsey at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge was Audrey Brinkruff who has continued her impressively consistent season for the Trojans. She has always been their fourth runner and has yet to truly have a bad effort. Our opinion of her didn't necessarily change, but she did validate all of the positive suspicions that we had about her.

22. Allison Ramsey, Senior, St. Francis (IL)) (+1 / 23)

Allison Ramsey continues to prove why she should be in our rankings with a strong 7th place finish at the Great Lakes Challenge. She finished a little bit behind Sauder and Cameron, showing improvement in her placements against similar fields from other outings. With Ramsey’s improvement, she gets a small bump in our rankings.

21. Kylie Sauder, Senior, Grace (-5 / 16)

In some ways, it does not feel right to drop Kylie Sauder this much when she has been incredibly strong for her team. However, the other performances around her have forced us to drop her a few spots. At the competitive NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, Sauder placed 5th overall, but she was still 13 seconds back from Neideck, a gap large enough for Sauder does drop a few placements in our rankings.

20. Esther Cameron, Junior, Grace (-5 / 15)

Similar to her teammate, Kylie Sauder, it does feel a little wrong dropping Esther Cameron. However, she placed 6th overall, just behind her teammate, at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge. Again, the gap after the top-five was significant enough to drop Cameron a few spots, though her high placement at this meet still makes her a competitive name to watch out for.

19. Ellen Palmgren, Rs. Senior, The Master's (-9 / 10)

Taking one of the bigger drops in our rankings update is Ellen Palmgren. Though she has the history of finishing well at the national meet and started out her season quite strong, Palmgren has had two less-than-ideal finishes lately. Her most recent performance was an 84th place finish at the Highlander Invite, a result that leaves us wanting more as we enter the postseason.

18. Maddy Walter-Sherretts, Rs. Senior, SCAD Savannah (0 / 18)

Maddy Walter-Sherretts has shown promising growth as of late, finishing six seconds behind Alyssa Bearzi at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge and placing 6th overall. With each race, Walter-Sherretts has gotten better and better and has placed higher and higher in more competitive fields. If she continues this trend, then she should be able to peak perfectly for the national meet.

17. Alyssa Bearzi, Rs. Junior, Milligan (+2 / 19)

A very respectable showing at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge has moved Alyssa Bearzi up a couple of spots. She placed 5th overall at that meet and was within five seconds of 3rd place (Boshchuk) and 4th place (Clarke). That improvement definitely looks more like the Bearzi of the past, but we still need to see a few more consistent high finishes before we can move her up even more.

16. Emma Nelson, Junior, The Master's (+1 / 17)

In her past two races, Emma Nelson has served as the second or third runner for the Mustangs, showing subtly great consistency and general improvement in her raw fitness. She has slowly moved up through the packs of each race and is quietly becoming a strong name for a top-20 finish at the national meet.

15. Ahna Niedeck, Rs. Senior, Taylor (-1 / 14)

The steadiness of the Trojans this season has made them one of the best teams in the NAIA and Ahna Neideck is a big reason for that. Finishing 4th overall at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, Neideck had the most impressive race of her season. That spark should be something that she can carry with her through the postseason.

14. Katie Woods, Junior, Marian (IN) (Unranked)

It has been hard to place Katie Woods in these rankings because she has been slightly inconsistent this season. At some meets, she finishes near VanderWall and Neideck, and at other meets, she finishes much further back. However, after her runner-up effort and a clear break away from both VanderWall and Neideck, it's obvious that Woods belongs in these rankings -- but right in the middle.

13. Kirsten Geary, Junior, Milligan (-1 / 12)

Has not raced since our last update.

12. Suzie Johnson, Junior, The Master's (-1 / 11)

Has not raced since our last update.

11. Katie Clarke, Senior, SCAD Atlanta (+2 / 13)

Racing at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge, Katie Clarke put her best foot forward against some top NAIA teams and came away with a 4th place finish. That performance aligned with some of her other runs, and just made us more confident in her ability to race with the best in the NAIA.

10. Noel VanderWall, Junior, Taylor (-2 / 8)

Crossing the line 3rd overall at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge was Noel VanderWall who is continuing to serve as a strong secondary ace for the Trojans. Though VanderWall did finish behind Katie Woods of Marian (IN), we still believe that VanderWall performed up to par with her other races, thus keeping her within the top-10 portion of our rankings.

9. Emma Timmermans, Senior, Hope International (-2 / 7)

Another name who has been plenty consistent is Emma Timmermans, the 21st place finisher at the Highlander Invitational. Though this is Timmermans worst placement on paper, that was also a fairly large field with mostly Division One teams. She did, however, lose to a couple of NAIA runners by a few seconds, including Emma Nelson from The Master’s, which is why she dropped a couple of spots.

8. Riley Hiebert, Senior, St. Mary (KS) (-3 / 5)

Though Riley Hiebert takes a small drop in our rankings, it is more so from the performances of others rather than her own doing. Yes, it would have been nice to see her finish right next to her sister like she usually does, but a 3rd place finish at the Blazing Tiger is nothing to be upset about. She is still finishing well in each race.

7. Kahea Figueira, Senior, College of Idaho (+2 / 9)

Also running at the Blazing Tiger meet was Kahea Figueira, the COI veteran who crossed the line in 2nd place right in between the Hiebert sisters. Throughout the season, Figueira has thrived behind her strength and experience, but this performance was the first time where we saw Figueira go toe-to-toe with some other top NAIA schools -- and she did not disappoint.

6. Reagan Hiebert, Senior, St. Mary (KS) (0 / 6)

After taking home a big-time win at the competitive Blazing Tiger, Reagan Hiebert remains at TSR #6 in our rankings. She continues to be a steady national-caliber star who is one of the more reliable low-stick standouts in the NAIA. She will be another name in the mix for a potential top-five finish at the national meet.

5. Alina Boshchuk, Sophomore, Cumberlands (KY) (-2 / 3)

Taking a small drop in our rankings this week is Alina Boshchuk based on her finish at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. Boshchuk still finished an impressive 3rd overall, but was behind Kearney and Murphy in that same, two women who now reside in our top-five. Boshchuk has also been incredibly reliable this season, but the competition is steep for the top few spots in the NAIA.

4. Ellen-Mary Kearney, Junior, Milligan (0 / 4)

Bouncing back after a less-than-stellar performance at the Pirate XC Invitational is Ellen-Mary Kearney who finished 2nd at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. She only lost to Heather Murphy, someone who put on her own wildly impressive showing. We didn't really learn anything new about Kearney that we didn't already know, but given how strong her resume already was, that is certainly not a bad thing.

3. Heather Murphy, Freshman, Montreat (Unranked)

Making a huge jump into our rankings after officially racing in uniform for Montreat is Irishwoman, Heather Murphy. In her debut race in a Montreat singlet, Murphy won the NAIA Appalachian Challenge, defeating all of Milligan’s and Cumberlands’ (KY) runners. With such a massive statement performance, we had to place Murphy highly in our rankings, especially with nothing else on her collegiate resume holding her back.

2. Jaynie Halterman, Freshman, Taylor (0 / 2)

Another race, another victory for Jaynie Halterman. In her most competitive race of the season, going against a plethora of ranked NAIA schools, Halterman defeated everyone at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge. Her youth-based upside has her on a hot streak right now, although her general inexperience at the collegiate level is something that sits in the back of our minds.

1. Hannah Fredericks, Senior, The Master's (0 / 1)

Besides maybe Jaynie Halterman, no one has been as consistent as Hannah Fredericks this season, especially after earning a runner-up finish at the Highland Invite. We know that Fredericks is at least talented enough to win the national title. When paired with her veteran consistency, she felt like the safest name to put (and keep) at our TSR #1 spot.

ADDED

Katie Woods (Marian (IN))

Heather Murphy (Montreat)

Corinne Braun (Dordt)

KICKED OFF

Mercy Chebet (Goshen)

Ali Ray (Montreat)

Sage Martin (College of Idaho)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Dylan Garcia (Montreat)

Ali Ray (Montreat)

Kate Madsen (St. Mary (KS))

Mekayla Gibson (William Woods)

Julia Gilbert (College of Idaho)

Tarikua Majocchi (Cumberlands (KY))

Hannah Brown (Milligan)

Louise Cocking (Oklahoma City)

Elke Wijkmans (Cumberlands (KY))

Samantha Patterson (Taylor)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)