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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #24 Syracuse Orange
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 9, 2024
- 7 min read
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 certain occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
The Syracuse women have often been a challenging team to gauge in recent years. There has never been a shortage of depth in this program and their season-to-season consistency doesn't always get the credit that it deserves.
And yet, there have been multiple times throughout the lifespan of The Stride Report where the Orange women left us thinking, "They probably could have been better than that," at the conclusion of each cross country postseason.
That, however, has the chance to change in the fall of 2024.
With a handful of key veterans, tons of depth, the potential revival of a low-stick star and the possibility of a second lead scorer emerging, Syracuse has the potential to exceed this ranking by the time that we reach November.
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To Syracuse's credit, this team did not shy away from competition last fall, giving themselves the hardest possible schedule that they realistically could.
The Virginia Invitational, for example, was a massive September-time meet which featured numerous nationally ranked teams. It would also give the Orange an early look at the national meet course.
In Charlottesville, the Syracuse women had a decent outing, although it would be hard to characterize their effort as anything more than that. Low-stick standout Savannah Roark had a slight "off" day with a still-solid 41st place effort while teammate Rylie Lusk was a pleasant surprise in 50th place.
But what truly impressed us was how close the rest of the Orange women were to their top-two teammates! Olivia Joly, Sophia Jacobs-Townsley and Baneet Bains went 54-59-67, respectively, to close out their team scoring in a shockingly quick manner. In fact, only three teams ahead of them closed out their scoring groups faster than Syracuse did.
The problem, however, is that the Orange simply didn't have enough firepower to put themselves near the top of the standings. A 10th place team finish wasn't necessarily a "bad" result, but it almost certainly could have been better given that just four teams went under 200 points that day.
Syracuse then traveled to the Nuttycombe Invite, an even larger and more competitive stage. And yet again, the women from Upstate New York held their own, although they didn't necessarily stand out, either.
Roark's 63rd place effort was respectable and Jacobs-Townsley had a great day by placing 87th. The rest of this group kept the team scoring in check, although the scoring combination of Lusk (106th), Joly (111th) and Madison Neuner (118th) was simply not enough for Syracuse to leapfrog a few key teams in front of them.
A 20th place team at the Nuttycombe Invite wasn't at all a poor performance. In fact, depending on who you ask, it may have even been considered a "good" showing. Even so, the Orange were still looking for a low-stick scoring spark.
Thankfully, Roark began to look like herself at the ACC XC Championships, snagging a clutch 9th place finish. That was a great result that Syracuse had been looking for throughout last fall. Yes, her teammates were still a good ways behind her, but Lusk, Jacobs-Townsley, Neuner and Emma Eastman closed out the scoring by going 30-38-48-54, respectively. That turned out to be just enough to give the Orange a 4th place team finish and wins over teams like Boston College, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest.
After cruising through the Northeast regional meet (en route to a win), the Orange would conclude their season at the NCAA XC Championships. And unfortunately for them, Syracuse would have their toughest showing of the season on that stage.
Roark salvaged a commendable 87th place finish, but no other woman on this team cracked the top-130 and their bottom-two scorers didn't crack the top-180. In turn, the Orange were left with a 27th place team finish in their season finale.
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I will admit, trying to analyze and rank the Syracuse women is a bit frustrating. Not because of any weakness or shortcoming that they have, but rather because we know what their strengths and potential are!
Last year's distance group was quietly really good. They ran extremely well together, had very few lineup gaps and they often put all of their scorers across the line before more accomplished distance groups who ended up defeating them in certain meets.
That kind of lineup structure is VERY hard to craft, but it can often be extremely effective (especially in larger fields) as long as you have one low-stick giving your team a spark. And despite what last fall may have suggested, the Orange do have a true low-stick who they can lean on in Savannah Roark.
Upon review of her 2023 cross country season, you may view Roark as more of a "lead scorer" rather than a "low-stick." However, her 2022 cross country season suggests otherwise. Remember, this Syracuse veteran was a breakout star almost two years ago, placing 9th at the Cowboy Jamboree (excellent), 31st at Nuttycombe (strong), 15th at the ACC XC Championships (just okay) and 23rd at the NCAA XC Championships (outstanding).
There are more signs than not which suggest that we'll see the 2022 version of Roark this fall rather than the 2023 version. This past winter, Roark ran a new 5k PR of 15:45 and she also qualified for the outdoor national meet in the 10k.
Roark doesn't necessarily need to be a 23rd place All-American in order for Syracuse to make improvements this fall. Simply being a backend All-American would be great as well.
Not only that, but there's reason to believe that returning veteran Rylie Lusk could be even closer to Roark this fall than she was last year. That's because the still-rising Orange distance talent produced new personal bests of 15:58 (5k) and 32:50 (10k) earlier this year! The only reason why you don't see that on her TFRRS profile is simply because she was redshirted.
There is a real possibility that the Syracuse women have two low-sticks this fall. Or at the very least, they'll have two lead scorers. That projected firepower is exactly what this team needs. Not just because the Orange lacked scoring potency last fall, but because they also lose a small handful of stable veterans from their 2023 lineup.
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Sophia Jacobs-Townsley and Madison Neuner were two crucial scorers throughout last fall for this distance-centric program. Outside of the Virginia Invitational (where Neuner was not a scorer), those two women were always in Syracuse's top-five. And unfortunately for the Orange, both of those women are gone.
For a team that relied so heavily on their backend consistency and depth, the departure of those two women will likely hurt Syracuse a bit more than it would for any other squad.
Of course, it's not like this ACC stalwart is void of reinforcements.
The return of Olivia Joly should be not be overlooked. While some of her races were better than others, this is still someone who was 54th at the Virginia Invitational and 111th at the Nuttycombe Invite. If Roark and Lusk are going to be as good as we think they will, then simply having Joly replicating her best efforts from last fall will be more than welcomed.
It's a similar story for Baneet Bains who was 67th at the Virginia Invitational last fall. However, her season beyond that race didn't quite match that initial result. Even so, knowing that Bains can at least race at that initial level is an encouraging sign. With her, we don't need to do any projection -- we just need to see her reach that peak point of her fitness and do so consistently.
The same goes for Emma Eastman who was 96th at the Virginia Invitational, but was still working to adjust to high-level collegiate competition last fall.
A Syracuse supporting cast that features women like Joly, Bains and Eastman should be viewed as respectable. Even so, it's hard to envision that those three women would collectively make up for the lost scoring of both Jacobs-Townsley and Neuner.
That, of course, is where the transfer portal comes in.
The offseason additions of Nyah Hernandez (via Arkansas) and Heidi Demeo (via Oklahoma State) won't make any major headlines. Even so, those two women, especially Demeo, are crucial names for a Syracuse team that needs to plug some scoring holes.
Hernandez is a respectable runner who was 33rd at the SEC XC Championships and 17th at the South Central regional meet. At the very least, she'll end up cracking this team's top-seven and be good insurance should one of her new teammates have a tough outing.
Demeo, however, may be the biggest reason why we opted to place Syracuse in our top-25. Last fall, she was 6th at the Cowboy Jamboree (which was admittedly a very light field) and 31st at the BIG 12 XC Championships. But it's her accolades prior to that which make us feel a bit more confident in what Syracuse can do this fall.
In the fall of 2022, Demeo was 70th at the Cowboy Jamboree (when the meet was extremely competitive) and 12th at the BIG 12 XC Championships. If we see that version of Demeo emerge for the Orange women in 2024, then this team ranking will undoubtedly be too conservative.
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Throughout last fall, the Syracuse women had a collection of scorers who, as a whole, were probably better than what their team results suggested. And if you're struggling to figure out what that means, go back to this section about their 2023 Virginia Invitational performance.
Sure, this team isn't necessarily loaded with high-potential youngsters or elite superstars. Instead, they have a number of experience and proven veterans who boast great depth and a seemingly high floor. That, of course, feels perfectly appropriate for a program whose identity has always been gritty, aerobic-centric distance running.
We mentioned at the top of this article that the Syracuse women have, at times, fallen a touch short of expectations in the postseason over the last couple of years. And yet, given the tenure of the women who will be found in this projected lineup, this may actually be one of the safer groups that the Orange will ultimately send to the national meet come November.
