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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- TSR Collaboration
- Aug 30, 2024
- 8 min read
Written by Rachel Hickey & Garrett Zatlin, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
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 women of South Bend, Indiana always find a way to get the job done.
Take the past three cross country national meets for example: 5th place in 2021, 7th place in 2022 and 4th place in 2023. But what has truly impressed us about the Fighting Irish is that they have consistently posted stellar performances with lineups that have often seen significant change with each passing year.
Heading into 2024, Notre Dame loses their terrific twin duo of Olivia and Andrea Markezich. Admittedly, those two women (along with Erin Strzelecki) were the ones largely responsible for locking down a podium finish for this team last year.
Obviously, having phenomenal low-sticks makes a massive difference in national meet placement. And although Notre Dame loses one of their best-ever distance talents as well as her All-American sister, they still return everyone else from their 2023 lineup.
Believe it or not, this roster is still loaded and they even added a new All-American-caliber scoring weapon during the offseason. With a history of excellence on their side, Notre Dame should be a major threat for a back-to-back podium result.
* * *
The Fighting Irish had their first real challenge of the 2023 cross country season at the Joe Piane Invitational, a meet that was hosted on their home course. Over 5000 meters, Notre Dame held their own against NC State, falling nine points back of the Wolfpack to finish runner-up.
However, when you realize that NC State was missing a handful of top-tier scorers, it was hard to be quite as excited about that result.
Siona Chisholm finished just ahead of Olivia Markezich as the pair placed 5th and 6th, respectively, in what could largely be considered a success outing for both women. Andrea Markezich (12th) and freshman Grace Schager (13th) also held their own while Erin Strzelecki (17th) closed out the scoring relatively quickly.
Despite falling to NC State, the Fighting Irish were still able to pull ahead of an Alabama team that would turn out to be much stronger than expected in the postseason. Gaps throughout different points in their lineup, however, would need to be closed, especially in larger fields.
Speaking of larger fields, the next stop on Notre Dame's schedule was the Nuttycombe Invite.
Olivia Markezich continued to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country by finishing 9th place at the prestigious invitational. Schager (56th) and Strzelecki (58th) offered great value and scoring stability, posting results that could be viewed as improvements on their Joe Piane Invite efforts.
Chisholm (85th), Andrea Markezich (88th) and Ericka VanderLende (96th) did not race poorly by any means. In fact, they were great examples of why this team's depth was so strong. And yet, it did feel like each of those women were capable of so much more.
It feels odd to call a 6th place team finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational a bit of a fumble. But for a program with as much depth and potential firepower as Notre Dame, it did feel like the Fighting Irish left some points on the table.
Heading into the postseason, the South Bend women were looking to replicate their performance from the 2022 ACC XC Championships where they nearly upset NC State.
That, however, didn't happen.
Olivia Markezich (4th) delivered an unsurprising low-stick result. Chisholm (13th) had a decent race while Strzelecki (16th) likely could have been a touch closer to the top-10. Andrea Markezich, Grace Schager and Sophie Novak took spots 23-24-25, respectively, to wrap up Notre Dame's conference meet outing.
In the end, the Fighting Irish posted 80 points, a score that was well behind NC State's point total of 37. And although they secured a runner-up result, they barely did so, fending off a sneaky-good Virginia team by just two points.
On paper, that performance may not have appeared to be the team's best effort. And yet, a deeper dive into the numbers reveals a much more positive outlook for this group. Their entire top-seven finished within the top-30 at the ACC XC Championships, indicating phenomenal depth all the way through their lineup.
The only team that had better sixth and seventh runners at that meet was NC State. Otherwise, no other group came even relatively close to flexing the same level of depth.
As expected, the Fighting Irish cruised through their regional meet and entered the NCAA XC Championships as outside podium threats. While they certainly had the potential to reach the top-four, doing so would require standout performances from a handful of up-and-down scorers.
Thankfully, that is exactly what happened.
With an ideal combination of firepower and immense depth, the Notre Dame women thrived in Charlottesville, Virginia. Olivia Markezich (3rd) had the best cross country race of life while Andrea Markezich (35th) and Erin Strzelecki (37th) came through with unbelievably clutch All-American results. Those latter two efforts gave the South Bend women far greater firepower than we expected them to have.
It's true, the Fighting Irish didn't have anyone else crack the top-100 on that stage. Even so, Siona Chisholm (114th) and Grace Schager (125th) did enough to ensure that Notre Dame's scoring potency wasn't diluted.
That, in turn, led to Notre Dame securing a 4th place podium finish.
* * *
When you see that a podium team from last year is listed in a podium spot in our preseason rankings, one may naturally assume that they retained all of their low-sticks from last fall.
That, however, is the not case for Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish lose critical firepower in the Markezich twins. Olivia was an extremely important piece for this team last fall, emerging as the lone woman who could consistently offer a low-stick presence. Andrea, meanwhile, was always a crucial support scorer and proved that her ceiling was that of an All-American.
And regardless of how you frame it, those are two brutal departures.
Thankfully, everyone else from their 2023 national meet lineup is set to return.
Erin Strzelecki has been a quietly underrated name in recent seasons. The long distance veteran was a highly consistent and stable scorer last fall. Her floor was fairly high in terms of having "poor" performances (which is a good thing).
But seeing Strzelecki emerge as an All-American last fall was a pleasant surprise. While it wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility for her, that was undoubtedly the best cross country race of her career.
Thankfully, you could argue that the Fighting Irish ace has gone on to (mostly) validate that result, running 32:44 for 10,000 meters and winning the ACC indoor 5k title this past winter.
We then come to Siona Chisholm, someone who we believe could absolutely be a low-stick for this squad in 2024. And sure, that may be a challenge to believe when you evaluate her good, but not great, fall campaign from last year.
However, Chisholm has since given us good reason to believe that she's back in top form. She did, after all, run a head-turning time of 15:32 for 5000 meters this past spring and she also qualified for the outdoor national meet in that event.
If we get the 2022 version of Chisholm, specifically when she placed 7th at the ACC XC Championships that year, then the loss of the Markezich sisters, while still challenging, should be a bit easier to process.
But for as much as we like Strzelecki and Chisholm, those two women are likely not going to be able to offer enough firepower to put this team back on the podium. Of course, that's why Coach Matt Sparks went out to the transfer portal and landed a third low-stick.
Emily Covert enters South Bend, Indiana with an extensive resume which features national-caliber personal bests and two All-American finishes. At her best, she is a scary-good veteran who offers great low-stick value,
When Covert is firing on all cylinders, she is simply outstanding. During her tenure at Colorado, her PRs of 9:04 (3k), 15:35 (5k), and 32:30 (10k) demonstrated how effective she could be across the longer distances. Back in 2022, Covert placed 3rd at the PAC-12 XC Championships and in the fall of 2021, she finished 31st at the national meet to earn All-American honors.
Truthfully, Covert has struggled a bit with consistency, something that can be attributed to injuries and illness. Of course, Covert at her "worst" is still a borderline All-American and that is not something that we can say about every low-stick.
* * *
The trio of Strzelecki, Chisholm and Covert will act as the foundational core of this group in 2024. Of course, it's the rest of this team that will likely determine whether or not Notre Dame can reach the podium come November.
Sophie Novak provided additional veteran experience to this squad last year, although she has yet to have prove herself on the grass in the same way that she has on the track.
A fairly versatile talent, Novak flexed impressive mile speed this past winter and spring with times of 4:14 (1500) and 4:38 (mile). She also had a huge breakout year in the steeplechase this past spring, running a 9:40 PR at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn a 7th place All-American honor.
Yes, it's true, Novak finished 173rd at the NCAA XC Championships last fall despite posting stronger finishes throughout the regular season. But it's also abundantly clear that her improvement on the track could translate to a far stronger and far more effective scoring season this fall.
Rising sophomores Grace Schager and Gretchen Farley both had fairly impressive freshmen campaigns with the Irish in 2023, picking up valuable national meet experience as well.
The former was surprisingly great despite her inexperience and her consistency needs to be applauded as well. The latter wasn't quite as strong, but placing 100th at Nuttycombe and 141st at the national meet are excellent results for a rookie.
Another year of training and building momentum should bolster the scoring potency of both of these women. We would be especially careful of Schager who was sneaky-good last fall and can seemingly be a future low-stick for this team in the future.
Speaking of younger distance talents, how about Arianna Olson? She made her collegiate debut this past spring and did surprisingly well. With times of 16:05 (5k) and 33:56 (10k), the latter of which got her runner-up honors at the ACC Outdoor Championships, we saw enough from the rising redshirt freshman to think that she can be an impact name this fall.
Coach Matt Sparks also brought in a great recruiting class which featured a handful of strong names such as Mary Bonner Dalton and Isabell Alori. We don't know if either of those women will redshirt this season, but given Notre Dame's history of having true freshmen thrive in their first season of competition, we're not going to sleep on the potential value of those two youngsters.
Other names to monitor include Paige Grant, Molly Grant and Bella Guillamondegui.
* * *
When people say "historical powerhouse" in reference to cross country, you likely think of programs like NC State, Stanford, Colorado, Oregon, Arkansas and maybe a few others.
But with consistent top-10 team finishes on the national stage over the past three seasons, it feels fair to say that Notre Dame belongs in that same category. Being able to replicate such dominance with new rosters each and every year is a truly impressive feat and not one that many teams are able to establish.
Without the Markezich siblings to lead the charge, the Irish's 2024 cross country team will rely on other veteran athletes to provide the same firepower up front. Chisholm, Strzlecki, Covert and Novak have all shown that, collectively, they are capable of filling their shoes.
It is just a matter of putting it all together when it matters most.
Schager, Farley and Olson are building off of formidable freshmen campaigns and could very easily bolster Notre Dame’s depth. And if one of them makes the freshman-to-sophomore jump, then this team may have a fifth low-stick-caliber woman on their roster.
Despite their critical losses from last year, the 2024 version of the Fighting Irish still posses the perfect recipe for a podium finish come November. And thankfully, they seem to have all of the right ingredients, too.
