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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #5 Washington Huskies
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 29, 2024
- 8 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.
There weren't many NCAA teams who created more offseason headlines than the Washington women did this summer.
Not only did the the Huskies land one of the most coveted transfer prospects in the entire country, but they also added excellent scoring reinforcements as well. And with a large handful of women finding success overseas on the track, it felt like Coach Maurica Powell could do no wrong over the last few months.
Of course, it's the upcoming cross country season where the results matter the most. And as the Washington women prepare for a new fall campaign, they'll be tasked with landing on the podium for the first time since 2011.
* * *
The 2023 cross country season first started at the Virginia Invitational for the Washington women. There, Sophie O'Sullivan and Chloe Foerster would put together a quietly strong 1-2 punch as the former placed 15th and the latter placed 18th.
Thankfully, the rest of the Huskies' scoring contingent was not far off. The backend trio of Julia David-Smith, India Weir and Ella Borsheim placed 30th, 33rd and 35th, respectively. That surprisingly complete top-five allowed the Washington women to earn a stronger-than-expected 4th place result, just eight points off of Virginia.
Through just one meet, the Washington women looked like a complete and balanced squad. They had two true low-sticks and three tightly-bound backend contributors who seemingly offered great scoring stability.
The Nuttycombe Invitational, however, did not yield the same kind of promising results.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Chloe Foerster took home a respectable 40th place finish while Julia David-Smith earned a 50th place finish in her own right. Those were two solid results, although we did believe that Foerster was capable of placing just a touch higher.
Sophie O'Sullivan finished in 65th place to offer decent scoring stability, although it seemed fair to say that she was not the same low-stick talent that we had previously seen at the Virginia Invitational.
India Weir (113th) and Tori Herman (119th) did a decent enough job closing out the scoring, but the gaps within this team's top-five were far more spread out this time around compared to their last race. That, in turn, left Washington with a slightly underwhelming 13th place finish.
The Huskies' roller coaster ride of a season continued at the PAC-12 XC Championships. There, they would battle Stanford (among other teams) for the conference title. And of course, it was the Cardinal women who were viewed as the clear favorites to win it all.
The Washington women, however, did not seem to care about who the "favorite" was.
Sophie O'Sullivan and Chloe Forrester returned to their low-stick ways, finishing in 6th place and 7th place, respectively. That clutch scoring potency was complemented by a big run from Julia David-Smith who earned an excellent 10th place result. India Weir also had a fantastic rebound race to finish in 14th place.
With four Washington women packing ahead of Stanford's third scorer, the Huskies were able to put the finishing touches on a conference title upset after Tori Herman placed 21st overall to close out the team's scoring. That was enough to give the Seattle-based women a two-point win over their Palo Alto counterparts.
After advancing out of the West regional meet, the Washington women took full advantage of their recent boost in momentum on the national stage.
The trio of Chloe Foerster, Sophie O'Sullivan and Julia David-Smith put together a subtly-great 1-2-3 punch, finishing 47th, 56th and 58th, respectively. And while there were gaps at the backend of their lineup, Ella Borsehim did enough to stabilize the scoring in 119th place. India Weir also did enough to close out the Huskies' scoring at a reasonable spot, taking 140th place overall.
In the end, the Washington women would walk away from Charlottesville, Virginia with a well-deserved 8th place finish.
* * *
It's really hard to dislike this year's Washington team.
On paper, they seemingly have everything that you could ask for. The Huskies boast plenty of depth, a good mix of veterans and underclassmen, a star-caliber low-stick, a few fringe low-sticks and stable support pieces.
For the most part, you aren't going to find many teams in the NCAA more balanced than them.
The only loss from Washington's 2023 lineup is Naomi Smith, someone who never actually scored for this team throughout last fall. Outside of her, everyone else is set to return. That includes women like India Weir (who was listed as a senior on TFRRS last fall) and Tori Herman, two veterans who have been in the NCAA for quite some time.
The simple retention of talent is a major reason why the Huskies are going to be such a dangerous squad in 2024. Even without their new additions, bringing back the core of last year's team would have been enough to keep this group in the top-10 portion of our rankings.
Of course, the reason why we have this team listed at TSR #5 isn't just because they retain so much talent. The biggest and most obvious reason why is because they were the lucky winners of the Amina Maatoug sweepstakes.
The former Duke runner, who entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer this past spring, has been a true three-season star in the NCAA for the last few years. On the track, Maatoug produced times of 2:03 (800), 4:29 (mile), 8:46 (3k) and 15:37 (5k). She has also earned a 9th place finish and a 28th place finish at the last two NCAA XC Championships.
Unfortunately, an injury sidelined Maatoug for most of the outdoor track season. That is the only true "negative" thing that we can think of when talking about the Dutch distance star.
But a lot can change between late March and November. That should be more than enough time for the newest Husky star to get back to (or at least near) her prior top form. And for a team that didn't have a single All-American last fall, the overwhelming low-stick scoring potency that Maatoug brings to the table is absolutely massive.
When you pair an elite-caliber low-stick with a supporting cast of Chloe Foerster, Sophie O'Sullivan and Julia David-Smith, you can begin to see why this group should be viewed as podium threats. Those three women were fantastic scorers throughout most of last year, even if certain races were better than others.
Foerster is someone who had a breakout year on the track and could be due for another leap this fall. That, in theory, could mean that she'll be an All-American in a few months time.
O'Sullivan, meanwhile, was the team's top scorer at a handful of meets last year. She very clearly has low-stick talent and her recent performances this past summer suggest that she's rounding back into top form after getting hit with an injury earlier in the year.
As for David-Smith, she is arguably one of the most underrated women of any team in the top-10 portion of our rankings. For the most part, her scoring impact was somewhat similar to Foerster and O'Sullivan throughout most of last fall. And after making great progress on the track, we can't help but think that she'll be an outside contender for All-American honors come November.
In a best case scenario, Coach Maurica Powell will have four All-Americans this fall. Sure, we'll admit, consistently replicating their best performances at each meet wasn't a guarantee for some of these women in 2023. That, however, doesn't seem to matter.
For the most part, Maatoug, Foerster, O'Sullivan and David-Smith all seem to be fairly safe names. If they do have "off" days, then it's not like they'll crumble entirely and not be able to offer any value.
* * *
The above-mentioned quartet will be the main engine behind Washington's success this fall. The objective for everyone else, however, will be to keep the floor of this team as high as humanely possible. The more the Huskies' can capitalize on their low-stick standouts without diluting their scoring potency, the better the chance they have to be a podium squad.
Luckily, the depth on this team looks like it will be noticeably better than last year.
Incoming graduate transfers, Samantha Tran (via Michigan) and Maeve Stiles (via Penn) are two sneaky-great long distance talents. Both of those women have had underrated success on the national stage and when they are at their best, they would be high-impact scorers for plenty of other teams found in these rankings.
Here's a fun fact: Samantha Tran has finished in the top-100 at the NCAA XC Championships twice in her career (100th place in 2022 and 90th place in the winter of 2021). She has also posted a handful of other promising results on the grass such as a 10th place finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships and 34th place result at loaded Cowboy Jamboree (both of those results coming during the 2022 cross country season).
Tran didn't compete on the grass last fall, but she has evolved into a very reliable and strong miler with solid range. Her 4:35 mile PR pairs well with a 15:52 (5k) PR and great cross country credentials.
Maeve Stiles, meanwhile, found immediate success when she entered the NCAA. As a second-year freshman, the now-former Penn runner placed 14th at the Panorama Farms XC Invitational before earning top-five finishes at the Ivy League XC Championships and the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships. She later qualified for the NCAA XC Championships where she placed a highly encouraging 60th place overall.
Since then, Stiles had had a few challenges with health and availability, but she has still posted respectable results. And after seeing her run a great 32:51 (10k) PR this past spring, there's good reason to believe that Washington is getting the peak version of Stiles going into this fall.
With women like Tran and Stiles as their backend contributors, it's hard to see how this Washington team is ever going to have a truly poor outing. That's especially true when you consider that India Weir is returning. Admittedly, she wasn't super consistent last fall, but a huge 30th place finish at the Virginia Invitational was extremely impressive.
If we get that version of Weir throughout the fall months, then I am more than willing to call this team a lock for the podium in November.
Other women such as Ella Borsheim (35th at the Virginia Invite) and Tori Herman (17th place All-American in the fall of 2021) have all shown flashes of brilliance at some point in their careers as well.
We truthfully haven't seen the peak version of Herman in quite some time, but even the slightest possibility of her returning to that top-level form is what makes her super dangerous. We're also under the impression that Borsheim is due for a breakout season, something that she may have been hinting at when reviewing her performance at the Virginia Invite.
* * *
It would be incorrect to call this group a "perfect" team. That implies that they can/will win the national title. And if the Washington women want to accomplish that, then their trio of Foerster, O'Sullivan and David-Smith will all need to be All-Americans (in addition to Maatoug) and two of those three would probably need to place among the top-30 at the national meet.
But when it comes to flaws and weak points in this lineup, we struggle to find any of that in Washington's projected top-seven for this fall.
The options for almost any role in this lineup are plentiful and if one of those women isn't able to race this fall (although we certainly hope that's not the case), then someone should be able to come in and fill their spot...except if it's Maatoug.
This is arguably the best Washington cross country team ever assembled in the Coach Maurica Powell era. And in a season where the podium feels fairly open to change, the Huskies could ultimately end their 13-year top-four drought in November.
