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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #9 Lipscomb Bison
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 24, 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.
We'll admit, we were not at all prepared to list the Lipscomb women in our rankings last fall.
While we knew that they had a strong team, we simply didn't think that there was enough talent on their roster to, a) make the national meet, and b) be competitive with top teams in the country.
Of course, as we found out last October and November, those suspicions were flat-out wrong.
Like, very wrong.
The Lipscomb women had a Cinderella season last fall which ended on a very high note. But now, as we approach the 2024 cross country season, the Bison are in a new tier. There will be a target on the back of each Lipscomb singlet that races this fall and the opportunity to capitalize on a fully-returning lineup will come with pressure.
Simply put, the Bison women thrived last year when they were the underdogs.
But how will they fare now that they're a top-10 team?
* * *
Lipscomb truly kicked-off their 2023 fall campaign at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, an early-season meet that was surprisingly competitive and deep on the women's side. There, the Bison would have to face formidable opponents such as Furman, Ole Miss and Wisconsin.
Low-stick ace Lydia Miller (5th) gave her team valuable scoring at the front of the field, effectively matching the low-stick performances from other top-tier teams. However, a gap formed between Miller and Kiara Carter (17th) as well as another gap after her.
With Mackenzie Barnett (37th) closing out the scoring, the Bison settled for 117 points and a 4th place result. That was a good ways out from Furman, Ole Miss and Wisconsin, the top-three teams of the meet.
The Loyola Lakefront Invitational was a fine showing for the Bison -- they held their own against some accomplished teams -- but it felt like there was still a gap between Lipscomb and the proven national-caliber programs.
But if there was a gap, it certainly didn't show at the Nuttycombe Invite.
In Madison, the ladies of Lipscomb were excellent, far surpassing our expectations. Mackenzie Barnett (53rd) was a very pleasant surprise after a much less exciting outing at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. Thankfully, Kiara Carter (66th) and Lydia Miller (68th) kept their gap tight, ensuring that this Bison didn't have the same chasm-like holes that they had in their race at Loyola.
With Harley Kletz (79th) running shockingly well and Liza Corso (102nd) closing out the scoring relatively quickly, the Bison had secured a very well-deserved 10th place finish at the second-most challenging meet of the year.
That stunning display of pack-running was a complete 180 from what had happened at Loyola. Frankly, the Bison looked like a completely different team.
Fast forward to the postseason where Lipscomb easily won the ASUN team title with a perfect score. However, they would later finish in 5th place at the South regional meet. And if the Lipscomb women hadn't found success at the Nuttycombe Invite, then there was a chance that they would have staying home instead of going to the NCAA XC Championships.
Thankfully, the Bison did advance. And yet again, this team masterfully navigated around an overwhelmingly large group of elite distance runners to earn a top finish.
Lydia Miller (38th) put forth an incredibly clutch All-American result to give her team the firepower that they were missing at the Nuttycombe Invite. Mackenzie Barnett (83rd) yet again offered a high-value scoring result before Colbi Borland (107th), Kiara Carter (117th) and Harley Kletz (122nd) formed a nearly-gapless bottom-three scoring contingent to conclude their season.
The reward? A monstrous 11th place finish in the single-biggest race of the season.
* * *
The performances that we saw from last year's Lipscomb team were baffling. The Bison underwhelmed (slightly) at meets like the Loyola Lakefront Invite and the Southeast regional meet, but thrived in far more challenging environments like the Nuttycombe Invite and the NCAA XC Championships.
In fact, the more difficult the competition, the better their pack-running was!
Lydia Miller, a returning All-American from last fall, headlines this team as their focal ace. However, her role as the Bison's lead low-stick seemed to be fairly sporadic last year. Miller was great across the board last fall, but the Loyola Lakefront Invitational and the NCAA XC Championships are the meets where she was truly at her best.
All we need to see from Miller this season is more of the same. Yes, it would be nice if she could improve upon her national meet result, but ensuring that she's a repeat All-American this fall is arguably just as important.
However, it's the second scorer on this team is where things become a little less clear.
What if I told you that the Bison's second scorer on the grass this fall will be the woman who was the team's fifth scorer at the national meet?
I am, of course, talking about Kiara Carter. And in fairness to her, the 117th place finish that she produced on the national stage was arguably her "worst" performance of last year (and it was still fairly solid in the grand scheme of things). Winning the ASUN title and placing 66th at the Nuttycombe Invite are subtly great results that were more accurate indications of her talent.
However, what makes us much higher on Carter this fall is the fact that she just had a huge breakout season on the track this past spring. The Lipscomb star dropped a huge 4:09 PR for 1500 meters after running 2:02 for 800 meters. She later qualified for the national meet in the former event.
Yes, it's true, the metric mile on the track and 6000 meters on the grass are two very different races. And yet, we still believe that Carter's tremendous fitness jump can be somewhat translatable to the grass. If that happens, then this team will end up having better firepower than you realize.
How about Mackenzie Barnett? After a not-so-great showing at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, Barnett evolved into one of the most reliable top-half scorers who Lipscomb had throughout last fall. Finishes of 53rd at Nuttycombe and 81st at the national meet were later validated by new personal bests of 16:08 (5k) and 33:44 (10k) this past spring.
Barnett seems to be surprisingly comfortable in larger, nationally competitive meets. Frankly, almost everyone on this team does. But if Barnett can simply replicate and then build off of those performances just a bit, then there is a scenario where the Bison have a "Big Three" of sorts.
* * *
Believe it or not, there is actually another woman on this team who may have just as good of a chance to claim the status of "low-stick" as Barnett this fall.
I am, of course, talking about Leonie Saurer.
Last fall, Saurer was a fine name on the grass, but she wasn't expected to make any major contributions given her rookie status. But on the outdoor oval, the true freshman found great success, running 10:08 in the steeplechase and qualifying for the outdoor national meet.
Saurer is a massive x-factor for Lipscomb. If they can carry over her momentum from the track to the grass, then this team will get a massive boost. And while steeplechase result don't always align with cross country success, it is impossible to ignore the still-rising fitness of a sophomore who is only beginning to realize her true potential.
Lipscomb's ceiling for this fall will likely be determined by how well Saurer and one other key name perform in October and November.
But...who is that "other" key name?
That, ladies and gentlemen, would be Linda Perez, a recent graduate transfer from UC-Riverside.
The west coast veteran has now joined the Bison, bringing an aerobic-centric and strength-based skillset to a squad built around exactly that. However, Perez's resume differs quite a bit between cross country and the grass.
On the outdoor oval, Perez has run a head-turning time of 32:58 for 10,000 meters. She has also run 15:54 for 5000 meters. Both of those marks were posted in the spring of 2023. However, when you evaluate her cross country performances, they simply pale in comparison.
Despite her 5k and 10k success, the grass hasn't necessarily been her sweet spot.
We also have to acknowledge that Perez didn't compete past March of this year. That's not a super encouraging sign, but it's not enough for us to say that she won't be an impact name later this fall.
Perez's resume holds a few head-scratching aspects, but her peak fitness could theoretically make her a lead scorer for this team. And if that happens, then you can see how this already-strong group could continue to rise in the coming months.
Other women such as Colbi Borland, Harley Kletz and Liza Corso had promising 2023 cross country seasons. And even if they get kicked out of Lipscomb's top-five by a new-look lineup, this trio of ladies could still end up being some of the best non-scorers in the entire nation this fall. Borland ran a head-turning time of 15:44 (5k) this past spring, Kletz was 79th at the Nuttycombe Invite and Corso has been solid across the board in each season of competition.
Despite what I just said above, Borland in particular is someone who could be the second or third runner in this lineup if she's able to build off of her 5k success. She is yet another major x-factor who could add to the already-great trajectory of this lineup.
Be sure to watch out for Ellie Brewer as well. She gained valuable national meet experience and made decent progress on the track as well.
* * *
Sure, this team isn't perfect. Women like Saurer, Perez, Borland and Carter all had great success on the track, but we don't know how that will translate to the grass.
We also can't forget that this team was only 4th at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational last fall. And while a 10th place finish at Nuttycombe was fantastic, there were still a few highly talented teams that didn't race at that meet (think Oregon, BYU, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Alabama, etc.).
And yet, in spite of all of that, there is a very realistic argument for Lipscomb to be ranked even higher than TSR #9 this fall. In a best-case scenario, this group is potentially battling for a podium spot in November.
Coach Nick Polk and his staff have done an absolutely incredible job with this roster. In terms of development relative to pedigree, I don't know how many coaches could do the same thing that Lipscomb is doing right now.
The Bison coaching staff have built this team from the ground up, mostly by recruiting women from the eastern-half of the country (with a few exceptions sprinkled in). In today's day and age, that's pretty rare to see, especially for a top-10 team. They were also smart enough to go out and capitalize on their podium potential by signing someone like Linda Perez.
This mid-major program has less than 5000 students enrolled at their university. And truthfully, we don't really think of Lipscomb when we say "cross country stalwart." Sure, they may not be underdogs anymore, but given who they're up against, it feels like we're about to see a "David vs Goliath" story unfold right in front of us.
