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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): Just Missed & Honorable Mentions
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 7, 2024
- 10 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.
Just Missed (in no particular order)
Boston College Golden Eagles
A month ago, the Boston College women were going to be a ranked team. In fact, they would have likely been flirting with the top-20 portion of our rankings. That, of course, is because they had originally landed a long distance superstar in Alexandra Millard from England.
But in a stunning turn of events, Millard flipped her commitment in July, opting to join the Providence women rather than the Golden Eagles. And now, this Boston-based women's group will need to continue to chip away at the national hierarchy of teams in front of them rather than make one gigantic leap.
The Boston College women were one of the best success stories of last fall. In just one year, Coach Pete Watson took a team that placed 16th at the Northeast regional meet to a runner-up finish (and an automatic national qualifying spot) at the same meet.
The rise of Emma Tavella as a lead scorer was huge and Lily Flynn's revival as an impact scorer allowed the Golden Eagles to find success in the postseason. Despite their 26th place finish at the national meet, the fall of 2023 largely yielded only positives.
The year is now 2024 and the challenge for Boston College this fall will look much more different than it did last fall. Not having Emma Tavella on this team is going to hurt the Golden Eagles quite a bit. She acted as a spark plug of sorts, giving her team the boost it needed to qualify for the national meet. Backend support piece Sarah Flynn is also gone.
Thankfully, everyone else is expected to return (at least per TFRRS). That includes women such as Roshni Singh and Lily Flynn who showed moments of great promise last fall. Other returning talents such as Molly Hudson and Natalie Millerova will be solid as well. There are also a handful of respectable international distance talents joining this team, although many of them are middle distance-centric.
Until we can figure out who is going to give this team the necessary firepower, we'll have to place the BC women in our "Just Missed" section for the time being.
Colorado Buffaloes*
NOTE: While there is potential for Colorado to land a handful of transfers from Tennessee, we must publish our rankings with the current knowledge that we have about their roster. It is possible that the Buffaloes will make enough transfer moves to warrant a move into our rankings, something that may be reflected in our first update of the season.
Last year, we were talking about the Colorado women as a likely podium lock and a legitimate national title threat. Now, the Buffaloes aren't even cracking our rankings.
Don't worry, we're having a tough time comprehending that, too.
Going into last fall, we mentioned only one cautionary aspect regarding the Lady Buffs. That, of course, was the challenge of staying healthy and available. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Despite the numerous weapons that this team had, only Karrie Baloga, Emily Covert and Ella Baran were able to muster decent enough scoring for the Boulder-based women to remain competitive.
But even as the season went on, you could see Colorado losing momentum. They ultimately ended their season with a 19th place finish at the national meet. And their top-four women from that squad? Well, they're all gone.
Yes, this team still has women such as Samree Dishon and Natalie Cook. However, the former is still working on rediscovering her top form (she had a solid 10k effort at the Bryan Clay Invite) and Cook hasn't raced once in the last year-and-a-half due to a series of injuries.
And as if things couldn't get any crazier, Coach Mark Wetmore didn't have his contract renewed with the university this summer. In his place comes Coach Sean Carlson who was initially expected to bring a ton of his talented Tennessee women along with him.
That could still happen, but even if a couple of women do join him from Knoxville (depending on who they are), then the Buffs may still need more scoring to be considered a top-25 program this fall.
Colorado State Rams
Last year's Colorado State team entered the 2023 cross country season with some high expectations. Of course, the people who had the highest expectations for them were those at The Stride Report.
Make no mistake, the Rams were plenty good last fall. While they didn't necessarily stand out in any major invitationals, they did hold their own by placing 3rd at the Griak Invitational and 17th at the Nuttycombe Invitational before winning the Mountain West title. They did, however, fade to 29th place on the national stage.
The CSU women were already fighting hard to remain as a top-25 team last fall. Now, they'll be hampered even more after losing a crucial low-stick in Sarah Carter and a very solid veteran in Yasmin Austridge.
We do like the progress that Quinn McConnell has made and there are at least a decent number of options for Coach Kelly Hart to choose from as she attempts to reconstruct her 2024 lineup. But for now, we'll need to see the Rams establish greater firepower and low-stick scoring before we can give them a nod for a top-25 spot.
North Carolina Tar Heels
It absolutely pains me to leave the North Carolina women out of our 2024 preseason team rankings. The Tar Heels were a top-ranked team (by TSR) going into last fall. They had an army of talented women, many of whom seemed primed for breakout seasons, and their depth was plentiful as well.
Unfortunately, the UNC women just flat-out struggled last fall...a lot.
While Fatima Alanis did evolve into a true All-American low-stick, other top-tier names such as Brynn Brown, Kelsey Harrington, Taryn Parks and Sasha Neglia didn't have the seasons that they were likely hoping to have.
There is an argument that the Tar Heels should be ranked this fall despite what happened in 2023. They return all but one woman from their regional meet lineup, Eva Klingbeil showed promise and we know how talented the above-mentioned quartet can be when they're firing on all cylinders.
However, given their recent absences this past spring, it is admittedly challenging to suggest that this team will be primed to enter the fall months as a nationally competitive group.
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard women were a fun team to rally around last fall. They weren't necessarily major players, but they certainly exceeded expectations, especially when they reached the Nuttycombe Invite.
On that stage, the Crimson women earned a 19th place finish, taking down a few teams that we truthfully didn't expect them to. Sure, Maia Ramsden was brilliant, but it was Ella Gilson and Penelope Salmon who secured top-60 finishes. And despite the gap after those two women, Harvard's Nuttycombe Invite appearance could only be considered a success.
The Crimson wouldn't be able to replicate that showing at the national meet, instead settling for 26th place. And now, as we enter the fall of 2024, this Harvard team will be without their focal superstar, Maia Ramsden.
The good news is that, according strictly to TFRRS, the Harvard women should be able to return everyone else. If this group can collectively improve throughout the upcoming fall months, then they could potentially end up matching the peak of their 2023 success.
Of course, we still need to see that happen first before we move them into our top-25.
Portland Pilots
We would argue that the Portland women could enter this fall as one of the more underrated cross country teams in the NCAA. Their subtle success throughout the 2023 cross country season, paired with the fact that their entire lineup is set to return this fall, makes the Pilots a potentially dangerous group if things break in their favor.
Having a low-stick All-American standout in Laura Pellicoro is huge. At the very least, the Pilots can take solace in knowing that they don't have to necessarily rely on a certain individual taking a leap in order for them to be nationally competitive this fall.
We also really like the potential that Maebh Richardson holds after finishing 18th at the Griak Invitational and 9th at the West Coast Conference XC Championships. She'll need to improve on larger stages, but there is certainly plenty of potential in the rising sophomore.
And how about Fleur Templier? She was only a freshman last year, but placed 19th at the West Regional XC Championships! She was also 3rd at the West Coast Conference XC Championships and 95th at the Nuttycombe Invite.
With a handful of backend pieces who seemingly run together fairly well -- something that should, in theory, limit excessive scoring -- we see a ton of upside within this Portland squad as we approach the 2024 cross country season.
Villanova Wildcats
The Villanova women were a fine team last year, but they weren't capturing much attention in a crowded national landscape. In 2023, the Wildcats settled for 5th at the Mid-Atlantic regional meet after taking an underwhelming 10th place at Pre-Nationals.
So...what's the catch with them this year?
Well, for starters, the 'Nova women bring back everyone from their 2023 lineup except for Elizabeth Vaughn. That includes a small handful of women who were underclassmen. That also includes low-stick ace Sadie Sigfstead as well as a somewhat underrated name in Emma McGill (who placed 5th at the BIG East XC Championships and qualified for the cross country national meet).
But the biggest reason why we're fairly high on Villanova going into these fall months is because they bring in someone from the transfer portal. I am, of course, talking about Nicole Vanasse. The 4:36 miler from Columbia is best known for her track accolades. However, her results on the grass are quietly excellent for someone who is expected to be a middle lineup scorer. Remember, the now-former Lion took 99th at the Nuttycombe Invite, 15th at the Ivy League XC Championships and 12th at the Northeast regional meet.
If Vanasse had placed 12th for Villanova at last year's Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, then the Wildcats would have gone from 5th place to 2nd place. Yes, that's right, the Villanova women would have earned an automatic national qualifying spot over Penn State by just five points (remember to factor-in displacement).
There's no reason to think that any of the women on this team won't be just as good as they were last year. And if anyone in this scoring group is able to make a big enough jump, then there's a good chance that this near-Philly distance program will end up ranked in our top-25.
West Virginia Mountaineers
Speaking of Mid-Atlantic regional teams that could be drastically better this fall, let's talk about West Virginia for a moment. This was a group that secured a respectable 4th place finish at the Mid-Atlantic regional meet last year. However, their lead up to that race wasn't exactly encouraging.
Matters only get more complicated when you realize that the West Virginia women lose not one, not two, but THREE of their tip-five women from last year's BIG 12 Championship lineup.
So...why are they in our "Just Missed" section and not our "Honorable Mentions" section?
That, ladies and gentlemen, is because Ceili McCabe is set to return this fall to finish off her college career. The WVU veteran isn't just someone who can be the best on her team or the best in her region. In fact, she can be (one of) the best in the nation!
With Alexis Lamb showing decent promise and Sarah Tait showing even greater promise, the Mountaineers should be able to enter the 2024 cross country season with a respectable top-three. However, it's the rest of this lineup that will ultimately determine how high and how far the West Virginia women go in the postseason.
Ole Miss Rebels
The Ole Miss women were one of the more pleasant surprises of the 2023 cross country season. Aafter catching our attention with a very solid runner-up showing at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, the Rebels went on to earn a fantastic 12th place showing at the Nuttycombe Invite!
Admittedly, the postseason wouldn't be quite as kind to the Lady Rebels as they placed 5th at the SEC XC Championships and then faded to 21st place at the NCAA XC Championships. Some of that, however, can be attributed to injuries and illness.
As we approach the fall of 2024, the Ole Miss women are likely going to field a lineup that looks very different from what they put together last fall. According to TFRRS, this group loses All-American low-stick Ryann Helmers, occasional low-stick Loral Winn and a pair of long-time veterans in Skylar Boogerd and Kristel van den Berg.
Losing four of those women is absolutely brutal. And even if TFRRS is wrong for one of those women and one of those athletes actually returns, then it is still going to be quite the task for this squad to return to the top-25 of the NCAA cross country hierarchy.
In fairness, there are still some solid runners on this roster such as Hannah Ielfield and Sarah Schiffmann. Fellow teammates Sophie Baumann and Madison Husley also made encouraging progress on the oval this past spring. Even so, it's going to take a substantial amount of overall improvement from the Ole Miss women if they want to return to the top-25 conversation this fall.
Iowa State Cyclones
We'll admit, we were not very high on the Iowa State women going into last fall. We questioned who their lead scorers were (if they had any) and we weren't quite confident that the bulk of the Cyclones' scorers would be able to finish high enough in major races.
Of course, the women from Ames, Iowa proved us wrong. In place of top-heavy firepower, the Cyclones adopted a depth-heavy lineup that was void of any true weaknesses. They were steady, consistent and never let their team score inflate beyond a reasonable point.
Unfortunately, a fairly heavy portion of Iowa State's 2023 group is now gone, per TFRRS. Those departures include Madelynn Hill (a great lead scorer), Dana Feyen and Janette Schraft. That trio were often three of the Cyclones' four best runners throughout last fall.
Maelle Porcher is expected to return, and she's a really nice name to have, but the development of women like Bella Heikes and Kiki Connell is going to be crucial going into the 2024 cross country season. Thankfully, Coach Amy Rudolph has proven in her five years with the Cyclones to be an excellent long-term developer of talent.
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Northwestern Wildcats
Texas A&M Aggies
Tulane Green Wave
Oregon State Beavers
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Cal Poly Mustangs
LSU Tigers
Ohio State Buckeyes
Penn Quakers
