.png)
TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #10-1 (Women)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 30, 2024
- 14 min read
10. Sydney Thorvaldson, Rs. Junior, Arkansas
When Sydney Thorvaldson entered the 2023 cross country season, she was viewed as a solid runner, but not someone who was going to truly contend with the best of the best. The Arkansas talent had finished 12th over 5000 meters at the 2023 outdoor national meet, but her prior cross country resume, while good, didn't stand out in any major way.
Thankfully, Thorvaldson changed that narrative last fall.
After a few rust-busting meets, the rising Arkansas talent went on to have a streak of excellent runs, establishing herself as a true All-American threat in the process. At Pre-Nationals, Thorvaldson took home a strong 6th place finish before replicating that result at the SEC XC Championships, a meet that was arguably just as loaded.
With two highly encouraging results on Thorvaldson's resume going into the national meet, we felt confident that she could be an All-American. Of course, what happened next was not something that we could have predicted.
The Razorback star was absolutely incredible at the NCAA XC Championships, thriving with a fast pace and hanging with the leaders throughout most of her battle. And at the end, Thorvaldson finished in 11th place overall, a massive statement performance which suggested to the rest of the country that she belonged in the upper-echelon of NCAA standouts.
After a respectable, but truthfully quiet, indoor track season, Thorvaldson was able to regain momentum with fantastic PRs of 15:25 (5k) and 32:36 (10k) on the outdoor oval. She would later earn All-American honors in the latter event (7th place) at the outdoor national meet.
Thorvaldson has unquestionably taken that next step up in her fitness where her unreal talent is beginning to translate to the track and the grass. She has been unafraid to attack the front of certain races and she has held on quite well in most cases. The Razorback veteran is super experienced, fairly consistent and has showcased how dangerous she can be when tapping into her upside.
Admittedly, Thorvaldson's lead up to the 2023 cross country national meet, while very strong, didn't give us the impression that she would finish 11th at the NCAA XC Championships. That is largely why we're keeping her at TSR #10 going into the fall months.
Even so, we would argue that her ceiling is just as high as a number of women ranked ahead of her. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes this Razorback veteran so dangerous to toe the line against.
9. Amina Maatoug, Senior, Washington
The stunning graduate transfer of Amina Maatoug going from Duke to Washington has been well documented -- and frankly, we don't need to dive into the nuances of that move yet again. But whether she's on the east coast or the west coast, this dynamic Dutch distance ace is going to be a big-time player once more in 2024.
After a highly successful first season in the NCAA where she earned All-American honors, Amina Maatoug returned to the grass last fall. Immediately, you could begin to see that the former Blue Devil had reached a new level of aerobic mastery.
A 7th place finish at the Virginia Invitational, while not necessarily surprising, was a strong step in the right direction. However, it was Maatoug's 11th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational that truly made us realize that her aerobic strength had taken a significant jump. And if anyone needed any further proof of her fitness, then Maatoug went on to earn silver at the ACC XC Championships, losing only to Katelyn Tuohy and defeating Kelsey Chmiel who was on fire throughout last fall.
With all of the momentum in the world, Maatoug eventually qualified for the national meet where she took home a 9th place finish, arguably the best result of the season during a fall campaign that was already filled with brilliant performances.
It is so hard to dislike anything about Maatoug. She was insanely consistent on the grass and she got even better in the postseason, peaking perfectly for the national meet. It is extremely challenging to one-up a race where you beat a superstar talent in Kelsey Chmiel, but Maatoug did just that.
We also know how strong Maatoug is on the oval. She did, after all, run 4:29 (mile) and 8:46 (3k) last winter. Of course, I don't think anyone is surprised by those marks -- we've known that she has had that kind of talent for a while now.
The biggest concern, however, is the fact that Maatoug is recovering from an injury which sidelined her for most of the 2024 outdoor track season. The newest Washington star has said that her recovery is going well and that she's focusing her efforts on the upcoming cross country season. That's encouraging sentiment as we enter the fall months.
Even so, it's fair to wonder how close Maatoug will be to her prior top-tier form after being dealt a season-ending injury a few months ago.
But even if Maatoug is at 90% this fall, that still makes her a top-20 runner in the NCAA. And given how long she has had to recover and rebuild her base, we're more confident than not that she'll end the season as a top-10 name.
8. Ceili McCabe, Rs. Senior, West Virginia
I'm sure some of you forgot about her, didn't you?
Few women have been as consistently great as Ceili McCabe has been throughout the entirety of their careers. Between cross country, the mile, the 3k and the steeplechase, McCabe has found a way to always emerge as a national-caliber threat.
However, the reason why you may have forgotten about her is simply due to her ongoing absences from NCAA racing. McCabe ran just once this past spring for West Virginia, but then raced unattached after that (and did quite well, running 9:20 in the steeplechase). Not only that, but this is also someone who was redshirted during the fall of 2023!
Simply put, it's been fairly rare to see McCabe toe the line against NCAA competition over the last year. Of course, when she has competed against fellow collegians, the Mountaineer veteran has been outstanding.
This past winter, McCabe focused her efforts on the mile. She posted an excellent 4:29 mile PR in that event en route to a 5th place All-American honor. Of course, her accolades on the grass are arguably just as good.
In the fall of 2022, McCabe finished 24th at the NCAA XC Championships, although that was actually considered a significant "off" day for the WVU star. That's because in the fall of 2021, McCabe finished an outstanding 3rd place at the national meet! She also won the Nuttycombe Invitational (as part of an undefeated streak) that season as well.
The best version of McCabe is a runner who is incredibly challenging to shake. She has earned numerous All-American honors between the steeplechase and the 3000 meters and her times suggest that she's just as naturally talented as most of the women on this list.
Let's also not forget that she won the Canadian cross country national title last fall!
Trying to pinpoint the exact spot in these rankings that best fits McCabe is admittedly a bit tricky given her lack of racing against NCAA competition. But what we do know that is that this West Virginia star will almost certainly find a way to be a top-10 name this fall -- and we feel extremely confident about that.
7. Elise Stearns, Senior, Northern Arizona
The 2022 Cowboy Jamboree was one of the biggest cross country meets of the season back then. Numerous top-tier programs and their respective stars ventured to Stillwater, Oklahoma to test out the course that would eventually host the national meet.
And it was at that meet where we were first introduced to Elise Stearns.
The Northern Arizona product posted a huge 5th place finish at the early-season meet, leaving many of us at The Stride Report floored by the performance. We truthfully didn't know who Elise Stearns was at that time. As such, we wondered if the Lumberjack talent would be able to validate her crazy-strong result later in the season.
Spoiler alert: She did.
Stearns would go on to post a monster 3rd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite, falling behind only Katelyn Tuohy and Kelsey Chmiel. And after cruising through her conference and regional meets, Stearns capped her 2022 campaign with a brilliant 4th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
Oh, and the fall of 2023? For the most part, pretty much the same.
Last year, Stearns won the Virginia Invitational and was 4th at the Nuttycombe Invite. The only difference is that she faded just slightly on the national stage, earning a still-respectable 20th place finish.
In her last two cross country seasons, Stearns has only had one "off" day, and that day still led to her being a top-20 finisher at the NCAA XC Championships. We should also point out that the Lumberjack star has always been racing at the nation's most competitive cross country meets -- she has been tested numerous times and has almost always come out on top.
So...why only TSR #7?
While Stearns has always been better on the grass than the track, her recent winter and spring seasons were borderline non-existent. She ran one 5k race in December of last year and then cruised with her teammates through a 5k race at the 2024 BIG Sky Indoor Championships. Stearns did not compete this past spring (not even unattached, per World Athletics).
If someone wanted to list Stearns within our top-five, we wouldn't argue with you...too much. She is one of the single-most reliable distance runners in the nation and she has often thrived against the NCAA's most elite women. Don't be surprised if you see her battling with our top-three women at some point this fall.
6. Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Senior, BYU
If you were to strictly look at Lexy Halladay-Lowry's performances in her last two cross country seasons, you would say that she was most certainly a top-50 name. However, I imagine that it would be challenging for many of you to place her inside the top-half of your own top-50 individual rankings.
In the fall of 2022, Halladay-Lowry had a very solid season, although some efforts were better than others. Her 13th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree was excellent, but her 57th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was a bit underwhelming. Thankfully, she rebounded to earn her first All-American honor at the national meet where she placed 34th.
The fall of 2023 was largely similar. The BYU ace, who was a steeplechase All-American earlier that year, earned an admirable 9th place finish at Pre-Nationals. She later secured a 4th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships which was arguably more encouraging. Unfortunately, she faded to 103rd place at the NCAA XC Championships.
Make no mistake, that's a great resume for many women in the NCAA and it would almost always put Halladay-Lowry in our top-50. Even so, a TSR #6 ranking is extremely generous for someone with those cross country credentials. Why is she ranked that high?
Well, it's because of what she accomplished on the oval.
During the winter months, Hallday-Lowry was incredible. The BYU veteran ran 4:31 (mile) and 8:51 (3k) during the regular season and then posted a jaw-dropping 5k PR of 15:20 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She would earn two top-five individual All-American honors.
Unfortunately, Halladay-Lowry redshirted her spring season to preserve her eligibility...but she still raced unattached. And it was that season that truly left our jaws on the floor.
The Cougar superstar dropped unreal times of 15:02 (5k) and 9:22 (steeple) on the oval. The former mark would have been an NCAA #2 all-time performance for the outdoor 5k while the latter effort led to a 9th place finish at the Olympic Trials (and reaching the Olympic standard).
After seeing how incredible Halladay-Lowry was on the track this past spring, it's impossible to say that she's the same runner that she was last year. This BYU veteran is in an entirely new tier that is levels beyond where she once was. And while we still need to see how she translates those times to the grass, she has at least shown us enough in the past few months for that to be a non-issue.
But until then, we think TSR #6 is a fair spot for this sudden breakout distance star.
5. Chloe Scrimgeour, Senior, Georgetown
Going into last fall, we placed Chloe Scrimgeour in the "Just Missed" section of our preseason top-50 rankings. She would have been our TSR #51 name if we had one, but we just hadn't seen quite enough for the Hoya star to be ranked.
And that, my friends, was a mistake.
Scrimgeour was beyond excellent last fall. After a highly successful year on the track, the Georgetown star transitioned to the grass where she kicked her season off with a huge 2nd place effort at the Virginia Invitational. That was a massive result that suddenly made us completely reevaluate the status of someone who just took down numerous top-tier stars. And for anyone who needed more proof of her star-caliber fitness, a 7th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational did exactly that.
Following a win at the BIG East XC Championships where she defeated top names such as Kimberley May, fellow teammate Melissa Riggins and Sadie Sigfstead, Scrimgeour advanced to the national meet. And on a stage that could have easily overwhelmed her, she instead thrived. The Georgetown star ended her season with a fantastic 8th place All-American finish.
Seeing Scrimgeour earn top finishes at the nation's most competitive meets was super impressive. However, what we really loved seeing from her was her ability to be such a reliable distance star on both the indoor and outdoor ovals.
In the winter, Scrimgeour ran times of 8:50 (3k) and 15:21 (5k), earning a pair of 7th place All-American finishes on both of those events. During the spring, Scrimgeour moved up to the 10k where she ran an impressive time of 32:29 at the national meet to earn 5th place All-American honors.
You won't find many women at this level who have shown the same three-season reliability and consistency that Scrimgeour has. She has delivered on every stage that she's been on and has never once wavered during her meteoric rise.
At this point, there are no real concerns about Scrimgeour. The DC-based distance star hasn't really given us a reason to critique her. There is, of course, one major question remaining: Can this Hoya standout take one more step up and move into the "national title contender" tier?
I suppose we're about to find out.
4. Billah Jepkirui, Junior, Oklahoma State
If you read enough of our content, then you know that we are massive fans of Billah Jepkirui.
Through her first two years in the NCAA, she has shown up and produced outstanding performances. She has recently become far more consistent, her understanding of tactics is surprisingly polished and her raw talent has begun to fully show over the last year.
It's truthfully hard to gauge Jepkirui as a cross country runner, simply because she only competed once during the regular season last year. That lone race (the Cowboy Jamboree), however, was essentially a team workout.
Her first true challenge wouldn't come until the BIG 12 XC Championships. And yet, even on that stage, Jepkirui didn't see any competition outside of her own teammates. The Oklahoma State star ran alongside teammate Taylor Roe and eventually settled for a runner-up honor.
Earning silver at a highly competitive conference meet was great ton see, but it wasn't necessarily an indication of how Jepkirui would fare on a far larger stage like the NCAA XC Championships. She did, after all, struggle at the national meet during her freshman year.
But Jepkirui pulled through, having what may still be the best race of her career via a huge 7th place All-American finish. That result not only helped Oklahoma State earn a podium spot, but it cemented Jepkirui as a top-level star. And if you still weren't sold on that, then you may have changed your mind after seeing her run 8:49 for 3000 meters in December.
Jepkirui would go on to have an amazing winter campaign, one that ended with a silver medal performance in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In that same race, she ran an eyebrow-raising PR of 4:27.
The Oklahoma State star would go on to have a mostly-productive spring season (running a 4:08 PR for 1500 meters), but she seemingly ran out of momentum a bit at the end. Jepkirui did qualify for the national meet over 1500 meters, but did not run.
Sure, the tail-end of Jepkirui's 2024 spring campaign wasn't exactly encouraging, but it also wasn't "bad" by any means. And frankly, her unreal fitness is simply too good to ignore. Remember, she accomplished all of what I wrote above as a freshman and a sophomore. Jepkirui is only now reaching the latter-half of her college career where she is, in theory, going to be her best.
It was also great to see Jepkirui deliver on the national stage for two-straight seasons, peaking perfectly for both appearances. Yes, we'll admit, her lack of cross country racing makes it challenging to perfectly gauge her talent for that season, but everything else that she has shown us more than validates the multiple moments of brilliance that she has shown.
3. Pamela Kosgei, Freshman, New Mexico
The University of New Mexico made waves earlier this year when they added Kenyan superstar, Pamela Kosgei. Her sister is Brigid Kosgei, an Olympic silver medalist and a multi-time major marathon champion.
In other words, Pamela Kosgei's pedigree is as good as it can get.
Of course, the younger sister is plenty accomplished in her own right. The incoming freshman has run 9:28 in the steeplechase (a time that came at the Portland Track Festival earlier this year) and has run 9:35 at altitude.
However, Kosgei's value is best utilized on the grass. The Kenyan standout finished 3rd at the U20 World XC Championships last fall and was runner-up at the Cross Cup de Hannut, a very competitive cross country race, earlier this year.
Everything that we have seen from Kosgei leads us to believe that she could realistically contend for NCAA gold this fall. She has prior cross country success to lean on and a recent steeplechase PR (albeit, it wasn't at altitude) which signals that she is still finding her ceiling.
We don't always have a ton of data to review for international talents who are rumored to be as talented as Kosgei is. But for her, we do, and her credentials are about as good as one can realistically ask for. We still need to see if she'll actually translate her incredible pedigree to NCAA competition, but we'll take the gamble and place her at TSR #3 going into this fall.
2. Hilda Olemomoi, Junior, Florida
1. Doris Lemngole, Sophomore, Alabama
I am opting to combine the analysis of these two women, partially because it's easier and partially because these two women were previously teammates last fall, winter and spring.
There wasn't a single duo in the NCAA last year that had a better 1-2 punch than Alabama did on the grass. Sure, NC State did have a monster duo in Katelyn Tuohy and Kelsey Chmiel, but the latter name didn't race at the national meet and the former name was ill for the national meet.
Regardless, Hilda Olemomoi and Doris Lemngole dominated throughout last fall. When both were racing for the Crimson Tide, they made their first appearance at the Joe Piane Invitational. There, Olemomoi placed 8th after battling a significant illness that week. Lemngole, however, secured the win over a talented field which featured women like Alyson Churchill and Kelsey Chmiel.
Olemomoi and Lemngole would later go 1-2 at their home meet, the Alabama Crimson Classic, taking down Clemson ace Gladys Chepngetich in the process. However, their first true challenge wouldn't come until the SEC XC Championships.
There, Lemngole made every effort to battle with Florida's Parker Valby until the halfway point where Valby pulled away from her conference rival. Even so, Lemngole and Olemomoi placed 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Those were two excellent, but expected, performances for the Alabama women.
After cruising through the regional meet, the Crimson Tide duo capped their season with a pair of brilliant performances. Lemngole earned a runner-up finish while Olemomoi wasn't far behind, placing 4th overall.
Sure, you could make the argument that Olemomoi, who transferred to Florida earlier this summer to reunite with her former coach, did enough on the track to earn our TSR #1 spot. She did, after all, run 15:06 (5k) and 31:51 (10k) as well as earn a pair of silver medals at the outdoor national meet behind Parker Valby.
Even so, Lemngole proved to be the better runner in all three of Alabama's major meets from last year. And when you factor in that Lemngole ran the NCAA steeplechase record of 9:15 to win the national title this past spring, it's hard to say that Olemomoi's track performances should be given precedence.
But at the end of the day, it largely doesn't matter.
These two women were once a historically elite duo that did some incredible things together. Now, they are rivals who each have a realist shot at winning NCAA gold. And frankly, I don't know if you could ask for a better storyline going into this fall.
