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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #20-11 (Women)
- Maura Beattie
- Jul 29, 2024
- 15 min read
Written by Maura Beattie edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
20. Amy Bunnage, Sophomore, Stanford
After a year of getting her feet wet in the NCAA, Stanford’s Amy Bunnage is back for her sophomore season. And throughout that rookie year, there were multiple glimpses of the star that Bunnage could be. However, her often up-and-down consistency has made it hard to determine where the Cardinal ace will place amongst the nation's best later this fall.
Bunnage began her freshman cross country campaign with an excellent 6th place finish at the Virginia Invite before really making a statement at the Nuttycombe Invite. In Wisconsin, the rising sophomore finished a stellar 13th place in a top-heavy field. Her aggressive front-running in the early portions of the race forced the nation to take notice of the Aussie star from Stanford.
That performance, followed by her dominant win at the PAC-12 XC Championships, led us to believe that Bunnage could be a top-20 finisher at the NCAA XC Championships.
However, things got a little dicey for the Cardinal runner when she finished 14th at the West regional meet. And on the national stage, Bunnage wasn’t able to replicate her early-season success, ultimately placing 59th in her first go around at the cross country national meet.
Bunnage found some redemption on the indoor oval where she ran outstanding PRs of 8:54 (3k) and 15:11 (5k), the latter being a jaw-dropping time. Naturally, we were high on the then-freshman heading into the postseason, but then we saw Bunnage scratch from the NCAA Indoor Championships. Again, we struggled to gauge the Australian native’s potential on the national stage.
The outdoor track season went a bit smoother for the Stanford athlete as she strung together some solid 5k performances, running a seasonal best of 15:38 (5k). Although it was well off from her PR, Bunnage was able to remain fairly steady all season long and she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in her main event. A 17th place finish in Oregon wasn’t exactly stellar for the Cardinal athlete, but it was a step in the right direction for Bunnage.
As we enter the final few weeks before the start of the 2024 cross country season, Bunnage is still a racer who we believe is worthy of a top-half All-American finish at the NCAA XC Championships. When she was firing on all cylinders, Bunnage was unafraid to be aggressive in her racing style and that led to some incredible marks.
Her 15:11 (5k) PR suggests that she has the ceiling of a top-10 runner.
Of course, consistency will be the Cardinal star's biggest hurdle this fall. Reaching her peak level of fitness and maintaining that throughout the entirety of the cross country season will ultimately be the biggest aspect of her resume that we're monitoring.
But if Bunnage is able to do that and deliver on the potential of her insane raw talent, then this preseason ranking could end up being borderline insulting.
19. Maddy Elmore, Senior, Oregon
Oregon senior Maddy Elmore made massive jumps this past year, racking up top finishes on the cross country course, turning heads on the indoor oval in the mile and the 3k and running a superb 15:15 (5k) PR during the spring.
The talent and momentum are clearly there for Elmore, but staying healthy seems to be the question when it comes to the Duck veteran.
Looking at the 2023 cross country season, the Oregon ace put together a stellar 2nd place finish at Pre-Nationals. That effort allowed her to beat a handful of top names. That performance also indicated that Elmore was primed for a strong All-American showing during the postseason.
In the final PAC-12 XC Championship before the disbandment, Elmore crossed the finish line in a solid 4th place. She beat a slew of All-American talents for the second time that season. And after a 5th place finish at the West regional meet, the Duck star was a favored contender for her first cross country All-American honor. That, however, didn’t come to fruition as Elmore couldn't quite find her groove and had to settle for 52nd place.
After a promising winter campaign, Elmore dropped a massive 15:15 (5k) PR to win the Stanford Invitational with an all-time mark. That 56-second 5k personal best shot the Oregon Duck up our rankings and it led us to believe she could be a lethal threat to the top-three at the outdoor national meet.
But then things started to go quiet. Elmore was expected to contest the 10k/5k double at the PAC-12 Outdoor Championships, but was a no-show. Then, Oregon scratched their leading lady from the West Regional Championships. We presume that an injury sidelined Elmore from the remainder of the season, yet we were never given a clear indication.
The 2024 cross country season is right around the corner and we expect Elmore to be right up with the leaders. Her 15:15 (5k) PR suggests that she is more than capable of being a top-half All-American. We also saw a tremendous amount of growth from her over the last year.
In theory, there may still be some untapped upside within her.
Of course, simply being available for the entirety of the cross country season will be our main concern for the rising senior. Elmore is ridiculously talented, but she is also someone who has dealt with significant injuries even before Coach Shalane Flanagan showed up to Eugene, Oregon.
As long as she toes the line, we're optimistic about her upcoming senior season.
18. Alexandra Millard, Junior, Providence
Incoming junior Alexandra Millard is a bit hard to gauge right now. We’re pretty sure the newly minted Providence runner will be a star, but we just don’t know to what extent yet.
The British athlete, who had originally signed with Boston College before flipping her commitment, will join a Friar team that is on the rise with the likes of Kimberley May and Shannon Flockhart leading the way. Millard could easily slip into a top-three scoring position for the Friars given her impeccable range from the 800 meters to the 5k. If she does so, then Providence could be a dark horse team to make the podium.
Looking at Millard, the junior has run PRs of 4:05 (1500), 8:52 (3k) and 15:18 (5k), all of which came in 2024. Her mix of strength and speed will suit her well for the 6k on the grass, but we can’t exactly say how high up Millard could finish given this is her first year competing in the NCAA. Thankfully, she does have prior success on the grass, emerging as the winner at the 2023 British Universities & College Sports (BUCS) XC Championships.
On paper, Millard is going to be a top-20 contender at the NCAA XC Championships. Experience, however, is obviously going to be one of the deciding factors in her success this fall. Even so, if she can gain confidence and momentum before the championship portion of the season, then we wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see Millard make an immediate impact and emerge as a star-caliber name.
17. Grace Hartman, Rs. Sophomore, NC State
The NC State women are looking for a new leading lady this fall -- and redshirt sophomore Grace Hartman could be that woman this cross country season.
Hartman will have some big shoes to fill as the Wolfpack lose Katelyn Tuohy, Kelsey Chmiel, Amaris Tyynismaa and Samantha Bush. But based on what we saw from Hartman on the track this past winter and spring, she appears up for the challenge.
Backtracking to the 2023 cross country season, the NC State athlete had some strong performances leading up to the championship season. After opening up at the Joe Piane Invite with a 9th place finish, Hartman impressed on a sloppy day at the Nuttycombe Invite with her 26th place finish. Given that the then-redshirt freshman didn’t have any collegiate cross country racing under her belt, those two showings seemingly gave Hartman the momentum she needed to contend with the top-dogs of the NCAA.
At the ACC XC Championships, Hartman truthfully had a bit of an "off" day, settling for 19th place. Hartman’s 63rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships was also a touch off from expectations, but not dramatically so. If not for Hartman, the NC State women wouldn’t have accomplished a three-peat for the team title.
Sure, Hartman's fall campaign didn't exactly scream that she was a top-20 runner for this fall. But the growth that we saw from this Wolfpack ace on the oval was incredibly encouraging.
In her 10k debut, Hartman ran away from the field on her home track at the Raleigh Relays to secure a win in 32:28. And before that, she was a 5k All-American at the indoor national meet with a 15:28 PR! Hartman concluded her spring season at the outdoor national meet, taking on the 10k/5k double, finishing 8th and 14th, respectively.
It’s not going to be an easy ask for Hartman to pick up where her recently graduated teammates left off. Hartman was clearly still going through the learning curve last fall and some of her performances were better than others.
Even so, we saw more than enough to know that there is a top-tier low-stick scoring potency still within this rising Wolfpack talent. Her pair of All-American honors on the oval should validate that suspicion.
If we’ve learned anything from the way that Coach Laurie Henes has developed her women, it's that Hartman is primed to be the next Wolfpack star. Everything that we've seen from her suggests that she'll take a massive leap on the grass in 2024. And if that's the case, then we're expecting her to be a top-20 talent.
16. Gladys Chepngetich, Sophomore, Clemson
As a freshman, Gladys Chepngetich took the cross country scene by storm. She gained experience by racing from the front early-on during the 2023 cross country season thanks to Clemson competing at smaller meets. That experience led to some valuable confidence for the remainder of her freshman year.
Chepngetich was on fire in her early-season meets, finishing runner-up at the Eye Opener XC Invite, 1st at the Furman Invite and 1st at the Louisville XC Classic (a sneaky-good result). However, the Tiger newcomer had her first true test when she raced at the Alabama Crimson Classic where she competed against the duo of Doris Lemngole and Hilda Olemomoi. Admittedly, Chepngetich finished a distant 3rd place in that race, although those two women were undoubtedly top-five talents (nationally) last fall.
At the ACC XC Championships, we weren’t entirely sure what to expect from the then-freshman in a deep field. Thankfully, she surprised us with her excellent 7th place showing, taking down some talented names in the process. Fast forward to the NCAA XC Championships and Chepngetich would ultimately go on to finish a remarkable 24th place in her first appearance at the "Big Dance."
But what truly surprised us about Chepngetich is that she ended up being a top-tier middle distance talent on the oval! Despite struggling in the prelims of the national meets, the rookie Clemson star ran head-turning times of 1:59 (800) and 4:13 (1500)! She also finished 1st over 800 meters and 2nd over 1500 meters at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Clemson, historically a track and field-based program, has found themselves someone who can elevate their cross country program in Chepngetich. The rising sophomore was generally successful through each of the three seasons during the last academic year and she’s bound to continue growing.
It will admittedly still be a challenge to gauge just how strong Chepngetich is until she reaches a nationally competitive meet. That meet may not truly come until the ACC XC Championships, a race that will be even more stacked this fall with the introduction of Stanford (as well as Cal and SMU) to the conference.
Even so, between the experience gained, the accolades racked up and the mix of speed and strength that we have seen from the Clemson star, we believe that Chepngetich is in line to finish as an All-American once again at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships.
15. Judy Kosgei, Sophomore, Clemson
In just her first season in the NCAA, Judy Kosgei immediately caught our attention and has since become a someone to keep your eye on every time she toes the line. The newest Tiger ace will be joining a developing distance program at Clemson after spending her freshman season at in-state counterpart, South Carolina.
Reflecting on Kosgei’s freshman campaign, we saw her excel across a variety of distances and terrains. The 2023 cross country season began with the then-South Carolina youngster winning her first three races, the last of which was Lehigh's Paul Short Run (a fairly competitive meet). Kosgei had yet to truly be challenged on any of those stages, but her true first test would come in the postseason.
In a deep SEC XC Championship field, the former Gamecock finished a decent 11th place behind a slew of women from Alabama, Arkansas and Florida. That was a fine result, but it didn't quite match the talent ceiling that Kosgei had hinted at earlier in the year. Thankfully, she showed that when she qualified for the cross country national meet with a 4th place finish at the Southeast Regional XC Championships.
And in her first appearance at the NCAA XC Championships, Kosgei produced a fantastic 19th place finish ahead of some experienced women and high-octane scorers. That same overwhelmingly apparent upside that we suspected she had finally came out in full force.
Kosgei would later find success on the track, also dropping down to the middle distances in a similar way to Gladys Chepngetich. The 2:01 (800) PR that Kosgei ran in late March led to her remarkable 4:07 (1500) PR, falling just short of beating Harvard’s Maia Ramsden. Unfortunately, despite qualifying for the outdoor national meet, a lack of experience got the best of the then freshman as she failed to qualify for the 1500-meter finals.
Growth and experience are definitely going to help Kosgei as she makes the transition to her sophomore year at Clemson. There is also the obvious benefit of having a training partner in Gladys Chepngetich, a teammate who boasts a very similar skillset when it comes to racing on both the track and the grass.
Kosgei’s proven firepower and general reliability on the cross country course should lead her to a second-consecutive All-American honor. Of course, it's that ever-so-clear upside that leads us wondering just how high the newest Tiger can reach in 2024.
14. Alyson Churchill, Senior, Northern Arizona
After a breakout 2023 cross country season with Florida State, Alyson Churchill has only gotten better since transferring to Northern Arizona. The potential is there for Churchill to not only improve upon her 22nd place finish from the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, but to also help the Lumberjacks vie for the national title this year around.
Churchill’s 2023 season as a Seminole was quietly great. It was initially was highlighted by a 3rd place finish at the Joe Piane Invite, taking down established runners like Olivia Markezich and Hilda Olemomoi in the process. The rising senior then finished a respectable 31st place at Nuttycombe Invite. Yes, that was a bit further back than we would’ve expected her to finish after her Joe Piane performance, but it was still solid, nonetheless.
The long distance ace regrouped in time for the championships portion of the season and that was evident by her highest-ever ACC XC Championship finish, a fantastic 6th place showing. Qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships was easy for the then-Florida State ace as she finished 4th at the South regional meet.
Earning a 22nd place finish at the cross country national meet was the cherry on top for Churchill before she entered the transfer portal and made the move out to Flagstaff, Arizona last winter.
There is no denying that Churchill's cross country resume was excellent last fall. And after filtering out the now-departed women, the argument for this current Lumberjack to be a top-20 name is fairly clear.
However, what many people may have missed between last fall and now is that Churchill ran unattached on the outdoor oval this past spring. And in that setting, Churchill produced monster PRs of 15:17 (5k) and 32:20 (10k). The former mark was a 16-second PR while the latter was an event debut.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why we nudged her into our top-15.
Churchill has elevated her game since becoming a Lumberjack and she has clearly thrived when it comes to training at altitude (based on her recent results). It will be interesting to see how her recent track success translates to the cross country this fall. We have seen her go from 127th place (winter of 2021) to 79th place (2022) to 22nd place (2023) at the cross country national meet.
Now, after making a massive leap in her fitness on the oval, we can't help but wonder how high Churchill can finish at the national meet this time with an army of teammates around her.
13. Greta Karinauskaite, Senior, California Baptist
California Baptist’s Greta Karinauskaite has become a veteran of the NCAA scene over these last three years, competing at many national meets between cross country and outdoor track. Karinauskaite’s raw fitness stands out on her resume, but consistency is going to be the main factor to consider this fall.
During the 2023 cross country season, the rising senior opened with a three-second victory over New Mexico’s Nicola Jansen at the Griak Invitational, leading her team to the team title as well. Things were looking good for Karinauskaite after one race as her steeplechase prowess had seemingly translated to the grass. But then, a few weeks later, she faltered at the Nuttycombe Invite, settling for somewhat underwhelming 52nd place result.
Thankfully, Karinauskaite made up for her lackluster showing in Wisconsin by winning the WAC XC Championships by 33 seconds and finishing runner-up at the West Regional XC Championships. She carried that momentum over into the cross country national meet and finished in an applause-worthy 17th place, 197 places higher than where she finished at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.
That latter string of back-to-back-to-back performances was key for the California Baptist ace en route to her All-American finish. That final result felt like a perfect match for her level of fitness which so clearly suggested that Karinauskaite could be a top-20 name.
Even so, we still need to think if these stretches of outstanding performances outweigh the "off" days she occasionally has at big-time meets (which, in fairness to her, don't happen often enough to be a major concern).
Karinauskaite is more than experienced enough to be a top-15 talent this fall. She also has the accolades to back her success up, running excellent times of 9:26 (steeple) and 15:36 (5k). But does she have a high enough ceiling to keep improving? We don't know the answer to that question, but we do know that simply replicating her performances from last year should roughly place her at this spot in our rankings.
12. Rosina Machu, Junior, Gonzaga
Somehow, Rosina Machu flies under the radar for each competitive season that she races in. Of course, that is simply because the Gonzaga women don’t typically contest the larger-scale meets. That, however, doesn’t seem to faze Machu one bit.
The rising junior strung together five top-four finishes during the 2023 cross country season, one of which result in a victory at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational. On that stage, Machu took down Ohio State’s Addie Engel by 24 seconds in Chicago, a massive statement performance that forced us to say, "Who?" Machu then dominated the WCC XC Championships, out-running All-American talent Laura Pellicoro (Portland) in the process.
At the cross country national meet, Machu impressed in her first go around at the "Big Dance." The Bulldog remained confident on the course at Panorama Farms en route to a 16th place finish that matched the admittedly aggressive expectations that we had for the Bulldog star following her incredible early-season win.
Things kept getting better for the Gonzaga star on the indoor and outdoor ovals when she recorded marks of 15:37 (5k) and 32:45 (10k), performances that set her up nicely for yet another exciting cross country season.
There is little doubt with what Machu can do over the 6k distance on the grass. Her ability to (easily) outrun someone like Addie Engel last fall was stunning. And what was arguably more impressive is the fact that her best race of the season came on the national stage, a meet that could have overwhelmed the inexperienced breakout star.
Yes, we'll admit, Machu is not going head-to-head with the nation’s best women on a weekly basis. That, in turn, makes her challenging to rank throughout the entirety of the fall months. Even so, she has solidified her spot as an All-American ace and she has left us with very little to dislike about her performances.
11. Juliet Cherubet, Sophomore, Texas Tech
Even though she’s only entering her sophomore season in the NCAA, Texas Tech’s Juliet Cherubet enjoyed a freshman campaign that not many get to have.
Cherubet’s name jumped onto our radar during the 2023 cross country season after a dominating performance at the Arturo Barrios Invite when she took down Ohio State All-American, Addie Engel, by 14 seconds. Momentum was then carried over into the Big 12 XC Championships when Cherubet held her own against a slew of Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the BYU Cougars, crossing the line with a shockingly good 3rd place finish.
After qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships, the Red Raider proved that she was, in fact, peaking at the right time. Cherubet impressed once again at the cross country national meet with her 18th place finish, a showing that exceeded any expectations placed upon the rookie.
But what was arguably even more impressive was that her success on the grass immediately translated to the track. Cherubet would go on to run PRs of 4:09 (1500) and 15:25 (5k) on the oval, concluding her her freshman campaign with an All-American honor in the 5k after a strong 5th place finish.
Yes, we'll admit, the Texas Tech star is still relatively young from an eligibility standpoint, but she races like a veteran. She was surprisingly consistent throughout the entirety of last year, something that most rookies (regardless of how good they are) can almost never boast.
Cherubet’s ceiling is constantly rising. She's not only running super fast times, but she's also taking down top-tier names on a fairly regular basis. And with the range that she’s displayed, we feel that she's a legitimate threat to be a top-10 name in the NCAA on the grass this fall.
