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TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): #3 Grand Valley State Lakers
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Sep 11, 2024
- 7 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.
Let's start out this article with some trivia, shall we?
Without looking, can you guess the last time that a school not named Adams State or Grand Valley State won the women's NCAA D2 cross country team title?
Go ahead, I'll give you some time to think.
Think you have it?
Well, if you guessed 2011, then you are the lucky winner.
In fact, if you look at the cross country national meet results between 2012 and 2023, you'll find that the Grand Valley State women fell out of top-two only once (2017) during that stretch. And while we have never thought of a TSR #3 preseason ranking as insulting, a trend that is over a decade old suggests that we are disrespecting the Lakers.
Last year's GVSU squad was simply not going to be stopped. They held too much top-tier firepower throughout their entire scoring contingent and their depth was at least good enough to fend off Adams State.
But now, many of their focal veterans are gone, effectively ushering in a new era in Allendale, Michigan. And while this group still has plenty of upside, they also have just as many questions surrounding them.
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The Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational, an early-season meet hosted by Michigan State, would be the first real test that the GVSU women faced last fall. The Spartans, of course, were a highly ranked Division One program, and they showed that by simply dominating the field.
Even so, the Lakers at least put up a fight, coming within 12 points of MSU. Lauren Kiley, Anastasia Tucker and Natalie Graber went 2-4-5, respectively, to give Grand Valley State a potent scoring trio that was just one point off of the Spartans' first three women.
Michigan State's insane depth ultimately allowed them to run away with the win after Klaudia O'Malley (18th) and Madelyn Frens (23rd) had "just okay" days for the Lakers. Regardless, GVSU could take pride in knowing that they kept things honest despite not having their star rookie, Allie Arnsman.
The Louisville XC Classic, however, would act as the first large-scale national-caliber invitational that the Lakers toed the line for last fall. There, they would face a very familiar rival who resided in a completely different conference.
I am, of course, talking about Adams State.
A battle between the Lakers and the Grizzlies was supposed to be a tight one. That, however, wasn't really the case. That's because Grand Valley State ultimately trounced a very good Adams States squad by a fairly convincing margin of 37 points.
Natalie Graber (2nd) was outstanding, validating her incredible performances that she threw down earlier in the year on the track. Lauren Kiley (5th), meanwhile, looked far more sure of herself as a top-tier low-stick now that she had a year of experience under her legs.
With Division Three transfer Anastasia Tucker (9th) and star-caliber veteran Klaudia O'Malley (15th) both having huge showings as well, there was simply no avenue for Adams State to match the firepower of this squad. Middle distance specialist Taryn Chapko (27th) was the nail in the coffin as she did more than enough to close out the scoring.
As a result, the ladies of Allendale, Michigan left Louisville as the clear national title favorites.
Admittedly, neither the GLIAC XC Championships nor the Midwest Regional XC Championships gave the Grand Valley State women any legitimate challenges. The Lakers scored a perfect total of 15 points at the former meet and dipped under 30 points at the latter meet.
It was the NCAA XC Championships, after all, that was the main focus.
If there was any remaining skepticism about the legitimacy of Grand Valley State's dominant win over Adams State at the Louisville XC Classic, then there certainly weren't any doubts left after the 2023 national meet.
In Joplin, Missouri, the Lakers wrecked havoc on their competition. Graber (3rd) was unsurprisingly elite while O'Malley (8th) had a huge performance, saving her best race of the season for when it mattered the most. Tucker (14th) and Kiley (15th) provided their team with tons of raw firepower as well, and you could maybe argue that the latter name was capable of being a top-10 finisher.
With freshman Allie Arnsman (33rd) coming through in a big way despite her inexperience, the Lakers were able to close out their scoring with five individual All-Americans. And, of course, they walked away from the national meet with an NCAA title, 27 points ahead of the relentless Adams State women.
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Since starting this website in 2017, there haven't been too many teams who have been able to flex the same kind of elite firepower that the Grand Valley State women did last fall. That's not to say that it was the best-ever group of low-sticks -- the Lakers were even more top-heavy in 2018 and Adams State was even more top-heavy than that in 2019 -- but it was certainly among the better displays of upper-echelon talent that I have ever watched.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. And in this instance, that "good thing" is cross country eligibility.
Natalie Graber, Klaudia O'Malley and Anastasia Tucker are all gone, each having wrapped up their now-expired eligibility. And yes, those women were the top-three scorers for the Lakers at last year's national meet.
Unfortunately, things don't get much better when you look beyond those three low-sticks.
While All-Americans Lauren Kiley and Allie Arnsman are set to return, backend contributors such as Kayce Rypma (three-time top-50 national meet finisher) and Taryn Chapko (14th at 2021 national meet, but didn't race at 2023 national meet) are also not listed on GVSU's cross country roster for this fall.
In other words, both the frontends and backends of this lineup had severe casualties.
Thankfully, Lauren Kiley and Allie Arnsman are two women who we are very high on. Among the three higher-level races that Grand Valley State toed the line for last year (Michigan State, Louisville and the national meet), you could maybe argue that Kiley's 15th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships was her "worst" race of the three meets (which feels ridiculous to even type out).
Arnsman, of course, delivered on high expectations with a fantastic fall campaign which ended with an All-American honor. That was a fairly clutch performance given that she placed 33rd at the Louisville XC Classic, a result which didn't at all guarantee her to reach the top-40 in her season finale.
Thankfully, Arnsman showed promise on the track, running a very respectable 5k time of 16:41 at the GLIAC Indoor Championships this past winter.
The issue, however, is that Arnsman didn't compete for the remainder of the outdoor track season despite competing at the Raleigh Relays. That is hardly a good sign, but having the entire summer to recover and get back to top form should ease concerns.
* * *
We feel pretty good about what we're going to get out of GVSU's top-two. The question, however, is who will fill out the remainder of this lineup?
Abby VanderKooi, now a junior, is likely the name to watch when it comes to stabilizing the middle portion of GVSU's scoring contingent. The former high school star showcased plenty of promise as an underclassman and seemingly has a fairly high floor, rarely producing poor outings.
We believe strongly in the pedigree of VanderKooi. The challenge, of course, is that we haven't seen her reach All-American territory despite having the raw talent to do so. But after a strong spring campaign and no longer holding underclassman status, there are very good reasons to believe that this two-time top-70 national meet finisher will crack the top-40 in November.
One of the more underrated transfer pick-ups in Division Two this fall was the Abby Olson signing with Grand Valley State. The former Butler runner has plenty of high-level Division One meet experience and also posted very respectable marks of 16:42 (5k) and 34:51 (10k) this past spring.
It's admittedly a bit hard to figure out how Olson's performances from the Division One level will translate to this fall. We know that she's talented enough to be a scorer, but does that mean that she'll be an All-American? A top-50 talent? A top-70 talent?
We don't know exactly what to expect from her this fall, but having someone of her talent level with her skillset can only benefit this team.
Madelyn Frens, meanwhile, had a few sneaky-good results last fall. Placing 52nd at the Louisville XC Classic was fine, but placing 23rd at the Spartan Invite to be the team's fifth scorer while also emerging the 20th place finisher at the Lewis XC Crossover leads us to believe that Frens will be a scorer for Grand Valley State this fall.
Of course, not having raced since early December of last year doesn't exactly bode well for the Lakers who will need as many reinforcements as they can find to patch together a cohesive scoring group in 2024.
Madison Ebright (34:53 PR in the 10k), Maria Mitchell (10:31 PR in the steeplechase) and Jordyn Hopgood (10:46 PR in the steeplechase) may each be just as viable as varsity lineup options as many of the women who we have highlighted in this section. If any of those women can translate their underrated track success to the grass, then there aren't many scenarios where this team truly struggles in 2024.
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Strictly on paper, some people may argue that the Lakers shouldn't be considered as a podium team in 2024. And frankly, we don't blame them for thinking that.
Losing as much talent as Grand Valley State did while maintaining a much smaller roster (in comparison to the men) leaves us with very little to point to as justifiable evidence for a preseason TSR #3 ranking.
And yet, as we mentioned above, the recent history of this program suggests that GVSU may as well be viewed a podium lock despite their losses. Coach Jerry Baltes has, somehow, consistently maximized the scoring output of every woman on his roster. That isn't likely to stop this fall given how many different women he'll be able to choose from as he attempts to support his two standout All-Americans.
That, of course, doesn't mean that the upcoming cross country season will be a breeze for the women of Allendale, Michigan. But if any team is going to make a season-long challenge at least look easy, then it's the women from Grand Valley State.
