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TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): #8 CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves
- Gavin Struve
- Sep 6, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Gavin Struve, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
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.
It doesn't take a whole lot of projection to see why the CSU-Pueblo women are featured in our preseason top-10 team rankings.
Last year, the ThunderWolves finished 11th at the NCAA XC Championships, and they return their top four scorers from that setting. Plus, they were 6th at the 2022 cross country national meet, and a few women from that squad are still present in Pueblo, Colorado. A return to the top-10 and a TSR #8 preseason ranking felt like a fitting placement for this team.
Coach Matt Morris' group isn't perfect, however, and it's worth diving into why this team has a higher ceiling than last year, but also a lower floor.
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CSU-Pueblo opened last fall with a runner-up finish behind conference rival UC-Colorado Springs (UCCS) in the first of many matchups between the two Centennial State squads. That "loss" was understandable given that the Mountain Lions entered the season as the higher-ranked team and were racing on their home course.
The ThunderWolves then ventured north for the Montana Invitational, where they finished 3rd behind a pair of Division One teams. They were bolstered by a strong low-stick result from Helen Braybrook, who finished as the meet's individual runner-up for the second consecutive season.
Outside of Braybrook, CSU-Pueblo didn't have the potency in 2023 to win a meet of that caliber. Even so, they put forth a much tighter scoring lineup at the Ted Castaneda XC Classic, where Braybrook, Margot Thomas-Gatel, Sophie Kretschmer, Sarah Renberg and Jadyn Herron went 3-4-5-6-7 in that order. That made for a comfortable team win over a few lesser-known conference rivals.
Even though they raced in the region against RMAC competition multiple times in the regular season, not much could have prepared the ThunderWolves for their always-competitive conference meet. Even so, they fared pretty well at the 2023 RMAC XC Championships.
Braybrook was her reliable low-stick self, placing 9th, but one could argue that the middle of the lineup was this team's greatest strength. Thomas-Gatel (19th), Herron (22nd) and Renberg (30th) did their part, and Elodie Hebert (40th) closed out the scoring quickly enough as two of her teammates also finished in the top-45.
That all added up to a 4th-place team finish, which may not sound incredible, but the ThunderWolves finished behind three podium teams and narrowly beat a strong UCCS group.
A 5th-place finish at the South Central Regional XC Championships (which added West Texas A&M to the RMAC powers) was enough to advance to the national meet, as Braybrook placed 12th and the final four scorers were all between 34th and 43rd place.
At the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, CSU-Pueblo once again finished one spot ahead of UCCS. Braybrook repeated as an All-American by placing 24th (one spot back from where she finished in 2022) and Thomas-Gatel (46th) was nearly an All-American herself!
A sizable gap formed from there to the back-half of the lineup, but Renberg (98th), Herron (116th) and Hebert (148th) did enough to help produce a very solid 11th-place team finish.
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CSU-Pueblo loses two women from the back-half of their 2023 varsity lineup. Elodie Hebert and Sophie Kretschmer were both scorers on multiple occasions last fall, so it doesn't help to lose both of them, especially from a roster that has just nine athletes.
Even so, the ThunderWolves return five women who placed in the top-155 at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships and now they are even more experienced.
This team will once again be led by Helen Braybrook, a two-time national meet runner-up over 800 meters who's become nearly as dependable over 6000 meters in the fall months. She's ranked at TSR #13 in our preseason individual rankings and feels like one of the most reliable figures even in the loaded RMAC.
In 2024, Braybrook may be joined by teammate Margot Thomas-Gatel as an All-American.
Thomas-Gatel has improved at each of the past three cross country national meets, placing 120th in 2021, 58th in 2022 and then 46th last year. That is tremendous progression. After she made the 3000-meter steeplechase finals at the 2024 outdoor national meet, we can certainly see her jumping into the top-40.
In fact, we almost expect it. And in that scenario, CSU-Pueblo has two legitimate low-sticks who they can lean on over the next few months.
Sarah Renberg has made two cross country national meet appearances two years apart. It's both impressive and a bit head-scratching that her best collegiate result came at the national meet last fall. Is that top-100 finish replicable? CSU-Pueblo may need it to be to some extent in order to live up to this ranking.
Thankfully, we at least know that Renberg is capable of producing that kind of result. That isn't something that all teams can say about their middle lineup scorers as, most times, we are often projecting how well a certain individual will or will not perform.
Jadyn Herron may have more upside than her middle lineup peer, Renberg, given that she was the team's third scorer at the RMAC XC Championships. Herron is more of a middle distance runner on the track and made the 2024 outdoor national meet over 800 meters after taking conference bronze in that event with a 2:09 PR.
It's difficult to deduce whether that half-mile success means that Herron will be a better cross country runner in 2024. Of course, when you look at the history of Coach Matt Morris translating half-mile success to the grass, it's hard not to feel optimistic about Herron this fall.
It's also hard not to believe that she'll race with more confidence after competing at her first two NCAA Championships last academic year.
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Crystal Armijo is the ThunderWolves' final varsity returner from 2023. She was their sixth runner at the NCAA XC Championships, finishing a respectable 154th. If Hebert had been absent from the national meet (which is to say, if CSU-Pueblo had fielded only runners who are returning in 2024), they still would have placed 11th.
That's how close Armijo was to being a scorer for this team a year ago. However, they don't appear to have the insurance behind her that she provided beyond Hebert last fall.
Camille Renou, a sophomore from France who has yet to compete in cross country for the ThunderWolves, appears in line to be a varsity runner this fall after dropping a 4:58 mile time earlier this year.
And what about another European addition? Leah Keisler holds a scalding 2:06 (800) PR and a respectable 4:42 metric mile mark as well. Another British half-miler's success (Braybrook) in Pueblo suggests that Keisler could develop into an impact cross country addition over time.
The other two women on this roster don't appear ready to contribute to a top-10 cross country team, at least on paper. One is an incoming freshman who looks to be more of a developmental addition, and the other is a junior who has yet to run on the grass collegiately and competes in the multi-events on the track.
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In a perfect scenario, Renou and Keisler won't be relied upon to be scorers this season as underclassmen. Between injuries, illness and "off" days, however, one of them will probably have to step into the top-five on at least one occasion. The ThunderWolves will have to hope that doesn't come in the postseason.
Coach Matt Morris' squad has a thin margin for error. Depth is a real concern. CSU-Pueblo fielded at least a dozen runners each of the past two seasons, but nearly half of their nine women entering 2024 have yet to race on the grass for them.
Consternation about the single-digit roster aside, this is a team that has mostly known commodities in the projected scoring roles. If we expect small improvements from most of the ThunderWolves' top-five, then it makes sense that they should move up the national standings a bit.
Braybrook and Thomas-Gatel are dependable lead scorers, and there are three other proven and experienced varsity runners. Sure, we have plenty of questions beyond that group, but it feels unfair to penalize this team for limited depth beyond the projected scoring lineup given the program's strong developmental acumen.
CSU-Pueblo has finished either 4th or 5th at the RMAC XC Championships in each of the past four seasons, and that's where we see them finishing again. Of course, the ThunderWolves can and should be close to a top-five finish nationally even if they're not one of the three best teams in their own conference or state.
