.png)
TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 25 Rankings: #20-16 (Women)
- Gavin Struve
- Aug 1, 2024
- 6 min read
20. Maggie McCleskey, Junior, Adams State
We're taking a bit of a leap of faith in essentially slotting Maggie McCleskey as a top-half All-American entering the 2024 cross country season.
She didn't compete in the postseason last fall and finished 118th in her only NCAA XC Championships appearance which was back in 2022. She raced just thrice on the grass in 2023, faltering at the Live in Lou XC Classic, but placing high up in two smaller fields.
The reason why we felt comfortable including McCleskey in our preseason rankings is because of what she has achieved on the track. She ran 9:24 over 3000 meters which is just shy of being a top-25 all-time D2 mark. She then contested that event and the DMR at the 2024 indoor national meet.
She helped the Grizzlies win a national title in the latter event and then ran PRs of 4:25 (1500) and 16:21 (5k) on the outdoor oval before racing both of those distances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Most notably, McCleskey earned bronze over 5000 meters in May.
Could we really justify leaving McCleskey out of our top-25 after she experienced such grand success in an event just 1000 meters shorter than what she'll be racing at the NCAA XC Championships?
We certainly didn't think so.
Keep in mind that she finished 11th at the RMAC XC Championships in 2022 which indicated that she was a potential All-American talent even at that point -- and she has clearly improved since then. When you also consider that she was an All-American in the mile in 2023 and perhaps better on the grass than it would seem at first glance, there was no question McCleskey would be ranked entering this fall.
19. Emily Schoellkopf, Senior, Adams State
You may be used to it by now, but get ready to be inundated with Adams State women populating the top-20 spots in our rankings.
Emily Schoellkopf is among the elder statesmen of that Grizzly group and we anticipate that she'll occupy a much higher All-American perch than she did last fall. After all, she was the bronze medalist at the RMAC XC Championships last year which suggested that she was in line to improve upon her 25th-place effort from the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.
Instead, Schoellkopf finished 40th at the 2023 cross country national meet. And while she wasn't as strong on the track in 2024 as she was in 2023, she still ran a PR of 9:31 (3k), finished as a 5k All-American at the 2024 indoor national meet and has already raced four times at national meets in 2024.
After twice landing in the top-five against some of the top names in the country at the RMAC XC Championships, we anticipate that Schoellkopf is in line to fare better against her national peers at the end of the upcoming season.
The Grizzly ace has ample high-level postseason experience to pull from, team stakes to motivate her and star teammates to train with and gauge off of. This appears to be setting up as the year of the Adams State women and Schoellkopf will be a key part of their re-emergence.
18. Annika Esvelt, Senior, Seattle Pacific
The most paradoxical resume in our women's top-25 rankings may well belong to Annika Esvelt. This Falcon front-runner has never advanced to the cross country national meet, but was the silver medalist over 10,000 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships!
We should note that the 10k success does not translate to women's cross country success as cleanly as it does on the men's side because the women's cross country racing distance only increases to 6000 meters in the postseason. As such, the 5k is arguably a better barometer for females' fall fortunes.
Fortunately for Esvelt, she has thrived over that distance as well, placing 7th over 5000 meters at the most recent outdoor national meet.
What almost makes Esvelt's portfolio even more confounding is that she was already a two-time All-American on the track entering 2023-2024. She finished 8th over 5000 meters at the 2022 indoor national meet and 4th place over 10,000 meters at the 2022 outdoor national meet before again entering relative obscurity ahead of placing 10th in the 5k at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Given that we have seen Esvelt experience similar levels of track success before without thriving on the grass, some may wonder why we expect this year to be any different.
The main difference is that Esvelt went from a top-half All-American to a national meet runner-up in the 10k and found a new level of poise in the 5k, an event that she contested twice at national meets this year. That's an almost undeniable level of strength and her 4:53 mile PR suggests that she's not a one-dimensional runner.
She was also clearly better last fall than in her previous cross country campaigns, placing 9th at the WWU Bill Roe Classic and 3rd at the GNAC XC Championships. Those were results which suggested that she probably should have advanced to the national meet despite placing 20th at the West Regional XC Championships.
Esvelt has a long way to go from that level to live up to this ranking. However, if she can split the difference between her track triumphs and her 2023 cross country form, then she'll be in the mix for top-half All-American status. Her placement in these rankings is a vote of confidence that she'll do just that.
17. Linda Weigang, Sophomore, Fort Lewis
A candidate to be one of the next faces of RMAC distance running on the women's side, Linda Weigang reached heights as a freshman that many talented women don't achieve throughout the entirety of their collegiate career.
Not only did she have flashes of brilliance last fall, but Weigang was steady throughout the season at a high level. In her second NCAA race, she finished in 2nd place behind only Allison Beasley and beat Peyton Weiss and others at the Mountaineer Invite.
In her next outing, Weigang posted arguably her best effort of the year in finishing 6th at one of the most competitive races of the regular season: the Lewis XC Crossover. From there, she placed 16th at the RMAC XC Championships, just ahead of veteran teammate Katie Heck. Then, she then snagged one of the final All-American spots by placing 39th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.
We'll admit, her track exploits weren't as flashy, but Weigang still ran 10:51 (steeple) and 16:52 (5k). If you're as big of a believer in the freshman-to-sophomore leap as us, then you'll understand why we see Weigang potentially going from an All-American to a top-half All-American. She appears to have a pretty high floor despite her relative inexperience.
Weigang has a lot to build on after just one year and should be oozing with confidence entering her sequel season. We're especially eager to see how she stacks up in an RMAC which doesn't lose much talent this year.
16. Allie Arnsman, Sophomore, Grand Valley State
A handful of spots ahead of Linda Weigang at the 2023 cross country national meet was fellow true freshman, Allie Arnsman. This Laker ace received less acclaim throughout the season in part because she didn't race against fellow D2 stars as often, but also because she raised her game considerably for the NCAA XC Championships.
Arnsman opened at the Live in Lou XC Classic where she was solid in a deep field, finishing in 33rd place (an auspicious landing spot). She then slipped into the top-10 at the GLIAC XC Championships and did the same at the Midwest Regional XC Championships before placing 33rd and serving as the final scorer for the national team champions at the cross country national.
From there, Arnsman was even better than Weigang on the track, too (hence why she's ranked higher), running 4:56 (mile), 9:51 (3k) and 16:41 (5k). She wasn't all too close to being a top-20 runner as a rookie last year, but her finish to the season suggested that she may quickly occupy that range after obtaining a year of experience.
To return to the podium, the Lakers will need Arnsman to be among the best women in the country -- and we think that she has the potential to be just that as soon as this year.
