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TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 25 Rankings: #5-1 (Women)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 4, 2024
- 5 min read
5. Lauren Kiley, Junior, Grand Valley State
Ever since she first entered the NCAA, Lauren Kiley has been a national-caliber standout capable of consistently offering top-tier scoring on the grass. Now, with her underclassman days behind her, Kiley has the chance to elevate her game to an entirely new level and become one of Division Two's biggest stars.
Most people may go back to last year's cross country national meet and see that Kiley finished 15th overall. That was a very strong All-American performance, but it doesn't necessarily reflect Kiley being a top-five name the following year.
Of course, what you have to recognize is that Kiley actually finished 7th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships in what turned out to be a monster statement performance. Pair that result with a huge 5th place finish at last year's Louisville XC Classic and a brilliant runner-up effort at the Spartan Invitational and you get one of the most formidable long distance runners in D2.
Kiley has had a decent amount of success on the track, although it's clear that she is far better on the grass by comparison. It also wasn't encouraging to see her end her spring campaign in late April.
Regardless, this Grand Valley State star is now an experienced ace who has proven to have a ridiculously high ceiling. She has also never truly faltered on the grass. And if Kiley can combine her 2022 national meet performance with her 2023 national meet lead up throughout this fall, then a top-five ranking is more than realistic for the Laker distance runner.
4. Anna Fauske, Senior, UC-Colorado Springs
Anna Fauske has been a nationally competitive name at the Division Two level for years, thriving across all three seasons and often delivering on the largest stages during the fall months. In our eyes, we don't see that changing in 2024.
This UC-Colorado Springs veteran was flat-out awesome throughout the entirety of last fall. Fauske consistently delivered on a variety of different stages and undeniable looked the best that she ever had. Her 14th place at the Louisville XC Classic was a big-time result that was complemented by a 5th place effort at the RMAC XC Championships. And in her season finale, Fauske dropped an absolutely fantastic 9th place effort.
That fall campaign was excellent, but what we saw from the UCCS star on the track, time-wise, was arguably just as good. With new personal bests 4:27 (1500), 4:49 (mile), 9:28 (3k) and 16:18 (5k), Fauske's raw fitness was at an all-time high. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to translate that success to the indoor or outdoor national meets.
Fauske has never had stronger control of her fitness as she does now. She is highly experienced and has proven that she can thrive in large, high-pressure stages. We don't know if she's going to be a national title contender, but if there's one more level for her to breakthrough, then this Mountain Lion star is going to be a massive problem for her competitors this fall.
3. Allison Beasley, Senior, Western Colorado
After a phenomenal sophomore year where she became a national-caliber name on the grass and finished runner-up in the steeplechase at the outdoor national meet, expectations for Allison Beasley were extremely high.
Thankfully, she delivered on nearly all of those expectations, something that many breakout stars can't always say.
Last fall, Beasley earned an 8th place finish at the Chile Pepper XC Festival behind a handful of talented Arkansas and a few South Central region (D1) runners. From there, the Western Colorado star only got better, securing a huge runner-up result behind Brianna Robles at the RMAC XC Championships. Beasley would later earn an applause-worthy 10th place finish to cap her fall campaign.
After an outdoor track season where she ran a steeplechase PR of 10:12, Beasley is seemingly inching closer and closer to be a true national title contender. Admittedly, she has yet to truly challenge the main D2 megastars such as Brianna Robles, Lindsay Cunningham, Florance Uwajeneza, Eleonora Curtabbi and Gracie Hyde on a consistent basis.
Of course, all of those women had a specific and decisive year/season where they truly took that next leap. And with the star power in D2 seemingly a bit limited this year, this fall could be when Beasley reaches that next echelon.
2. Khot Juac, Senior, Sioux Falls
In her first year at the D2 level, Khot Juac was a respectable name, although her performances didn't necessarily stand out in a major way. But as a sophomore, we began to see highly encouraging signs throughout her cross country season, putting together a complete fall campaign which ended with a 48th place finish on the national stage.
However, it was last fall when Khot Juac would truly reach that next tier. A 5th place finish in the "Maroon" race of the Griak Invitational was a very solid performance and she also secured a sneaky-good win at the Briar Cliff XC Invite. The same sentiments could be said about a pair of top-three finishes at the NSIC XC Championships and the Central Regional XC Championships.
And yet, none of that could have prepared us for the jaw-dropping 5th place result we saw from Juac on the national stage. The Sioux Falls star had the race of her life, putting herself in the top group and ensuring that no other contender could pass her.
Following that tremendous year effort on the grass, Juac validated her success by running promising PRs of 4:25 (1500), 4:48 (mile) and 9:39 (3k).
We'll admit, the overall resume of Juac isn't usually what you would see at our TSR #2 spot. And yet, when you look at the other candidates for this position, the arguments aren't strong enough for them to overtake the Panther star. We would further contend that of the top-five women in these rankings, it's Juac who has the most upside.
1. Sarah Koomson, Sophomore, West Texas A&M
To say that Sarah Koomson's first year in the NCAA was a success would be a fairly substantial understatement. The West Texas A&M runner turned out to not only be the top freshman in the country last year, but also one of the best distance runners in Division Two regardless of age.
After two solid early-season wins, Sarah Koomson's first true test of last fall came at the Louisville XC Classic. And despite that being one of the biggest regular season meets that D2 teams attend, Koomson largely seemed unfazed. In fact, she thrived, snagging bronze in a tremendous effort to take down multiple top-tier talents.
The Aggie distance ace would later cruise through her conference meet and then put forth a "just okay" 8th place finish at her regional meet. Koomson eventually took to the national stage where she produced an outstanding 6th place result.
And of course, Koomson would continue to find great success on the track, albeit, not to the same extent as she found on the grass.
At the end of the day, it's best not to make this portion of our analysis any more complicated than it needs to be. We have every reason to believe that Koomson is simply the best long distance runner in D2 right now, at least when it comes to cross country. She proved it on two major stages and should, in theory, still have tons of youth-based upside to draw from.
For that reason, we opted to place her at TSR #1.
