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TSR's 2024 Preseason D3 XC Top 20 Rankings: #20-16 (Women)
- Kevin Fischer
- Aug 1, 2024
- 5 min read
Written by Kevin Fischer, edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
20. Kayla Werner, Junior, Lynchburg
Transferring from Liberty University after having run 16:40 (5k) on the grass at the Joe Piane Invitational, Kayla Werner looked like a major candidate to become one of the elite distance runners in Division Three. And while she didn't necessarily exceed expectations in her first year at the D3 level, it seems fair to say that she mostly matched them.
Werner's best race of last cross country season probably came at the South Regional XC Championships where she ran away from the Emory duo of Brigid Hanley and Elizabeth Csikai to take the win. That came after placing 4th in a strong SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational and winning the ODAC XC Championships.
Her cross country national meet effort was slightly underwhelming, but she still managed to narrowly take home All-American honors with a 40th-place finish. On the oval, Werner was a national meet qualifier in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters (outdoor), but she finished no higher than 10th in those efforts.
Werner's excellent regular season on the grass last year, along with very solid track performances which earned her NCAA Championships bids, gives us confidence that Werner will make a jump in her 2024 NCAA XC Championships finish. Of course, the fact that we have to project that is partially why she sits at our TSR #20 spot and not any higher.
Even so, based on talent alone, it's hard not to view her as a top-half All-American at the Division Three. And when you factor in her experience at the highest level of competition, it's hard to think that Werner won't find success on larger D3 stages this fall.
19. Paige Phillips, Senior, Coast Guard
Prior to the 2023 cross country season, Paige Phillips wasn’t on our radar much. However, throughout last fall, she began to make a name for herself in the Division Three ranks. After a couple of decent efforts in September, she took a nice step forward with a 13th-place finish at the Connecticut College Invitational against a field stacked with All-American talent.
Phillips continued to improve in the postseason, beating national-caliber runners like Kate Sanderson and Alison Sibold at their conference and regional meets where she placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively. A breakthrough cross country season was wrapped up nicely at the NCAA XC Championships with a 36th-place finish to nab All-American status.
Given her status as a breakout talent, we were curious to see what Phillips would do next and if she may struggle to hold her new form.
Nonetheless, her performances on the grass translated seamlessly to the track. Phillips finished in 8th place (All-American honors) over 5000 meters at the indoor national meet after winning her first three indoor track races, all over different distances.
The Coast Guard veteran narrowly improved upon her 5k PR on the outdoor oval and now appears primed to have an excellent senior send-off on the grass. Her consistency has grown to be quietly excellent and that, in theory, should give her a high floor. Of course, that naturally leaves us to wonder how high her ceiling will rise come October and November.
18. Elisabeth Camic, Senior, U. of Chicago
A top-tier middle distance talent, Elisabeth Camic proved her cross country prowess in 2023 with a clutch 19th-place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. After finishing 14th at the Augustana Interregional, 22nd at the UAA XC Championships and 13th at the Midwest Regional XC Championships, that season-ending effort on the biggest of stages was a case of massively outperforming expectations.
Since the calendar turned to 2024, Camic bolstered her resume by becoming an All-American in the DMR and the 1500 meters. She's someone who has also raced at the NCAA Championships at the half-mile distance and in the 4x400-meter relay.
That brings us to the questions that we have for Camic who's clearly better over shorter distances when racing on the oval. In fact, she has never competed collegiately in anything longer than a mile on the track. And truthfully, her top-20 finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships came out of nowhere last fall.
Normally, this might be a cause for concern as to whether Camic's best effort of the fall is replicable. But a review of her 2023-2024 resume suggests that she was pretty solid outside of that performance (except for at her conference meet) and she clearly improved on the track.
Despite a few incongruences between her cross country resume and middle distance skillset, it's hard not to place Camic in our rankings after she already finished in this range on the biggest of stages and has built momentum in the time since then.
17. Kate Sanderson, Junior, MIT
This rising junior has competed in six seasons between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track -- and she has raced at the national meet in all six of them! Kate Sanderson has been a picture of consistency as a collegian and she appears to be knocking on the door of a breakthrough this fall.
The MIT star is a cross country All-American on the merit of her 34th-place finish last fall, a marginal improvement from placing 48th on the national stage in 2022. Her NEWMAC XC Championship and East Regional XC Championship finishes also improved from 2022 to 2023, going from 4th place to 3rd place and 6th place to 4th place, respectively.
We expect that positive trend to continue into 2024 after Sanderson displayed quietly great growth over the long distances on the track earlier this year. She ran strong PRs of 16:51 (5k) and 35:08 (10k), won a few races and contested both of those events between the indoor and outdoor national meets.
Sure, Sanderson has finished no higher than 13th at a national meet on the oval (or the grass), but she doesn't even need to place that high to back up this ranking over the coming months. Her continued presence at those stages over her first two years gives Sanderson an edge over almost everyone else in the country when it comes to championship experience. That experience is not something to underestimate.
16. Deyanneira Colon Maldonado, Senior, Aurora
Despite qualifying for the cross country national meet as an individual in both 2021 and 2022 during her freshman and sophomore years, Deyanneira Colon Maldonado did not finish in the top-100 of the national meet in either of those seasons. Still, those championship experiences proved valuable for her last fall.
After triumphing over a solid field at the Drews/Neubauer Invitational (a race that included Maddie Hannan of UW-La Crosse) and taking a win at her conference meet, Maldonado finished 9th at the Midwest Regional XC Championships, arguably the toughest region in the country. That gave her palpable momentum entering the cross country national meet where she put together a really solid performance to finish 29th in the nation.
Following the 2024 track seasons, it's clear that this Aurora star is even better than she was last year. She was an NCAA Championship qualifier in the mile in 2023, finishing 17th. But in 2024 she reached a new level, notching personal bests in every event she contested.
Most notably, she ran 4:26 (1500) and 16:34 (5000) this past spring before finishing 4th in the metric mile at the outdoor national meet while also finishing in the middle of the 5k field (after finishing one spot away from All-American honors in that latter event on the indoor oval).
Based on Maldonado's crazy-strong momentum, an improvement upon last year's top-30 national meet finish seems highly likely. The only question is...by how much? And even if she doesn't make substantial leaps in her fitness, then we're still fairly confident that the Aurora ace will remain as a national-caliber standout. Between her momentum, consistency, experience and proven fitness, she is one of the more complete cross country runners that Division Three has to offer.
