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TSR's 2025-26 D3 Current Freshman Class Rankings: #5-4 (Women)
Written by Kevin Fischer, edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve
Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted. Did we miss someone? If so, send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com & let us know!
5. Carleton Knights
Following their NCAA title in 2023, the women of Carleton were heavily impacted by departures and took a big slide to 18th at the 2024 cross country national meet. They did, however, manage to reverse that trajectory this past fall with a 13th-place national meet finish. That improvement was thanks in large part to their formidable youth movement.
Five of the Knights' eight rookies competed in their national meet lineup, three of whom finished within the top-half of the field.
The best high school marks of this impressive class probably belong to Lauren Tittel. At the Oregon Relays this past spring, she was 11th in the two-mile with a 10:50 time that included a 73-second final 400-meter split. She has also indicated some really nice range, with personal bests of 2:16 for 800 meters, 4:37 for 1500 meters and 17:43 over 5000 meters on the grass.
As her fall freshman season progressed, Tittel continually held her own in exceptional fields. She finished 59th at the Connecticut College Invitational, 9th at the MIAC XC Championships, 18th at the North Regional XC Championships and ultimately 120th at the cross country national meet.
Claire Vukovics wasn’t far off from Tittel in her prep days, and she looks at this point to be an even bigger star following her debut campaign. The home-grown talent from St. Paul ran 17:29 (5k) during her senior cross country season to win the Minnesota Section 3AA title over her prep teammate, current Minnesota Golden Gopher, Grace Lewis-Mosher.
Vukovics also boasts impressive track PRs of 5:01 (1600) and 10:54 (3200). But what really makes us high on her is her performances throughout her freshman cross country season with Carleton. She finished a solid 123rd at the 2025 NCAA XC Championships, but her body of work, which included a MIAC title and a 5th-place finish at the North regional. eet, indicated that she’s capable of much more.
In fact, Vukovics entered her first national meet as a clear All-American favorite!
Amelia Campbell was yet another true freshman scorer for Carleton in 2025, concluding her freshman campaign with a 127th-place national meet finish. As a sub-18:00 (5k) prep runner on the grass, Campbell was also a standout on the oval, running 4:40 (1500) and 9:55 (3k). She also displayed some decent middle distance chops with a 2:17 mark over 800 meters.
Outside of that “Big Three", the Knights also had rookies Louise Ruzanic and Nicole Peterson compete at the 2025 cross country national meet, where they finished 253rd and 272nd, respectively. Both athletes were solid in high school, but neither necessarily displayed potential for future NCAA stardom while in high school.
Peterson, in particular, had shown some promise on the aerobic side, with marks of 10:32 (3k) and 18:56 (5k XC). Ruzanic was an 11:26 (3200) runner at the prep level and will look to play a larger role in Carleton’s success moving forward.
That quintet of experienced youngsters is just part of the rookie class. Nicole Peterson’s sister, Nina, actually had a more impressive high school resume between the two. She holds personal bests of 4:52 (1500) and 10:22 (3k) that indicate she has the potential to contribute with some development in the coming years.
Anna Blaich is another interesting name to consider. She ran really impressive high school marks of 5:05 (1600) and 11:10 (3200). The problem is that those marks were from her freshman year in 2022, which she hasn’t been able to replicate since.
While she only ran one race this fall, it’s certainly possible that a change of scenery under USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Coach Donna Ricks will allow Blaich to unlock that form, which would be a huge development for the Knights. They also added 5:36 (1600) runner Sierra Cherniavsky this year as a long-term developmental piece.
This rookie class has already provided a huge boost to a Carleton team looking to rekindle the magic of a few years ago. With the imminent departures of Hannah Preisser and Aliya Larsen, it's even more valuable that this crop of freshmen has already stepped up and begun its takeover of the program.
4. Middlebury Panthers
If you followed Division Three cross country at all in 2025, then you’re likely familiar with Claire Palmer, the third-highest freshman finisher at the cross country national meet. However, Middlebury’s freshmen have plenty of talent beyond their headliner, to enough of an extent to merit a top-five class ranking.
Palmer immediately became a star upon her arrival on campus, translating her 4:31 (1500) and 9:48 (3k) high school personal bests to instant collegiate success on the grass. She consistently ran toward the front of highly competitive fields, culminating in a postseason run in which she finished 3rd at the NESCAC XC Championships, 6th at the Mideast Regional XC Championships and 23rd at the cross country national meet. We’re sure to be talking about the true freshman All-American for years to come.
Besides Palmer, the most high-profile recruit the Panthers landed was Annelise Jensen. She was a middle distance standout in the high school ranks, running 2:12 (800) and 4:34 (1500), both of which occurred on the same weekend at the New York state championships.
These were also nine-second and 18-second improvements, respectively, from her junior year marks in those events, a trajectory that makes us excited about her ceiling on the track. A soccer player in high school, Jensen made her cross country debut this year and showed some substantial aerobic promise.
Most notably, she finished as Middlebury’s third runner behind Audrey Maclean and Palmer at the Ronald C. Hoffman Invitational with a 6k mark of 22:05. However, she did not compete for the remainder of the season.
Grace Kaelber was another great addition, coming in with a 10:44 PR for 3200 meters. She exhibited steady improvement over the course of her freshman cross country campaign, executing her best race of the season at the national meet with a 139th-place finish.
For a point of comparison, she was only 43rd at the Mideast regional meet and 129th in an exclusively Division Three field at the Paul Short Run "White" race. Already a key contributor for the Panthers, Kaelber certainly has room to grow into a star.
Palmer, Jensen and Kaelber are the three headliners of this rookie class, but the three other new Panthers are still quite solid. They hold the potential to be contributors down the line.
Two 5:15 (1600) runners -- Isabel Limao and Miya Cheng -- join the ranks. Limao has also run 2:23 (800) and 11:23 (3200), and Cheng has 18:15 (5k XC) strength that landed her a 13th-place finish at the 2024 California D4 XC Championships. Those two could be the top recruits in some D3 freshman hauls.
Middlebury also brought in Sofia Mulada, whose track times of 2:26 (800), 5:01 (1500) and 11:08 (3k) are solid, but also require some refinement. However, when you couple those marks with a sub-19:00 (5k) cross country effort, we can see her developing into a solid depth piece for this high-end team.
The prevailing outlook on the Middlebury campus appeared incredibly sunny at the end of November. The Panthers are coming off a top-eight cross country national meet finish, with all but their fifth scorer set to return. However, the absence of national champion Audrey Maclean from their indoor track roster presents some questions about this squad’s plans for the next three semesters.
If the Panthers' talisman is not available, the performance of this young core may become important sooner than expected. Fortunately, they appear to have all the talent needed to lead this program to more high-level success.
Just Missed (in no particular order)
U. of Chicago Maroons
Amherst Mammoths
MIT Engineers
UW-La Crosse Eagles
Washington U. Bears
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
SUNY Geneseo Knights
NYU Violets
Central College Dutch
Williams Ephs
Misericordia Cougars
