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TSR's 2025 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Women): #8 Washington Huskies
Updated: Aug 28, 2025
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.
Few fans of NCAA distance running were higher on the Washington women last fall than The Stride Report was.
On paper, we loved everything about the Huskies. They had firepower, they had depth, they had experience, they had upside -- you name it, they had it.
For the first-half of the cross country season, the Washington women delivered on expectations, even with one of their most crucial distance stars, Amina Maatoug, rallying back from an injury that she sustained earlier in the year.
But in the postseason, the Seattle-based women slowly began to lose momentum. And on the national stage, they faltered well outside of the podium conversation that they once headlined.
The year is now 2025, but Washington's goal of reaching the podium isn't any less realistic. Sure, this team isn't nearly as complete as they were last year, but they do have a few key pieces, good enough backend support (we think) and plenty of low-stick scoring options.
* * *
Washington began their 2024 cross country season by venturing to the "other UW," the University of Wisconsin, for the famed Nuttycombe Invite. There, they would enter the meet as the pre-race favorites -- and they delivered on those expectations.
In Madison, Wisconsin, the Huskies were flat-out awesome. Maeve Stiles (8th) had the race of her life to emerge as a true low-stick. Sure, she had been great on a few occasions at Penn, but that was undoubtedly the best result of her career at the time. Not far behind her was Julia David-Smith, someone who also (at the time) had the best race of her career with a 12th place finish.
Together, that scoring duo gave their team formidable firepower. With veteran stars such as Amina Maatoug (27th), Chloe Foerster (29th) and India Weir (34th) closing out the scoring, no other team in the field was able to get within 20 points of Washington. In turn, UW snagged the overall win, sending a statement to the rest of the NCAA in the process.
And the craziest part? The Huskies likely could have been better.
Maatoug was clearly not in top form yet despite having massive cross country success at Duke. Foerster, meanwhile, had proven to be slightly more potent as a lead scorer in prior seasons. Plus, veterans Sophie O'Sullivan and Samantha Tran didn't even race!
In other words, Washington didn't just win the Nuttycombe Invite -- they won short-handed.
The Huskies would later return to Madison, Wisconsin for Pre-Nationals, a meet that was considerably better than what they had faced at the Nuttycombe Invite. And while they didn't secure gold this time around, they still proved to be plenty productive.
Foerster (16th) looked more like her normal self with a great low-stick result. Behind her were Weir (28th) and Stiles (30th) who each provided excellent value in their own right. Weir, in particular, was emerging as a much more impactful name than many of us at TSR initially thought she would be.
With David-Smith (41st) and O'Sullivan (42nd) offering some of the best backend scoring support in the entire field, and Maatoug (51st) adding extra insurance, there were effectively no flaws in Washington's lineup. Sure, their firepower wasn't nearly potent enough to compete with BYU, but a runner-up finish in an ultra-elite field was something to be extremely happy about for the Huskies.
And yet, despite the highly successful pair of outings that Washington had, their postseason efforts failed to match the same productivity.
At the BIG 10 XC Championships, the Huskies were faced with an equally difficult, but unique, challenge. While they had already soundly defeated most of their new conference rivals earlier in the season (i.e. Wisconsin, Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan State), the Washington women had yet to face a fully loaded Oregon lineup.
And unfortunately for the women in purple and gold, the Ducks simply overwhelmed the Huskies.
Foerster, David-Smith and Weir went 6-9-10, respectively, at the BIG 10 XC Championships, giving their team a very strong upfront presence. The issue, however, is that Oregon was simply more potent at those same scoring spots. And despite Washington closing out their scoring with Stiles (17th) and O'Sullivan (18th), the Oregon women were simply better at that portion of their lineup, too.
In the end, the Ducks easily claimed conference gold. Sure, the Huskies still salvaged silver over a very good field, but falling 27 points behind their arch rival truthfully felt disappointing.
After easily advancing out of the West regional meet, the ladies from Seattle would end their season by returning to Madison, Wisconsin for their third time in 2024. This time, however, the outcome would look much more different than the prior two occasions -- and not for the better.
Put simply, the Huskies were bad at the NCAA XC Championships, at least relative to expectations.
Despite being viewed as podium threats, Washington didn't have a single woman crack the top-50 individual results at the national meet. Yes, Maeve Stiles (59th) had a decent enough outing while David-Smith (73rd) had a fine day in her own right. However, the only other woman to crack the top-100 that day for Washington was Amina Maatoug (98th) while Weir (113th) and O'Sullivan (134th) rounded out the scoring.
With a clear lack of firepower and shrug-inducing depth, Washington didn't just fail to make the podium, they didn't even crack the top-10! When the dust settled and the scores were tallied, the Husky women fell to 13th place overall, concluding a season that had so much promise, but ended with a feeling of being underwhelmed.
* * *
We'll admit, Washington's scoring losses from last year are a bit difficult to overlook as we prepare for a new fall campaign. We say that because India Weir, Sophie O'Sullivan and Amina Maatoug are all gone -- or at the very least, they're out of cross country eligibility.
On one hand, none of those women ever emerged as true low-sticks last fall. But on the other hand, those now-departed veterans were often the backbone of this team in 2024.
Weir was one of the most underrated support scorers in the nation last year while Maatoug and O'Sullivan often closed out the scoring for this lineup (and if they didn't, then they still fared rather well). Not having any of those three women for later this fall is far more damaging than some people may realize. Even when Washington wasn't at their best, they were still a top-15 team in the country simply because of their backend scoring insurance.
But in the coming months, the Huskies aren't going to have that same luxury, at least not to the same extent.
Of course, there are just as many positives as there are negatives with this team. That's because Washington still returns Maeve Stiles, Chloe Foerster and Julia David-Smith this fall. On their very best days, each of those women have legitimate All-American potential.
Last fall, Stiles was 8th at the Nuttycombe Invite, Foerster was 16th at Pre-Nationals and David-Smith was 12th at the Nuttycombe Invite (the latter also ran a 15:34 PR for 5k earlier this summer). If each of these three women are all able to run at their absolute best on the same day, then this is a terrifying team with an unreal amount of firepower.
And here's the catch: There's a chance that none of those women will be the top scorer on this team in 2025.
That's because Mia Cochran has transferred into the University of Washington from Arkansas! She joined the Huskies this past winter and has already found success in Seattle. The former Razorback is listed at TSR #32 in our preseason individual cross country rankings after putting together a quietly awesome 2024 fall campaign.
Last year, Cochran placed 18th at Pre-Nationals (two spots behind Foerster), was 11th at the SEC XC Championships and secured 41st place at the national meet, just one spot out from All-American honors.
So sure, this team may lose crucial depth and scoring support, but the tradeoff is that they gain an extra low-stick for their 2025 squad. That extra scoring potency is why we still think this group can be a podium team in November.
Of course, talent has never been an issue or a question with this team -- we know that they have tons of it. Instead, the real obstacle is figuring out how to get Cochran, Foerster, Stiles and David-Smith running at their absolute best on the same day on a consistent basis.
Out of that quartet, Cochran is the only one who appears to be a reliable lead scorer. Each of these other women, for as good as their highs have been, have also been a bit inconsistent at times. That isn't to say that they've run poorly, but it's hard to envision this group having one more than two All-Americans at this year's national meet.
And yet, at the same time, three (or even four) All-Americans is a somewhat realistic scenario -- that's why this team should still be feared in 2025.
* * *
Alright, we talked about the top-half of the Huskies' lineup, but...what about the latter-half of Washington's varsity group? What will that portion of this team look like after losing three pivotal veterans?
We will admit, the depth on this team looks FAR less exciting than it was last year. And truthfully, that's the main reason why we didn't rank Washington any higher than our TSR #8 spot.
Thankfully, this team still has Samantha Tran, a key graduate transfer from Michigan from the 2024 offseason. In the grand scheme of things, she could be the woman who determines just how high this team's ceiling rises.
The great thing about Tran is that she is SUPER reliable on the grass, especially on the national stage. The former Wolverine standout has made three appearances at the cross country national meet in her career and in two of those instances, she placed 90th place and 100th place.
For a team that just needs one more woman to quickly close out the scoring, Tran could be Washington's key to the podium in 2025.
The issue, however, is that Tran's 90th place finish at the cross country national meet came in the winter of 2021 (during the pandemic-altered season) while her 100th place finish came in the fall of 2022. Since then, the former Michigan runner has not competed on the grass at all.
In fact, she hasn't even raced attached for any team since February of 2024!
In other words, we don't even know if Tran will toe the line this fall. And if/when she does, then what kind of productivity will Washington get out of her? Is it fair to place top-100 national meet expectations on someone who hasn't competed in cross country in nearly three years?
Sure, we feel good about Tran cracking this team's top-seven if she does run, but where in Washington's top-seven she'll be is a completely different conversation.
And then there's Ella Borsheim, someone who competed for the Huskies at last year's national meet. The former high school standout admittedly didn't have a great showing in November of last year, but she has had moments of promise throughout her time in Seattle.
In the fall of 2023, Borsheim placed 35th at the Virginia Invite and secured a quietly solid 119th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships that same season. On the track, the UW veteran has recorded times of 9:17 (3k) and 16:26 (5k).
When Borsheim is running at her absolute best, she is one of the better non-scoring women in the entire country. However, she also lacks consistency -- we don't always know what we're going to get out of her. It also doesn't help that she hasn't competed since last fall.
Even so, the talent is there for Borsheim to step into this scoring contingent (if needed) over the next few months.
And then there's Isabel Olson, a sneaky-great pick-up from the Division Three ranks. The former Colorado College runner was the top name for a cross country team that had a tremendous breakout season in 2024. Her 10th place finish at the NCAA D3 XC Championships was massive. That result set her up for further success on the track where she ran a 16:45 (5k) PR and earned backend All-American honors over 1500 meters.
Truthfully, we don't know what to expect from Olson as she makes the leap to the Division One level. We're pretty confident that she's better on the grass than she is on the track, but can she continue to build on her momentum in an environment that is dramatically more competitive?
We don't know the answer to that question, but simply having her to round out this lineup is huge. On paper, Olson gives the Washington women a complete top-seven and a team with enough stability to remain a top-10 squad in the country.
Other key names to monitor this season include Josephine Welin, Stephanie Driscoll and Gioana Lopizzo.
* * *
As we look ahead to 2025, we are admittedly conflicted when it comes Washington.
The Huskies still have A TON of raw talent, as well as plenty of veteran experience. But for each positive, they also have a negative. There are multiple departures that this team must overcome and weak points that come with those losses.
Trying to find the right spot for this team in our rankings wasn't necessarily difficult. However, determining both their ceiling and their floor has proven to be exceptionally challenging.
But this is the University of Washington we're talking about. Coach Maurica Powell is one of the best distance coaches in the NCAA. There are four women on this roster who realistically be All-Americans come November (even if it feels like a stretch to actually happen). There are also enough scoring reinforcements to keep this team afloat if they're called upon.
So sure, the Huskies aren't a perfect team, but they have the necessary pieces to be just as much of a problem for their competitors in 2025 as they were in 2024.
