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TSR's 2026 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): #2 Adams State Grizzlies
Written by Jaime Diedel, edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve
NOTE #1: 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.
NOTE #2: The Stride Report is aware that a number of meets have already taken place during the 2026 cross country season. However, The Stride Report believes that these early-season races (often called "rust-busters") hold little-to-no importance on a team's national standing due to the limited competition and the lack of top names being entered at these meets.
No other Division Two program knows the NCAA XC Championships podium better than the Adams State women.
The Grizzlies have won three of the last five NCAA cross country team titles and stood on the podium in the other two years. And those statistics don’t even come close to the rest of their podium and national title tallies.
After becoming national champions again in 2024, the women of Adams State fell backwards a bit last fall, but still finished among the nation’s top-four teams at the 2025 NCAA XC Championships. And now, despite losing a few standouts from last year's lineup, the Grizzlies seem to be back in NCAA title contention.
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We saw a loaded Adams State team open up the 2025 campaign fairly early. It was a tad unusual to see coach Damon Martin put most of his top women in uniform the first weekend of September, but nonetheless, the Adams State Grizzlies put out a display of dominance at the Joe I. Vigil Open, their home meet.
The Grizzlies swept places 2nd through 6th, led by none other than national champion Tristian Spence in 2nd place. Claragh Keane, Maggie McCleskey, Keira Damron and Lea Navarro all filed in after Spence, in that order. Adams State even had Clara Keddy in 8th place and Haley Harkrider in 12th.
Next on the schedule for Adams State was the Lucian Rosa Invitational, where the Grizzlies toughed out a hard-fought battle with Colorado Mines, ultimately coming up short of the overall victory.
Spence was the first Grizzly across the finish line, taking 8th place. She was followed by the trio of Keane (13th), Damron (14th) and McCleskey (16th). Navarro was their fifth and final scorer, in 26th place, with a gap between her and freshmen Addison Bisceglie (56th) and Chloe Swain (64th). Similarly, there was a 26-point gap between meet winner Colorado Mines and runner-up Adams State.
It became clear at that Wisconsin-based meet that the Adams State scoring contingent lacked some up-front firepower, even with Spence as the leader. And the Grizzlies' backend scoring and supporting cast wasn’t perfect either, but the good news for them was it was still only September.
It wasn’t until the RMAC XC Championships that Martin fielded his full star lineup again. Spence, looking much more like herself, came away with a runner-up result, giving Adams State some much-needed firepower and momentum. McCleskey (14th) was the next Grizzly finisher, while Damron (18th) and Keane (19th) practically crossed the finish line at the exact same time for a pair of top-20 finishes.
Swain (32nd) rounded out the scoring for the women of Adams State at her first conference meet, and fellow freshman Bisceglie (36th) was the team’s sixth runner on the day. Navarro settled for 41st.
All that put together gave the Adams State women a 3rd place finish. The Grizzlies' individuals all ran up to their standard (Damron and Keane were solid, but perhaps had room to be even better), but Colorado Mines looked way better, and UC-Colorado Springs was more potent at every scoring position other than Spence's.
The South Central regional meet was a huge bounce back for the women of Alamosa, Colorado. Their depth and backend scoring was improving…oh, and they had Ava O’Connor back in uniform. So not only did Adams State have a low-stick in Spence, who took the individual regional title, but O’Connor added an extra push up front, taking individual silver.
McCleskey (7th) was their third scorer, followed by Keane and Damron in 14th and 18th, respectively. Junior Tanya Bouet charged hard to land in the top-20 as well, giving the Grizzlies some extra insurance, which they had lacked a bit early in the season.
They were looking more and more like themselves, and winning the regional title by over a 30-point margin was enough to prove that Adams State was a top-four team in the nation.
On the national stage in Wisconsin, the Adams State women stamped that status, largely thanks to the duo of Spence and O’Connor.
Spence surprised many in the Division Two world (including some of us at TSR) by running away from Colorado Mines’ Grace Strongman to become an NCAA champion once again, this time on the grass. O’Connor, in just her second race of the 2025 season, produced an 8th place result, her best finish ever at the cross country national meet.
Keane was back in 59th place, with Damron (62nd) and Bouet (65th) pretty close behind her. In theory, that was great pack running by those three women, just not as high up as Adams State probably would have hoped them to be.
Navarro (75th) and McCleskey (99th) offered support as the team's sixth and seventh women. Had McCleskey performed closer to her true capability, Adams State could have had a better shot at finishing higher than 4th. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies still held a team trophy over their heads in a testament to the depth of their squad. Even a shuffling of their scorers and lineup allowed them to be successful on the national stage.
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While Adams State does lose key low-stick Ava O’Connor, the 'Grizz still return NCAA champion Tristian Spence, who enters this fall as TSR's top-ranked runner. The well-seasoned veteran is, and has been, a vital part of the team’s ongoing success on the grass.
Spence’s composure in championship settings, and her range, make her all the more valuable to such a national-caliber team. After her 2025 NCAA cross country title, Spence went on to add two more All-American honors to her name on the indoor oval between the 5000 meters and 3000 meters. She then jumped up in distance to the 10k during the outdoor track season, showcasing her endurance by running 35:04 (10k) at nearly 5000 feet of elevation.
She came away with three top-half All-American honors on the oval during the first half of this calendar year.
The dynamic duo of Keira Damron and Claragh Keane, both seniors now, should be a big part of Adams State’s success this fall. Both women improved on the track and are now arguably All-American favorites on the cross country course.
Damron practically set new personal bests every single time she competed on the ovals. Most notably, she ran under 17 minutes for 5000 meters twice and displayed her 10,000-meter endurance, running a personal best time of 35:17 at 5000 feet above sea level. Damron gained more championship experience at the outdoor national meet where she competed over 10,000 meters, finishing 13th.
Should she continue on this upward trajectory, Damron will likely be a top-end scorer for the Grizzlies this fall.
Keane also enters the 2026 fall after a fantastic spring season in which she displayed her strength over the longer distances. She even set a new personal best of 16:33 (5k), qualifying her for the indoor national meet in that event.
That wasn’t the only championship experience Keane acquired during her junior year. She also went on to compete over 10,000 meters at the 2026 outdoor national meet. Although her result was a bit underwhelming, she now has a better understanding of championship tactics that should aid in her success come time for the cross country national meet.
Adams State also returns Tanya Bouet, who was a quiet resource in 2025. She was integral to the team’s regional meet success as their sixth runner and was a scoring member of the national meet lineup. In fact, the regional meet was her first race as an Adams State athlete, so she may have All-American upside once she gets more experience as a senior this season.
In the winter and spring seasons, Bouet revealed that she had more than just cross country strength, but speed over the mile and metric mile and even 3000-meter steeplechase strength. Martin has typically had success with his steeplechasers becoming incredibly solid on the grass, and Bouet should be no exception.
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Not only did the Grizzlies lose one of their front-runners, but they lost some of their depth in women like Maggie McCleskey. Luckily, the Grizzlies bring in a plethora of new talents, including transfers Emily Jobes and Aspen Fulbright.
Jobes joins the women of Alamosa, Colorado, from Boise State with a remarkable 6k personal best of 19:43. That mark suggests that she should easily be a nice complement to Spence’s firepower up front.
If a cross country PR (even one two seconds faster than Spence's) doesn't move you, then consider that Jobes has run 10:03 (steeple) and 15:59 (5k) on the track. She qualified for the 2026 NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase and competed at the 2025 NCAA XC Championships.
What's more, Jobes finished in the top-16 at the Mountain West XC Championships each of the past two seasons. All of that earned her a spot at TSR #4 in our preseason individual rankings. We think she should be able to immediately make up for O'Connor's absence as a versatile track star who is also elite on the cross country course.
Aspen Fulbright also came to Alamosa from the D1 level, where she ran for Iowa State, but she had two track seasons to get accustomed to training at altitude earlier this year. Considering that she qualified for the D2 indoor national meet in the mile and ran 16:37 (5k) since joining the Grizzlies, she should be a high-level scoring option this fall.
Mary Ngige is another newcomer and one with unknown potential and possibilities in front of her. She reportedly ran marks of 4:23 (1500) and 9:44 (3k) at 7000 feet of altitude in Kenya. It's possible that it takes her a year to adapt to the NCAA level or that she's an immediate superstar. We tempered expectations a bit in making her a "Just Missed" name outside of our top-25 individual rankings.
Among returners, Clara Keddy has shown potential on the cross country course and was an NCAA qualifier for both the mile and the metric mile earlier this year. Haley Harkrider is a 2026 All-American in the 3000-meter steeplechase who hasn't put it all together on the grass yet, but still could.
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With the improvements of returners like Keane, Damron and Bouet, and with Spence leading the way again, the 'Grizz were always going to have a relatively high floor in 2026. What alters their ceiling is the addition of Jobes and Ngige.
The latter already won Adams State's home meet with ease earlier this month, but it was hard to fully evaluate that performance considering that the Grizzlies' other top runners didn't compete alongside her.
If Jobes and Ngige join Spence as top-10 runners, then Adams State can absolutely win another NCAA team title. And as currently constructed, the Grizzlies seem likely to improve upon their podium finish from last year.
