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TSR's 2026 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): #2 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
Written by Conor Daly, 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.
Some of the hardest articles to write at TSR are about the teams for which you have no clue who their top-five runners are going to be.
Some of these teams you have no clue because there aren’t many promising options. Others, however, have seemingly endless talent.
For Johns Hopkins, it’s the case of the latter.
The talent that comes in the door oftentimes looks like a Division One program's recruiting class. After all, we ranked the Blue Jays' freshman class as the best in the country twice in the last four years (including last year).
But it’s also been the development taking place once they get to Baltimore that has made the Blue Jays a perennial powerhouse.
Even with a ton of talent departing, Johns Hopkins has its bases covered in the back of the lineup and, arguably more impressively, retains the firepower that nearly landed the 'Jays at TSR #1.
* * *
After starting their 2025 cross country season with an August rust-buster, the Blue Jays headed to the Virginia Invitational to compete over 5000 meters.
There, freshman Mia Kotler (7th) delivered an insane performance, finishing ahead of the sixth runner from a fully stacked University of Virginia lineup. Sure, she came to campus as a blue-chip recruit with an extensive high school resume, but finishing ahead of accomplished All-American teammate Carter Brotherton (11th) was nothing to turn a blind eye to.
Behind that duo, Bella Stenhouse, Storrie Kulynych-Irvin and Eleni Alvarez finished 15-23-28 to provide a first draft of the lineup for the months to come.
At the Paul Short Run “Gold” race, Johns Hopkins once again lined up against predominantly Division One programs. Brotherton (44th) was excellent, with a low-stick performance that foreshadowed her integral role for the remainder of the season.
Kotler (137th) had what we now know to be an uncharacteristic “off" day, while the backend was once again strong thanks to the efforts of Kulynych-Irvin (144th) and Alvarez (150th). This time, it was Natalie Boquist (151st) who stepped up big time to finish right with them, which was desperately needed considering help was far behind her.
Johns Hopkins outperformed D3 foe MIT by a score of 602-652 in the "Gold" race. NYU, in the Paul Short Run “White” race, remained the team to beat with a quicker top-five average.
Next, the Blue Jays kept themselves firmly in the NCAA podium picture with a 3rd place team performance at the loaded Connecticut College Invitational.
At the front, Brotherton (4th) and Kotler (10th) both continued to provide a lethal 1-2 punch that carried significant scoring value.
What was unexpected, though, was seeing 16:37 (5k) superstar Adriana Catalano score for the first time all season with an impactful 21st place finish. Kulynych-Irvin (35th) and Boquist (45th) did well, but expecting them to compete with their counterparts on the top-two teams just was not realistic.
After that heavy mid-season racing, the next two races were largely a technicality for the Blue Jays.
They recorded a perfect score at the Centennial Conference XC Championships, which can be attributed to the softer competition as much as anything of their own doing. Their lineup structure was largely the same, with the greatest development being Cooper (not to be confused with Carter) Brotherton creeping back into form with a 9th place finish.
Coach Bobby Van Allen’s group once again won easily at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships in a low-cortisol affair, resting three women who raced the following week.
There were once again minimal takeaways, although Cooper Brotherton (9th) matched her conference meet finish and was on the upswing at just the right time. That same trend held true for Catalano (2nd) as well, who now looked to be an All-American favorite.
At the NCAA XC Championships, the Blue Jays landed on the podium with a 4th place team result thanks to their avoidance of any disasters and a (slightly) better backend contingent than expected.
Carter Brotherton (9th) and Mia Kotler (14th) becoming top-half All-Americans were some of the least surprising results of the day, although that should not take away from the magnitude of those runs, especially for the latter as just a rookie.
Kulynych-Irvin (37th) was a surprise All-American who peaked at just the right time. She pretty much took the spot of Catalano (51st), who could have earned the same honors on a better day, but was a strong fourth scorer. Cooper Brotherton (63rd) closed out the scoring pretty quickly, while Boquist (69th) would have been plenty good if needed.
Overall, the Blue Jays should be proud that they were complete through six (and even seven) runners at the 2025 cross country national meet and had two true low-sticks. Ultimately, they were simply outdone by teams with more All-Americans and experience.
* * *
At the end of the 2025-26 academic year, Johns Hopkins graduated a quintet that on their own would be in the top-five of our team rankings.
Adriana Catalano and Cooper Brotherton, late bloomers who were big-time contributors at the national meet, are both gone. That really hurts, as the former was a two-time All-American and the latter provided great stability with a pair of top-70 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships during her career.
Eleni Alvarez, who was also on that 4th place team at the 2025 cross country national meet, graduates. She was a more-than-sufficient support scorer with national meet experience on the track.
It’s also crushing to see middle distance standouts Mackenzie Setton (4:22 for 1500m) and Emma Kothari (4:28 for 1500m) leaving. Even if those women were not at their best on the grass, you have to think their fitness and talent would have carried them to being important middle or backend lineup scorers, at the very least.
And as devastating as those losses are, get excited to hear about the group that returns, which is even better!
Carter Brotherton -- who was lights out last fall against some of the toughest competition Division Three has to offer -- is back to lead the way. What she showed at the Connecticut College Invitational (4th) and the 2025 NCAA XC Championships (9th) was beyond incredible. Those are performances so elite that they make you forget that she was only a sophomore at the time.
After running a new personal best sub-16:30 (5k) since then, you gotta think that top-10 at the national meet is her floor, even amongst the heavy number of returners of top runners on the women’s side.
On paper, Johns Hopkins’ second runner should be Mia Kotler, the freshman sensation who was a top-half All-American in last fall’s season finale. However, we have good reason to think that she will not be ready to race, at least at the beginning of the season, so we have tempered our expectations accordingly for both her and the team as a whole.
If Kotler is in the lineup, then she gives this team a much-needed secondary low-stick who is as good as Brotherton. But in a year in which three different teams have five All-American candidates, the absence of her potency may result in Johns Hopkins falling just a step behind.
In fact, her potential absence was the tiebreaker that led us to not rank Johns Hopkins at TSR #1.
Storrie Kulynych-Irvin, a clutch third scorer and All-American from last fall, also returns. Even if her cross country national meet result was above her others, her presence at the Connecticut College Invitational (35th) and Mid-Atlantic XC Regional Championships (6th) was very strong as well.
If it were not for a shrug-inducing indoor track season and absence during the outdoor track season, the junior would have been in our top-25 individual rankings. But for now, she settled at a still-strong “Just Missed” designation.
Natalie Boquist, arguably the biggest breakout star on this team from last fall, will enter the season from a much higher starting point. Her top-70 finish at the NCAA XC Championships was definitively her best result from last fall, but that is fitting given her overall trend.
Now with track national meet experience thanks to a 35:37 (10k) personal best that nearly matches the pace of her 5000-meter personal best from a year ago, Boquist should be another key name for the Blue Jays. Frankly, labeling her as a “backend contributor” is insulting.
Sydney Shock did not race past the Virginia Invitational last fall, but the 90th place finisher at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships would have been a big piece in 2025.
Whatever the interruption was, it did not seem to interfere with her outdoor track season, where she ran 10:33 (steeple) and 17:12 (5k). Couple that past success on the grass with her recent progression, and it’s plenty reasonable to envision her as an All-American.
* * *
Beyond those five women with cross country national meet experience is an army who would like to claim the same by the end of the year.
The best returning varsity candidates are sub-10:00 (3k) runners Elena Blodnikar and Ani Wedemeyer.
Even if they're not part of the varsity lineup last fall, they're nice insurance options.
The former was plenty effective on the grass with strong runs at the Connecticut College Invitational (53rd) and Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships (12th).
The latter is more known for her prowess over the middle distances, with her 4:26 (1500) personal best screaming that she is too talented not to be considered a serious contributor in cross country.
There’s also Evangeline Dunckley (17:42 for 5k) and Ia Reistad (17:50 for 5k), who ran those marks as freshmen last year and could be in for sizable sophomore-year leaps. But as good as they are, it may take a bit more optimism to see them in the varsity lineup.
Part of that is because of the intra-team competition from one transfer and a stacked freshman class.
Hadar Biger comes to Baltimore as a transfer from Travecca Nazarene, where her experience was highlighted by a 55th place finish at the NCAA D2 South Regional XC Championships. That’s an encouraging performance, but if Division Two competition is a confusing benchmark, then hopefully a 17:26 (5k) will make the picture a bit clearer.
As for the recent high school graduates, Alexia Tubbs is the clear leader of the pack. She has run 10:34 (3200) on a couple of occasions, which suggests that she is as qualified as any newcomer to make some noise over 6000 meters this fall.
Keep in mind that she has a near-identical resume to what Mia Kotler did at this time last year, before she ended up as a freshman All-American.
This class is stacked with aerobically inclined women, as Reese Tamburro (10:46 for 3200m) and Kira Dye (10:47 for 3200m) have the credentials to be in the varsity lineup as well. The same rings true, although to a lesser extent, with Lucy Thomas (10:54 for 3200m) and Abby Artabane (10:11 for 3k).
* * *
There’s no need for creative words to express that this team is simply stacked. The Blue Jays' talent is immense, and Van Allen (and his staff) know how to get the most out of athletes when it matters most.
This team has a nice balance of two women who have been at the front competing with the best women in the country and another trio with cross country national meet experience. And if that was not enough, there are more with regional cross country experience, others with national meet experience on the track, and others who have thrown down marks that suggest they are ready for the same.
The nice thing about that depth is that this team is insulated from a “down” season from one runner or an injury from another since there are many reinforcements who are likely superior to the opposition's.
This will be a varsity lineup to make, but whoever is in it will know that they are more than deserving of being so.
Even as we dream of over a handful of women on this team sneaking into All-American position, the true determinant of their success will be whether they can have a breakout star or two who can become more potent scorers.
