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TSR's 2026 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Women): #3 Williams Ephs
Written by Kevin Fischer, 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.
The national meet runner-up team from 2025 will have an opportunity to challenge for the NCAA title again, but it will be a challenging path.
A couple of key graduations have hampered Williams going into 2026. Last year the Ephs got five women across the line in All-American positions, but it seems unlikely we see that again.
Even so, they are as good through four runners as anybody. If there’s an unexpected breakthrough from somebody outside of that group, the conversation changes completely. As it is, the gap between the top-three title-contending teams is pretty small, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Williams close that gap.
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The Ephs were excellent early in 2025, outclassing their competition by serious margins. Prior to the Connecticut College Invitational in mid-October, they didn't face another top-10 team and never really felt pressure from their competition.
However, when it came to racing in New London, the stakes were a bit different. The Connecticut College Invitational was the deepest Division Three field of any regular season meet, and on that day, the Ephs were the class of it.
They had five women in the top-22, and it was largely the usual suspects who had been dominating lesser fields through September: Morgan Eigel (5th), Kate Swann (13th), Tamar Byl (14th), Jordan Liss-Riordan (19th) and Charlene Peng (22nd). Even their sixth runner, Fiona Picone, was ahead of every other team’s fifth runner.
Notably not mentioned was Kate Tuttle, the 8th place finisher at the 2024 cross country national meet, who did not compete. Winning a meet of that caliber without your biggest name is a pretty good illustration of depth and of a “next runner up” mentality.
Tuttle returned with a 4th place finish at the NESCAC XC Championship, and was closely tailed by Eigel in 5th, Byl in 6th, Swann in 7th, and Peng in 10th. Williams finished with 32 points and a 1-through-5 spread of just 14 seconds.
The Ephs had similar success with the same five scorers at the Mideast Regional XC Championships, tallying just 39 points for a dominant win in a region that eventually yielded five of the top-20 teams at the cross country national meet.
The lineup structure operated in a similar way at the national meet. Even with Tuttle not at her best, she held on for the last All-American spot, and the quartet of Byl, Eigel, Peng, and Swann all stepped up with finishes between 18th and 27th place. Picone (46th) and Liss-Riordan (62nd) made sure that the Ephs got their full varsity squad across the line before any other team.
Usually scoring just 106 points will give you a national title, but Williams ran into a powerhouse NYU team that had a near-perfect day. The Violets had five All-Americans too, and three of them crossed the line before the first Williams runner.
Sure, there were things that could have gone better for Williams on that day, but given the version of NYU we saw, getting the win would have been a pretty difficult task for the Ephs. It’s clear that they gave everything and should have no regrets, but they will surely carry the feeling of nearly winning it all with them into 2026.
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Enough of Williams' core returns this year to remain a contender, but the Ephs aren’t without multiple impactful departures. Of those five All-Americans from last fall, two of them graduated: Kate Swann and Charlene Peng.
When you look at what Swann and Peng have contributed throughout their careers, it becomes evident how difficult they will be to replace.
On top of her 22nd place finish at the cross country national meet, Peng was also a steeplechase All-American and a national qualifier over 5000 meters last winter. Swann has four All-American honors to her name, including two on the grass, and she was the runner-up over 5000 meters at the 2026 indoor national meet
Fiona Picone has also graduated. She was a steady presence in the Ephs' top-seven throughout last fall and raced at two cross country national meets, nearly sneaking into an All-American position in 2025.
Those are some heavy losses, although there is enough star power and depth remaining that Williams shouldn’t suffer too much of a setback.
Despite a bit of a down season last fall, Kate Tuttle lit it up on the track, indicating that she should be sharp enough to return to her best form this season. We are confident in her ability to lead the charge and work back into being a top-10 cross country runner in Division Three.
Earlier this year, Tuttle earned a national meet bronze medal over the 1500 meters and the mile. She was also the national meet runner-up over 3000 meters and ran a very impressive time of 16:20 (5k). All of that is to give you an idea of why she's listed at TSR #7 in our preseason individual rankings.
We project Tamar Byl and Morgan Eigel to be close behind her as they return from 18th and 20th place cross country national meet finishes, respectively. Both Byl and Eigel also recorded All-American finishes on the track during the 2025-26 season, which have promoted even more confidence in them.
The last name to return from the Ephs' 2025 cross country national meet lineup is Jordan Liss-Riordan. She placed 62nd in that race, and considering her form during the track campaign that included a 16:38 mark over 5000 meters, she should be substantially better this fall.
With our TSR #7, TSR #11 and TSR #12 individuals entering the season -- along with a “Just Missed” name in Liss-Riordan, who has the potential to be comfortably within the All-American spots -- Williams is in national title contention.
However, this squad needs a strong fifth runner to get over the hump, and there's a bit of a question as to where that backend scoring production will come from.
Could there be a rebound from Lily Yampolski, who finished 66th at the 2024 cross country national meet and ran 4:31 (1500) on the track, but didn't look quite the same during the 2025-26 academic year?
Maybe Ginger Long, who was the Ephs' seventh finisher at the 2025 NESCAC XC Championships in the absence of Jordan Liss-Riordan, can break through in her sophomore season.
Julia Brennan, Hannah Prokup and Clara Gahm are also names who could be in the mix to break into the scoring lineup after finishing 21st, 24th and 26th, respectively at the NESCAC XC Championships last year.
However, the limited action thus far this fall suggests that Estella Laird could enter the scene as a backend scorer after her excellent 6th place finish at the Little Three XC Championships.
She did win the “White” race at the Connecticut College Invitational in 2025, but didn't find quite the same consistent success during her freshman year as some of the other names we've mentioned. With that being said, she looks the best of anyone among that next group.
It's also possible the fifth scorer won't be a returner at all. The incoming freshman class at Williams includes some major blue-chips like 10:43 (3200) runner Eleanor Barco of Indiana, 9:54 (3k) runner Sophia Capozzi (Oregon) and Avery Peck of California, who ran 10:39 over 3200 meters as a sophomore in 2024 and could be incredibly dangerous if she unlocks that form again with a change of scenery.
While there's a bit of uncertainty for this team after four runners, the options in the supporting group are still solid in both quality and quantity. It's pretty reasonable to think just one of them could progress to the point of a top-60 or top-70 finish on the national stage, which could absolutely be enough to put this team in the mix for the NCAA title if other things shake out the right way.
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Since the last NCAA cross country title Williams won in 2015, the Ephs have finished in the top-10 in every year a championship was contested, including four podium finishes.
This is one of the most storied programs in Division Three, and the results show how competitive the Ephs are perennially, but they will be itching for more.
After a national meet runner-up finish last year, they will run it back with another group capable of being at the very top. It won't be easy, and we have two more teams we are slightly higher on, but there's a believable reality in which Williams is the one getting crowned this November.
