TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D2 XC Top 10 Teams (Women): #8 Cal State East Bay Pioneers

Cal State East Bay found their way into our Top 10 preseason rankings after having finished 9th at the the NCAA XC Championships last fall.

A big reason why they find themselves ranked a spot higher heading into 2020 is largely because of our TSR #22 runner, Angelique Ronquillo. The redshirt junior finished 30th at the national meet in 2019 and that was a strong enough finish to help bolster the Pioneers to a top-tier result.

Ronquillo will push this team forward as long as she continues to trend in the right direction. She is one of those rare front-runners who can offer scoring potency at the top of her lineup, but can still make enough improvement to have a legitimate impact in the team scoring.

She was the top runner for the Pioneers in every race during the 2019 season and there’s no reason to believe that she won’t be leading them once again whenever they return to competition.

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However, it’s not just Ronquillo who is coming back in 2020. Teammates Claire Fisher, Amanda Navarro and Ariel Van Riper are all returners from last year's top seven. Fisher and Navarro were part of every scoring five at races that the Pioneers competed at, while Van Riper came on strong at the end of the season to find herself as part of this team's top seven.

Fisher and Navarro are the true X-factors on this team who are each capable of adding key scoring value to this team. Their development could keep the Pioneers in the upper-echelon of the Division II competition as they attempt to fill in the gaps left behind by graduating seniors.

Fisher was competitive throughout 2019, running very well at the Southern Stampede meet (13th) as well as the CCAA Championships (7th). She later secured a strong result at the West Regional Championships (14th) prior to NCAA's.

Fisher proved to be a strong middle-lineup contributor throughout last fall, but her postseason performances, specifically when she placed 58th at the NCAA Championships, suggests that she can be a true front-runner alongside Ronquillo if she continues to progress.

We then come to Navarro who, for the most, was very solid throughout 2019. The lone blip on her resume from last season was a poor showing at the Capital Cross Challenge, but she put that away after her 80th place result at NCAA's.

Much like Fisher, Navarro's ability to translate that postseason success will be a crucial aspect to watch for Cal State East Bay whenever they return to competition.

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The Pioneers' top three runners are clearly very strong and you could argue that they're all underrated. However, given that they lost two of their five scorers, they will turn to the aforementioned Van Riper to help contribute this fall. Her only two competitions of the 2019 season were at the West Regional Championships and NCAA Championships.

Van Riper was just a freshman last season and with another year of training and a real year of racing, she’ll likely have the necessary experience to begin contributing in some fashion.

Not only that, but Cal State East Bay's 2020 cross country roster shows us that veteran Brittany Duquette was expected to return this fall despite being listed as a senior on TFRRS. She was more of a backend runner who offered depth for this team last fall and likely would have done the same this year.

Based on last year's results, the backend of this theoretical lineup looks thin and potentially very vulnerable. Luckily for the Pioneers, they have some reinforcements.

There are a few names who should step up and help make a difference. Those women include Lauryn Orozco, Alexandra Cholometes and Julia Gonzalez.

Orozco and Cholometes are both returners from the 2019 season and saw some limited action on CSUEB's varsity squad during the season. They will both bring veteran experience which is essential for the Pioneers to be successful.

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However, the big name to watch is Julia Gonzalez, a transfer from Diablo Valley College. The incoming junior had a very nice end to her career at the JUCO level as she won the Big 8 Championships, the CCCAA Northern California Championship and ultimately finished 13th at the CCCAA State Championships. In fact, Gonzalez never finished outside of the top-five at a race until the State Championships.

Gonzalez doesn't need to be a star front-runner like Ronquillo, but she has enough potential to be someone of Fisher's or Navarro's caliber. At the very least, she'll give this lineup some additional scoring stability.

The same can be said about Chase Worthen, a transfer from Cal Poly who owns decent personal bests of 10:35 (3k) and 18:06 (5k). Those aren't necessarily jaw-dropping marks, but it's clear that Worthen is good enough to give this team some much needed depth and additional scoring if they need it.

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The women from Cal State East Bay were primed and ready to roll in 2020. They have an extremely strong returning core group while the additions of Gonzalez and Worthen makes them far less volatile in the scoring. With a handful of other options waiting in the depths of this roster, it's hard not to be excited about the future of the Pioneers.