TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D3 XC Top 10 Teams (Women): Honorable Mentions

Written by Hannah Thorn, Brett Haffner and Kevin Fischer

Analysis involving eligibility is based off of data from TFRRS.

Teams are listed in no particular order

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Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens

Considering we’ve moved forward with only ranking 10 teams, we were left with some very good programs that didn’t make our list. Unfortunately for Pomona-Pitzer, they were one of those squads.

Having two All-Americans and placing 12th as a team at last year's national meet ended what was an impressive day for the Sagehens. Despite losing Helen Guo, who placed 14th at NCAA's last year, they return the rest of their lineup, which includes Lila Cardillo who finished 12th overall at the 2019 national meet.

So why might a team returning so much of their lineup not make our rankings?

Well, when we can only rank 10 teams and it makes things very tough when many of the top teams from 2019 are also returning four, five, six or even seven runners from last fall. Plus, when looking at the backend of the Sagehens’ lineup compared to others, that is where they lacked at a comparison standpoint.

A huge positive for this group is that their returning lineup consisted of all underclassmen at Nationals, so their crew will remain strong for the next few years.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas

Right along with their perennial rival in Pomona-Pitzer, the Athenas return quite the potent squad this fall. While their performance at the 2019 national meet was a little underwhelming, (placing 21st), their regular season was filled with success. It also helps that they return their entire top seven, giving them heaps of championship experience.

Riley Harmon had an excellent breakout season last fall. After a slew of top 10 finishes out west, she was able to capitalize on a strong season by earning her first All-American honor, taking 36th at the National Championships. She'll likely look to better her performance from last year and continue to be a strong low-stick for the Athenas whenever they return to competition.

Similar to Pomona-Pitzer, returning a lot of runners is certainly a huge plus for them, so they are primed to have a very competitive season against the Sagehens whenever racing resumes. Also sporting a young crew, they are likely to have a strong team over the next few years.

SUNY-Geneseo Knights

Finishing 10th at last year's national meet, SUNY-Geneseo fares pretty well with a lot of the other top teams from the east. Having star runner Genny Corcoran graduate certainly hurts from a scoring standpoint, but they’ve got a nice squad of returning runners who can help bring this team back to the national stage.

Returning five ladies from the previous year, it will be difficult to replicate the mere two points that Corcoran scored as a powerful low-stick at NCAA's. However, a team doesn’t just rely on only one runner. They’ll have to rely on their experienced returners from last year to keep this team afloat in larger, more competitive fields.

Windsor Ardner was only a freshman last year and stepped up to be the #2 runner behind Corcoran last fall -- she ended up finishing 89th at Nationals, which is a pretty solid performance for a freshman. She could end up being a strong low-stick for the Knights if she continues to thrive at the collegiate level.

Another woman who ran pretty well last year was Mariellen Penzer. While she didn’t have her best race at Nationals (placing 131st), she was usually finding herself as the team's third scorer behind Corcoran and Annibel Coolican during the Knights' regular season meets.

If she can stay close to Ardner, and if those two can approach the top-50 places at the National Championships, then SUNY-Geneseo could find themselves in a great position at the national level whenever they return to cross country competition.

John Carroll Blue Streaks

After victories at the OAC Championships and Great Lakes regional meet, the women of John Carroll found themselves earning a trip to Nationals where they ended up placing 21st overall. While they may have run a little under expectations, those two wins prior to the national meet was the real testament of their talent.

Cameron Bujaucius and Sydney Jenko were turning out to be a strong duo for the Blue Streaks last fall as they went 1-2 at the OAC Championships and then 3-9 at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. When it came down to Nationals, they were split up a tad, as Bujaucius placed 43rd while Jenko finished 121st.

If those two can continue to work together and replicate Bujaucius' national meet finish on a consistent basis, then John Carroll could find themselves with two All-Americans whenever the national meet returns.

Behind those two, the Blue Streaks return four more women who competed at last year's NCAA Championships, bringing their total number of returners to six. I’d pen John Carroll as a strong team to repeat their conference and regional titles, along with shooting for a much improved finish on their national meet performance from last year.

UW-La Crosse Eagles

Rounding out the "Just Missed" teams on the women's side, the women of UW-La Crosse are yet another team on this list who return six of their runners from last year; a seemingly common theme among a lot of these programs. They took 19th at the National Championships last year, but will likely want to better that result given their mass number of returners.

Finishing 2nd at the 2019 WIAC Championships and then 3rd at the Midwest Regional Championships, the Eagles have some impressive depth. At their WIAC conference meet, they were able to put nine runners across the line before UW-Eau Claire’s fifth runner, but Eau Claire ended up winning the meet thanks to their low-stick scoring potency.

If La Crosse can develop a couple of their returners into low-sticks, then they will be a team to look out for, especially since they already boast great depth.

One of La Crosse’s greatest strengths is their flexibility regarding their varsity lineup. Rachel Jeffers was their top scorer at Nationals (placing 86th), but Maddie Hannan was also their top scorer at the WIAC Championships. Maddy Sweeney was usually right near those two on most occasions as well.

If those three can stick near each other and work together, then that will be a surefire way to build upon their success from last fall. As long as they have the depth that they showed us last year, the Eagles are going to be looking good whenever they next toe the line.