The cross-country team will start the season with a national ranking, as the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has ranked the Red as the No. 30 team in the initial rankings.

Cornell – the reigning Ivy League champion – was ranked as high as No. 25 nationally last year. Before last season, the Red had not earned a national ranking since 2002 and has not received a national ranking at the beginning of the season since 1995.

The Red is the only Ivy team in the top 30 and is ahead of all the other Ancient Eights in the regional list as well. Regionally, the women are slated for fourth after Syracuse, Providence and Boston College.

Adding to the high rankings, the Red grabbed 21 highly talented new recruits to add to its roster as well.

Alexis Bartholomew from Binghamton, N.Y. is the first new addition for the Red. She was the New York High School champion in the pole vault where she cleared 12 feet for the win. Bartholomew is also a many-time Section 4 champion.

Elizabeth Crissy is one of the nation’s top high school jumpers. She finished third in the Illinois state championships with a personal best of 5’7”.

Claire DeVoe from Portland, Oregon finished eighth in her states’ cross-country meet and emerged as one of the top 1500 and 3000-meter runners in Oregon. She comes to the Red with personal bests of 4:35.11 for the 1500 and 10:06.68 for the 3000.

Ali Foote comes to Cornell as a transfer from Bucknell. In high school, she was probably one of New York State’s best cross country and distance runners, with a personal best of 4:47 for the 1500.

Rochelle Forbes was one of Connecticut’s top long sprinters and a regular state meet scorer at 300 and 400 meters. She enters Cornell with a best open 400 meters of 57.04 thanks to good relay splits. 

Camryn Goodman is a really exciting addition to the Red due to her talented throwing prospect. She won the shot put and discus at her district meets in Texas and also took seventh place at the state meet in the discus.

Eleanore Grant is a New Yorker and a state track and field qualifier. She finished second in the 100 hurdles and seventh in the triple jump at states. Her best effort in the triple jump is currently 37’ 11”.

Ann Herman led her Pennsbury teammates to the 2011 state championship with a third-place individual finish. She also went on to qualify for the Nike Cross Country Nationals as an individual where she finished 42nd.

Sarah Holl from Maple Glenn, Pennsylvania was the 2011 bronze medalist in the 1600 at the Pennsylvania State meet. Holl was among Pennsylvania’s best middle distance and cross-country runners.

Hilary Holmes was chosen as the 2012 Gatorade track and field player of the year in N.H. She also was chosen as her state’s top all-around athlete and set a state record outdoors in the heptathlon, scoring 4,582 points.

Dina Iacone is also added to the Red as one of the best distance runners in the mid-Atlantic region. She was a N.J. state group champion in both the 1600 and 3200.

Stephanie Izard from Amherst, N.Y. is also among the nation’s top multi-event athletes. She finished second at the indoor pentathlon in the New Balance National Meet with a personal best total of 3,522 points. Izard is also the N.Y. state high school champion in the high jump.

Caroline Kellner is an addition to the Red as well and is a two-time qualifier for the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and has been one of the best in N.J. in both cross-country and track throughout her four years in high school.

Kliamovich comes to Cornell after placing first in the hammer with a throw of 133’7” in Washington.

Kate McCormick comes from N.Y. as well and was a key member of the Cross Country and track programs at Canandaigua Academy. She was also one of the best steeplechasers in N.Y.

Meghan McCormick transcends upon the hill as a state qualifier in trace. McCormick also helped her team grab national prominence in cross-country.

Kristen Niedrach was a New Jersey Group State Champions indoors in the 1600 meters in 2012 and is relatively new to competitive distance running.

Maggi Szpak from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. was part of Saratoga’s top seven that finished second as a team at Nike Cross Country Nationals.

Tozser is a transfer from SUNY-Cortland and as a freshman for the Red Dragons won the Division III ECAC title in the 3000 steeplechase.

Lauren Voss from Nyack High School was one of the top hurdlers in N.Y. after grabbing sixth in the indoors and fourth outdoors in the New York State High School Meet.

Kayla Wong rounds off the 21 new faces and is one of the best in Massachusetts for the hurdles and long jump, in addition to stellar sprinting skills.

The team will begin the season on Sept. 7 with a tri-meet against Army and Binghamton at West Point.