Trojan Women Begin Title Defense as Unanimous No. 1  

NAIA Release

UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor women's cross-country team begins the season as the unanimous No.1 in the Preseason NAIA Coaches Top-25 Poll after a historic season in which they claimed the coveted red banner as National champions. 

Noel VanderWall, Ahna Neideck, Audrey Brinkruff, and Mollie Gamble were All-Americans a season ago and are returning to the Trojans for another year. They helped lead the Trojans to a perfect season at 133-0, including a 127-point margin of victory at the NAIA National Championship. 

In addition to the four mentioned above, TU returns even more talented runners and has added a dynamic freshmen class to continue the excellence.

The team set the top-four fastest race times in program history, while seven runners ran an individual time that ranked in the program's top 12, including the top three performances. 

The National Championship was the first for the program and the second for Coach Quinn White, who led the men's cross-country team to a NAIA National Championship in 2020. White was named USTFCCCA National Women's Cross-Country Coach-of-the-Year, while also collecting the USTFCCCA Great Lakes and Crossroads League Coach-of-the-Year awards after the most historic season in program history.

Taylor has appeared in 77 consecutive Top-25 Polls and will look to continue the streak as the team begins its title defense in 2023. Even more impressive is the fact that TU has now finished in the top 6 at the NAIA National Championship in six consecutive seasons. 

Four other Crossroads League members were in the rankings, led by No. 8 Huntington and followed by No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 14 Grace, and No. 24 Goshen. 

The Trojans begin the season on Friday, September 8, at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational at 6:00 pm.