Taylor Women Continue to be No. 1 Squad in NAIA
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor (57-2) women's cross-country team was voted the No. 1 team in the NAIA by receiving 19 of the 20 first-place votes in the most recent Top-25 Poll released on Thursday morning.
Taylor has competed once since the previous poll in the Louisville Cross Country Classic. In the teams only 5k race of the season, TU placed third of 46 schools in from across every division of college athletics, including NCAA division I and II. The Trojans easily outpaced every NAIA competitor in the race, with No. 10 Cumberlands the closest at 380 points compared to 133 for Taylor. The trojans defeated eight other ranked NAIA teams in the race including No. 12 Montreat, No. 15 Saint Francis (Ill.), No. 17 Cornerstone, No 18 Olivet Nazarene, and No. 19 Lewis Clark State.
The Trojans have received the Crossroads League Runner-of-the-Week award after each competition this season with Audrey Brinkruff collecting the award twice, while Mollie Gamble has received the prestigious honor once.
The Crossroads League boasts three more ranked schools in No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 20 Grace, and No. 25 Goshen in the latest rankings.
The Trojans continue the season on Saturday, October 21, at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic, in Omaha, Nebraska, with the race set to commence at 11:00 am.