Trojan Women No. 1 Once Again in the NAIA Top-25 Poll
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor (57-2) women's cross-country team continued its run as the top-ranked squad in the NAIA when the third in-season poll was released Thursday morning.
The Taylor women have continued to dominate the NAIA after a historic National Championship a season ago. The Trojans have defeated every NAIA school they have competed against by over 35 points and by at least two minutes, with the closest time by a competitor in a 6k race, four minutes.
The new 6k distance has done nothing to slow down the efforts of TU this season, having four of the top five finishers in each of its 6k races this season. After losing three runners from last year's undefeated NAIA National Champions, the depth of the Mad Dawgs has been on display, with ten athletes placing inside the top 20 of a race this year.
TU has had an athlete win the Crossroads Runner-of-the-Week award after each race, with Audrey Brinkruff taking home the honor twice and Mollie Gamble nabbing the award once. Noel VanderWall has been in the top three Taylor runners and the top ten of all runners in every race.
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.