Taylor Women Notch Seventh-Consecutive Top-Six Finish at NAIA National Championships
VANCOUVER, Wash. – No. 4 Taylor (117-8) women's cross country squad notched a fifth-place finish at the NAIA National Championships on Friday afternoon at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course in Vancouver, Washington.
The Trojans have now finished in the top six at the NAIA National Championships in each of the past seven seasons, including winning the national championship in 2022.
Taylor ran a team of 1:53:38, which amassed 184 points for a fifth-place finish.
Taylor was paced by an incredible race from Mollie Gamble. The senior started the race in ninth at the 1000m mark and steadily climbed to a fourth-place finish to ensure her second-consecutive NAIA All-American finish. Gamble put up a personal-best time of 21:40.2, which is the second-best time of any Trojan throughout the year.
Noel VanderWall was the next Trojan to cross the finish line in 31st, collecting another All-American honor in her sophomore campaign. VanderWall finished in 22:25.9, as she finished among the top three Trojans in every race this season and had five of the fastest fifteen times.
Junior, Audrey Brinkruff ran a terrific race and finished in 43rd, with a time of 22:47.2. Brinkruff was outstanding for the Trojans, also finishing in the top three Taylor athletes in every race she ran while collecting two individual titles throughout the year.
The fourth Trojan to cross the finish line was Ahna Neideck in her final cross-country race as a Trojan. The senior finished in 70th, with a time of 23:20.5, as she finished in the top five for Taylor in all but one race.
The final Taylor athlete to score was Lynae Ackley, who finished in 85th. Ackley had a remarkable finish, climbing up to 85th from 107th in the final 2000M of the race with a time of 23:25.5.
Kaitlin Burden and Madelyn Borchelt were sixth and seventh for the Trojans, with times of 23:27.2 and 24:21.5.
Six of the Trojans finished in the top half of the 333 individuals, while 36 teams competed at the event. College of Idaho finished first with 68 points, and The Master's was in second with 92 as the only schools to post a score under 100.
Taylor paced the four Crossroads League schools, with Grace, Indiana Wesleyan, and Goshen all finished in the top 15.
Alongside Gamble and Neideck, Olivia Jeannette was the final senior to see her collegiate running career come to a close on Friday afternoon, with 16 others set to return.
