Taylor, Halterman Dominate NAIA Great Lakes Challenge with Program Records
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 2 Taylor women's cross country team (72-1) dominated the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge–Maroon Division on Saturday morning by picking up three top-four individual finishes, an individual title and the team crown in 5k program-record performances for both Jaynie Halterman and the Trojans. In the process, 15th-year head coach Quinn White collected his 1,500th head-to-head win at the helm of the women's program.
In the lone 5k race of the season for TU, first-place finisher Halterman shattered the previous 5k program record of 17:19.4, run by Abby Brennan at this very event in 2022. The standout freshman posted a time of 16:57.8 to etch her name in the record books and beat out the runner-up, Katie Woods of 22nd-ranked Marian, by nearly 15 seconds.
Taking third and fourth, respectively, were the sisterly duo of Noel VanderWall and Ahna Neideck. They crossed with times of 17:30.0 and 17:33.40 to finish more than 11 seconds ahead of the fifth-place finisher.
Audrey Brinkruff snuck in under 18:00.0 to grab a top-10 finish, and Sam Patterson completed Taylor's posted team time with an 11th-place performance of 18:07.2.
Abby Mays, Emersyn Funk and Kaitlin Burden all turned in strong races, packing up with times under 18:25.0 to finish among the top 25 in a field of 180 runners.
Kennedy Applegate and Rebekah Firestone rounded out TU's runners in the varsity division, each coming in with times faster than 19:00.0 to place within the top 50.
Taylor's team time of 1:28:07 is six seconds faster than the program's previous 5k record, set at the NAIA National Championships in 2022. That time helped the Trojans finish with just 27 points, nearly 90 points ahead of second-place, No. 10 Grace.
WHITE DIVISION (Results)
Early in the afternoon Saturday, TU also flooded the leaderboard in the White Division at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge with six runners finishing inside the top 30 among 168 competitors.
Addie Draper and Sarah McKowen paced the Trojans with sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively, at times below 19:15.0, while Jackie McCoy and Lynae Ackley went back-to-back at 11th and 12th, and Annika Erickson and Elayna Kitt were in the top 30 with times under 20:00.0.
Second-ranked Taylor next competes at the Crossroads League Championships on its home course in Upland, Indiana, on Nov. 8 where it will aim for the team's 12th consecutive CL title.