TU Women Honored as Halterman Earns USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete of the Year Award

USTFCCCA Release | TU Honors Page

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association recently bestowed high academic honors on Jaynie Halterman and the Taylor women's cross country team.

Halterman, a freshman who won the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship to cap a record-setting season, became the program's first athlete named the USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete of the Year in the NAIA division. Majoring in philosophy and intercultural studies, Halterman has earned a perfect 4.0 GPA thus far.

No. 2 Taylor was also recognized as an NAIA All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA, posting a combined 3.70 GPA, which was only topped by 10 women's cross country teams on the list.

Audrey Brinkruff, Kaitlin Burden, Abby Mays, Noel VanderWall and Ahna Neideck each joined Halterman individually as USTFCCCA All-Academic Athletes.

To be eligible for the individual all-academic distinction, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have qualified for the most recent national championship meet. Meanwhile, all-academic teams were held to a standard of a combined 3.0 GPA or better.