No. 1 Taylor Sets Sights on Red Banner Leading into NAIA National Championships
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UPLAND, Ind. – No. 1 Taylor has its sights set on the program's second Red Banner as it caps its 2025 season at the NAIA National Championships held on Friday, November 21st, in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Trojans have dominated all NAIA competition throughout five meets so far this season winning by at least 41 points over the next-closest NAIA competitor. TU will match up against fellow title contenders No. 2 Milligan, No. 3 College of Idaho, No. 5 The Master's, and No. 5 Cumberlands for the first time this season.
Taylor competed at the championship course in the Seminole Invite earlier this season against a field comprised mostly of NCAA DI schools and finished seventh of 34 squads, but had the fourth fastest team time. Jaynie Halterman ran a personal-best time of 20:04.7 in the meet and finished fourth overall.
Halterman will look to defender her NAIA Individual Championship, and continue her streak of finishing ahead of every NAIA competitor she faces. Joining Halterman in the top seven for the Trojans will be Noel Bass, Catey Campbell, Sam Patterson, Rebekah Firestone, Malarie Pinwar, and Emersyn Funk, all of whom were named All-Crossroads League with top-13 finishes at the CL Championships.
Bass was part of the squad to take home the Red Banner in 2022, and has earned NAIA All-American Honors all three years she has competed. Pinwar was also an NAIA All-American in 2022 as a freshman, running for Cornerstone in her collegiate debut season.
Patterson and Campbell have each finished in the top four for the Trojans in every race this season, each coming in under 22:00.0 minutes at the CL Championships.
Firestone and Funk are true testaments to the Taylor program, continually improving throughout all four years and running their best in their final races in Purple and Gray. Both set their personal best times at the CL Championships and have finished between fourth and seventh in every race this season for TU.
The team has had a mark inside the program's top nine times in all five 6k races this year, with their collective time of 1:47:35 at the CL Championships the second best mark, inly trailing last season time at the NAIA National Championships.
For those traveling with the team, admission will be free. Those following at home can access live stats and video at the links at the top of the page.
No. 1 Taylor (84-6) will run at 8:30 am on Friday, November 21st before the men's race, hoping to bring home the red banner for the second time in a four-year span.