No. 1 Taylor Captures Red Banner, Halterman Repeats as Individual Champion at NAIA National Championships

NAIA Recap

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 1 Taylor (119-6) captured the Red Banner as the 2025 NAIA Champions on Friday morning, while Jaynie Halterman repeated as the NAIA Individual Champion Friday morning.

An incredible season got its picture-perfect ending for the Trojans as the team scored 90 points and had a quartet of NAIA All-Americans, finishing 19 ahead of second place Milligan and 46 ahead of Dordt. 90 is the tied-third fewest points scored in the NAIA National Championships in the past ten seasons.

Taylor took an early team lead in the race with all seven runners in the top-50 in the early going. At the midway point a pack of Dordt runners between 12th and 24th gave the Defenders a brief three-point advantage. Going int the final 1000m of the race Taylor was edging Dordt 101 to 103 with Milligan at 114. A strong finish by the Trojans gave them the edge and a comfortable victory.

TU posted an outstanding team time of 1:47:38.2, the second fastest time of the season and third fastest in program history. A pair of Trojans recorded personal best times, with Catey Campbell running six seconds fastest at 21:43.0 and Sam Patterson improving on hers by ten seconds at 21:40.0.

Halterman repeated as the NAIA Individual Champion and bested her Championship record time from a year ago, finishing in 21:13.2, over ten seconds faster than in 2024. Halterman quickly took a sizeable lead and never looked back, increasing her advantage throughout and crossing the finish line over 30 seconds ahead of second place.

Joining Halterman as NAIA All-Americans were Patterson, Campbell, and Noel Bass, each finishing in the top-20 for TU. Patterson led the trio with a 14th-placed finished followed by Campbell in 17th and Bass crossing the line in 20th with a time of 21:44.3. Taylor was the only school to have four NAIA All-Americans, with Milligan, Dordt, and College of Idaho each taking home three.

Malarie Pinwar rounded out the scoring five for Taylor, finishing in 51st with a time of 22:17.8. The Cornerstone transfer came back from injury late in the season and was an incredible performer for TU to close out the year. 

Halterman is a five-time NAIA Individual Champion in cross country and track with a plethora of chances ahead for the superstar sophomore. Bass ends her TU cross country career as a four-time NAIA All-American joining Sarah Harden as the only two Trojans to achieve that feat. Bass also ran as a freshman in 2022 when TU captured the Red Banner.

Rebekah Firestone and Emersyn Funk rounded out the seven Trojans, as the senior duo finished 64th and 163rd overall. Firestone's time of 22:25.9 is the second-fastest in her TU career as she continually improved in her time in Purple and Gray. Funk crossed the line in 23:27.2 after carding her personal best at the Crossroads League Championships.

Taylor finished the season undefeated against NAIA Competition in all six races, with the margin at the NAIA Championships the only time an NAIA Opponent was within 40 of TU. The Trojans ran five of the program's ten fastest 6k times including the second and third fastest in the final two meets of the season.

Three All-Americans return for the Trojans in 2026, including the back-to-back NAIA Individual Champion Halterman. The outstanding returning talent puts Taylor at the top of the National favorites for next season.

Taylor also took home the combined team title with both teams finishing in the top five. The women scored 90 points and adding that to the men's 247 gave TU a total of 337 points, 23 fewer than The Master's with 360 points. It is the second time Taylor has earned the combined team title along with 2020. 

Head Coach Quinn White was named the NAIA Women's Cross Country 2025 Coach of the Year after capturing his second NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship. White has been at the helm for all three of Taylor's National Championships and is regarded as one of the best in NAIA history as he steps down from his role after this season.