No. 1 Trojans Cruise to Team Title to Open 2025 Campaign

MARION, Ind. – The No.1 Taylor women's cross-country team began the 2025 season in brilliant fashion, taking home both the team and individual title at the IWU Twilight Invite on Friday night.

The Trojans had eight athletes finish inside the top 20 runners, en route to a score of 38, over 40 points better than second place. A team time of 1:51:29 was almost five minutes faster than the next team in the event as Taylor defeated three top-11 teams and eight squads receiving votes in the preseason top 25.

Jaynie Halterman picked up where she left off, collecting another individual title, as the sensational sophomore is undefeated in collegiate competition. Halterman finished first with a time of 20:41.2, outpacing second place by over a minute.

Following Halterman were two new faces for Taylor, Malarie Pinwar and Catey Campbell. Pinwar crossed the finish line in fourth as she clocked an impressive time of 22:12.5. Campbell showed no nerves in her first collegiate race, finishing ninth with a time of 22:47.30.

Sam Patterson and Rebekah Firestone rounded out the scoring for the Trojans in 11th and 13th place respectively. Noel VanderWall, Emersyn Funk, and Kennedy Applegate all finished in the teens to complete the dominant showing from the TU squad.

Taylor (17-0) continues its season on Friday, September 26, at the Florida State Cross Country Open, with a start time TBA.