Taylor women’s track and field is approaching the Crossroads League Championships with a mix of standout performances and steady development across events.
The Little State Championships, which took place on April 17 and 18, showed strong performances, placing fourth in a field of 17 schools.
In addition, the Trojans produced strong results at the Marian Knight Open and the Ball State We Fly Challenge. At Marian, Siefert led the purple and gray with a career-best 100-meter hurdles time of 14.09, winning her race and hitting the NAIA B standard.
Siefert also won the triple jump, landing at 37 feet 2.25 inches.
At the We Fly Challenge, the athletes were running into the headwind. Despite this, head coach Derek Gay said the Trojans remained optimistic and decided to view the day as a workout.
“We said, let’s still run hard,” Gay said. “Don’t worry about the time. Work on some technical stuff and maybe some race modeling and go from there. But we had some really solid performances.”
Taylor added two additional NAIA standards from distance runners Jaynie Halterman, a sophomore, and Sam Patterson, a junior. Halterman met the NAIA A Standard when she crossed the 5,000-meter finish line in first with a time of 16:08.6, and Patterson won the steeplechase with a time of 11:17.96, hitting the NAIA B Standard.
Moreover, the 4x100-meter relay team delivered the top NAIA time at the meet with 47.95, less than a second from the program record.
“We’re pretty well-rounded this year,” Gay said. “Deep in the pole vault on both sides, good group of distance guys and girls, both some strong hurdlers, solid sprinters, a couple throwers who are peaking at the right time.”
Emerson Meredith, a freshman pole vaulter, earned her personal record at We Fly, with a height of 11 feet 1 inch. This is the top mark for the Trojans this season. She placed sixth overall at the meet, with only one NAIA athlete placing above her.
Gay said the Trojans are trending in the right direction, and they continue to build momentum through consistent improvements.
“Monday meetings, we always kind of recap how a meet went, and yeah, lots of PRs and season bests and college bests that were brought up,” he said.
Meredith improved from a clearance of 10 feet 7 inches at the Marian Knight Open two weeks prior, where she placed eighth. She said the progress is encouraging and is aiming for the next bar (11 feet 7 inches).
She added that the transition from high school to college has given her the opportunity to refine her technique and cultivate relationships.
“The pole vault team is just a really close-knit group already, so it’s just cool to grow as a team,” she said. “Everyone’s always cheering each other on, and it’s cool to see how they all interact with each other.”
As the CL Championships approach, Gay said the team has a competitive standard for themselves, adding that they believe they should consistently be in the top half of the conference rankings.
He pointed to Marian, Indiana Wesleyan and Grace as some of the Trojans’ biggest competition in what he described as one of the deepest conferences for track and field.
With continued improvement and multiple athletes hitting national standards, consistency and preparation remain the focus throughout the final stretch of the season.
“(We’re) making sure that we’re treating every opportunity for what it is, which is an opportunity to go and perform well,” Gay said. “I just feel like we’re in a really good groove right now.”
The Trojans will take their marks again on April 30 and May 1 in Marion at the CL Championships, with times to be announced.
