No. 1 Women’s Cross Country:
After taking home the red banner as the 2025 NAIA National Champions, women’s cross country begins the 2026 season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA preseason poll.
Four Maddawgs earned All-American honors last season: Jaynie Halterman, Sam Patterson, Noel Bass, who graduated the program, and Catey Campbell. Junior returner Halterman holds two NAIA Individual Champion titles and owns the NAIA Championship record with a time of 20:13.2.
The Trojans add seven freshmen runners to the roster: Ansley Applegate, Ada Brown, Hannah Hauser, Samantha Lickey, Abby Lotter, Ellie Smith and Abby McClure. Sophomore Hannah Tebbe also begins her first year with the team.
Taylor began the season at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational on Sept. 4 with a fourth place finish behind No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 15 Grace and No. 24 Rio Grande. Patterson led the pack, followed by the sisters Ansley and Kennedy Applegate.
The Maddawgs are coached by Mark Fairley. After serving as an assistant coach for the Liberty University Flames, Fairley was hired in December 2025. The 2026 season will be his first with Taylor cross country.
He is assisted by Matthew Harber and Maddawg alumna Ahna Neideck, along with volunteer coaches Adelyn Fairley and Ben Neideck.
by Taylor Post
No. 11 Men’s Cross Country
Taylor men’s cross country was voted No. 11 in the NAIA preseason poll, after placing fifth at the 2025 NAIA National Championships last fall. The program graduated six seniors, including All-American Luke Harber.
Nathan Burns, who also finished the 2025 season as an All-American returns for his final year as a Jarhead.
The Jarheads launched the 2026 season at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational. Seniors Burns and Jordan Burden led Taylor to a fifth place team finish, falling behind four teams ranked in the NAIA top-25.
Seven freshmen are set to run for the Trojans this year: Levi Armitage, Ethan Crockett, Isaiah Heuer, Isaac Ober, Brayden Sommers, Caleb Vandevelde and Brogan Weston. The rookies make up one-third of the 2026 roster.
The Jarheads are led by head coach Mark Fairley. Fairley begins his first season at the helm of cross country, after being head coach for the distance squad during the 2026 track and field season.
by Taylor Post
No. 14 Volleyball
Taylor volleyball is off to a blazing start to the 2026 season, ranking No. 14 in the first NAIA poll of the season.
The Trojans sit at a 15-4 record after making various trips to Florida, Fort Wayne, Ind. and Oregon. The trips included a number of marquee victories against NAIA Top 25 opponents, including No. 21 Cornerstone, No. 8 Bellevue, No. 5 Corban and No. 19 Bushnell.
Head coach Erin Luthy picked up her 200th career win in Oregon with a 3-1 victory against No. 19 Bushnell.
The Trojans return 13 key players, graduating only five seniors from last year’s squad.
Senior outside hitter Ellie Hershberger returns after leading the Trojans and the Crossroads League with 501 kills last season. Hershberger was also a First-Team All-CL nominee and Third-Team NAIA All-American for the 2025 season.
Senior middle hitter Reagan Kleiman currently leads the team in kills with 199. She’s nearly doubled her kill total from last season through 19 games this year.
Senior setter Margo Hernandez and junior defensive specialist Mackenzie Gerig have both played important roles for Taylor. Hernandez led the team last season with 630 assists and continues to be the go-to setter for the Trojans. Gerig was third in digs last year for the Trojans with 323, but has segmented herself into a bigger role this season as she leads the team with 313 digs this year.
by Aiden Orth
No. 17 Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer ended the 2025 season ranked No. 14, the highest ranking in program history. Their 2025 campaign ended at the NAIA National Championships where they lost to Marian in Round of 16.
This year’s squad looks different than last year’s, losing seven seniors including Brianna Rawlings, Shalyn Hussey, Libby Thomas, Brooke Cimini, Kiana Siefert, Morgan Fletemeyer. The squad adds eleven new numbers to the roster. Defender Isabella Snyder, forward Lauryn Dolvin and defender Christina Brubaker are among freshman playmakers already starting for the Trojans.
Taylor looks to build on last year’s record of 14-3-3 with senior forward Eliza Luttrell, senior forward Campbell Massey and senior defender Leah McQuade lacing up their cleats for their final seasons.
Head coach Scott Stan enters his 19th year leading the Trojans, posting a record of 190-105-37, making him the winningest coach for the program. He is assisted by Taylor soccer alumna Morgan Gerug, who begins her sixth year as an assistant coach at Taylor.
Taylor seeks to make history and go back to the NAIA National Championships in consecutive years for the first time in the program.
by Elijah Johnston
No. 20 Women’s Golf
Ranked No. 20 in the NAIA preseason poll, women’s golf is building momentum early for the 2026 fall season.
The Trojans wrapped up their spring season dropping from No. 18 to No. 23 after a substandard fifth-place finish in the Crossroads League Championships.
Last fall, the Trojans recorded seven top three team finishes with an average score of 313.9. Eleanor Schuitema, who returns as a junior, posted a fall average of 75.6 and a spring average of 76.6.
Schuitema was named NAIA Third-Team All-American after a dominant 2025-2026 season, in which she received the second All-CL nod of her collegiate career and a 45th-place finish at the NAIA National Championships.
She is set to pace the Trojans this year and proved as much at the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcat Invitational, where rounds of 72, 76 and a career-best 69 led her to tie Savannah College of Arts and Design’s Yunyi Luo, each with 217. Additionally, in their college debuts, newcomers Presley White and Sophia Stanton finished in sixth and 14th place respectively with scores of 225 and 227.
Including White and Stanton, the team adds five freshmen to the roster and returns Schuitema, junior Sam Lemieux and senior Maya Kuzsak.
Taylor will return to the green on Sep. 21 at 1 p.m. and Sep. 22 at 9 a.m. for the Battle at Stonehenge.
by Marisa Reinhard
Football
As the leaves begin to turn, Taylor football kicks off a promising new season.
A year ago, the Trojans, led by a 23-man senior class, went 7-4 and finished second in the Mid-States Football Association Mideast League. The offense averaged 48.5 points and 503.9 total yards per game, both single-season team records.
Running back Nathan Parker led the attack, averaging 123.6 yards per game and scoring 23 touchdowns. Entering his junior season, he will look to build on his past production.
Taylor’s 2026 offensive success will depend largely on sophomore quarterback Alex Amburgy, who threw for 240 yards and two scores in the 48-34 season-opening loss to Olivet Nazarene. Amburgy saw limited action in 2025, starting three games, while senior starter Damon Hockett was sidelined with an injury.
Defensively, junior linebacker Maverick Brown will be a leader for the Trojans after racking up 66 tackles and two picks last season.
In the Mideast League Preseason Poll on Friday, Taylor, who returns 16 starters from last season, was picked to finish second in the league and received votes in the NAIA preseason rankings.
by Elijah Boone
Men’s Soccer
Taylor’s men’s soccer started their 2025 season with a bang, reaching a 6-2 record in the early portions of the season. Despite the early success, the Trojans faltered in conference play, where they went 1-4-3 against Crossroads League competition.
The purple and gray graduated nine seniors following the season. The departures aren’t the only changes to the roster, as Taylor welcomes 11 new freshmen to its ranks.
Dafe Akpoguma, Bryce Medina, Edrick Mugisha and Matt Yoder represent the senior class on the team. Akpoguma and Mugisha headline a group of five transfers joining the Trojans this year.
The beginning of the 2026 season has been excellent for the Trojans. They are off to a 6-0-2 start, marking the first time in program history they’ve been undefeated through the first seven games of the season.
The Trojans’ next game will commence conference play at Bethel on Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m.
by Jonas Loy
Men’s Tennis
The 2025-26 season was a rebirth year for a program that had not played a game since 2020. Last year, men’s tennis worked its way to a 4-12 record. Their only upperclassman was senior Ian Helfert.
This year marks a new start for a young team that has a little more experience under their belts. Despite Helfert’s departure, the team remains mostly intact, with juniors Graham Beukelman and Andrew Roth as the sole upperclassmen for the Trojans’ second year.
The purple and gray welcome two new freshmen to their ranks: Abel Prude and Caleb Taflinger. Prude opened the year in an important role, slotting at No. 2 singles behind sophomores Tyler Lane and No. 2 doubles with Joseph Harper.
No. 1 singles Lane ranked No. 74 nationally last season thanks to nine singles victories and looks to continue his success into his second season.
The Trojans are off to a hot start after defeating Indiana East 7-0 on Sept. 8. They will compete in the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals which kicks off at 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 23 in Marion.
by Jonas Loy
Men’s Golf
Taylor men’s golf is looking to build off of a strong 2025-26 season that saw them win all five of their fall tournaments and finish second in the Crossroads League Championship after a tragic loss to Marian by two strokes.
Taylor has not won the conference since 2022, so winning it again is one of the team’s main goals this season. One of the major challenges will be replacing stand-out graduated seniors Will Schuitema and Kyle Kasitz, who were both key players last season.
Schuitema led the Trojans with a 74.0 average and All-Crossroads League and NAIA All-Midwest Region honors. He also set a program record by shooting 11-under 133 at the Battle at Blackthorn. Kasitz won two tournaments and finished in the top five four times.
Taylor sees nine returners on the 2026-2027 roster. Sophomore Davis Formsma and senior Tanner Conklin each had four top-10 finishes last season, while junior Porter Dick had three. Sophmore Aaron Fulda stood out at the Egypt Valley Championship, tying for first place as a freshman at the time.
Marian is ranked No. 11 and Indiana Wesleyan trails behind at No. 19 in the NAIA, while Taylor is receiving votes outside the top 25. The team looks to boost its ranking under the guidance of head coach Steve Toon.
by Hudson Stigall
Women’s Tennis
Despite being in their first year as a program since 2020, women’s tennis managed to start off hot, ending the fall semester with a 3-1 record. They ultimately dropped to 6-14 during the spring.
What was once a freshman-heavy team has begun to solidify as the 2026-27 season begins. This year, the team features two upperclassmen: No. 1 singles and doubles Maddy Fuqua and No. 5 singles Ellie Schaufelberger (both juniors).
The Trojans return most of their team but also add several players to the roster, including sophomore Giselli Reschke along with freshmen Liza Brouwer and Sydney Crisp, who opened the season at No. 2, 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
Also joining the team are freshmen Grace Arbogast, Kristen Bender and Isabel Wit.
Taylor is off to a strong start, winning their first match of the year 4-3 against Indiana East. They will participate in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals which kicks off at 8:00 a.m. in Marion on Sept. 23.
by Jonas Loy
