A Four-Year Journey With Peaks And Valleys Ended With A Seventh-Place Finish At The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships And Feelings Of Gratitude

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Photos by John Nepolitan and Ken Martinez

Jaynie Halterman's carefully chosen words carry weight. 

“You can ask her: What did you feel out there today? And she’ll tell you something that you can build on and respond to,” said Luke Finley, head cross country coach at Independence High in Thompson Station, Tenn. “She’s never one for mindless rambling. It isn’t always a lot of words said, but it’s always impactful.”

Impactful has been the word this year to describe Halterman’s final high school cross country season. In her first full season since 2020, she put together a memorable postseason and finished a surprising seventh overall at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships in San Diego on December 9, earning All-American honors and helping the South Region to a team title. 

“Senior year I was ready to race,” Halterman said. “I really wanted to make the most of my last year, and I think that's what I did.” 

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Halterman, the youngest of four siblings, comes from a family of runners. Her older sister, Julia, now a sophomore at Lee University (Tenn.), helped pave the way for her younger sister as she made the transition from turkey trots and road races, to middle school 2-mile races, up to the competitive prep landscape of Tennessee. 

“Well, Jaynie’s fiercely competitive like so many others, and having an older sister, who was our top runner, made for a little extra motivation and kind of having that family-friendly competition,” Finley said. “She was trying to find her footing with us, and she was also trying to catch big sister. Jaynie’s freshman year we wound up with this really strong 1-2 dynamic. I think it really helped Jaynie having someone who she’s known her whole life but also was a good consistent pace guide for her. She really didn’t have to think very much as a freshman, she could simply go out and run with Julia.” 

That first season of 2020, she overtook the top spot for the Eagles, finishing second at regionals (18:09.4) and placing 11th (18:32.3) at the Division 1 final at the state meet, which featured Jenna Hutchins, a record-breaking runner who is now a sophomore now at BYU.

Halterman went on to place in the top 30 at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships in a season muddled with postponements and cancellations due to the pandemic. That transitioned over to the outdoor track season where she captured the 1,600 meters state title in 4:56.62. 

Haltrman’s sophomore season didn’t start until October, due to health reasons, but she made up ground quickly as finished fifth at the state meet and guided her team to a second consecutive third-place finish. She went on to win the RunningLane Silver Division title in a personal best time of 17:43.4. During the track season, she ran 10:44.49 to finish second at the state meet in the 3,200 meters, finishing behind friendly rival Claire Stegall (10:36.16). 

As Halterman describes her running highlights and journey, she pauses briefly talking about last fall. She managed just one race. 

“Last year I started the season strong, but took off most of the season due to other health reasons, which was really disappointing to me because I was looking forward to having a really great year,” she said. “But I was able to focus on other parts of my life that I needed to work on, which was good." 

Halterman is the first to admit, nobody has a perfect running career. She acknowledges the highs – a strong freshman campaign where she surprised herself developing into a faster runner than she thought – and the lows – a junior season that didn’t come to fruition. 

“(Last year) was probably one of the hardest years of my life,” Halterman said. “I struggled a lot with (being away from running) mentally and emotionally. I definitely think a lot of people take the sport for granted and running for granted, and realize what a joy it is to run every single day and go out there and see what you can do. I definitely realized that when I was away, and I'm more grateful now for cross country than I was before.”

Foster, who also has Halterman as a student in class – he teaches AP Physics and Astronomy – describes her as a cerebral runner, wanting to know the ins and outs, the whys, the hows, of the sport. He said as she’s developed, and come into her final year at Independence, she’s become more flexible and adapted to new things, and having an understanding that success can come in various ways.

“It’s a lot of trial and error trying to find the training method and training cycle that maybe resonates best with you,” Foster said. “And Jaynie is a little stubborn, like so many of us, and you know high school runners are at a very difficult time in terms of development in so many ways – socially, mentally, things like that. It takes a lot of us a long time to really understand the big picture. Jaynie, at this point, I think understands herself, and understands what’s the most efficient thing for her. She’s super smart. I think she’ll really develop from here what’s best for her.” 

This fall she came in ready to roll. As the leader for the Eagles, Halterman put one foot in front of the other, and truly ran for the reasons that made her fall in love with the sport again. 

“Running, I think it's just a very lively sport but it just gives me a lot of joy when I run,” Halterman said. “And I think from the science point of view, exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, I think that's part of it, but running is just different, it's not like other sports.”

Through the fall, Halterman pieced together a complete season that was highlighted by a strong seventh place finish in September at the Nike XC Town Twilight in Terre Haute, Ind. (17:22.8).

In October, she captured the regional title in a personal-best time of 17:01. She finished her Tennessee season placing second (17:08.22) as Stegall won in 16:56.32. Halterman’s time is the fastest state runner-up in state history, regardless of classification.

With more to give, Halterman and Foster took aim at Foot Locker. In one of the most competitive regionals, Halterman squeaked in – with the 10th and final spot at the South regional at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, N.C. – and booked her first trip to San Diego for the national final. 

One of three Tennessee runners in the field – Stegall and Abby Faith Cheeseman of The Webb School also qualified – Halterman’s approach was to focus on finishing her season strong, but also enjoying the experience for what it was. 

“She went out there with the expectation of, ‘Look, I’m here, there are palm trees out here, it’s fun.’ And I’m like just go out there relaxed and see what happens,” Foster said. “I was most satisfied to see her be able to be relaxed, be herself, and enjoy the experience, and it all came together for her.” 

Halterman’s seventh place finish was the second-best performance in school history as Independence’s Kathy Kroeger won the title in 2006. Since Foot Locker expanded from 32 finalists to 40 finalists in 2004, no other female athlete has achieved what Halterman achieved from her regional performance to nationals. The previous best girls performance by any 10th-place regional finisher was Alyssa Sauro from West Virginia last year taking ninth at nationals.

“I had some goals to be in the top 15, but didn’t expect to be as high up as I was,” Halterman said. “It’s just so competitive, but I had wanted to have a strong finish to my season. All I wanted was to have fun and have a good race.” 

Next up for Halterman will be training this winter for her final track season in the spring, and maybe breaking a few of the school records held by Kroeger. She’ll then head off to NAIA powerhouse Taylor University (Ind.) – the school her parents went to. 

“Taylor is really special to me,” Halterman said. “I also wasn’t looking for any specific division. I didn't really want to go Division I because I know that’s a lot of pressure to race at that level, and I’m looking for a more well-rounded college experience instead of simply going to a school for a job and a sport. Although I do love running so much, I didn't want it to be my whole life. Choosing to go NAIA was perfect for me, and I’m super excited to run for them next year, and see what the future holds.”