Indiana State University Athletics

"Competing for Indiana State was a great experience," Wayton said. "I never thought that I would make it to nationals as a freshman but as I grew older, got stronger, and started breaking records, it was definitely my goal."

Three coaches who guided Sycamore teams to numerous post-season appearances and three athletes who consistently competed on the national level were selected for induction into the 20th Class including Wayton, Jack Effner, Aubrey Herring, Fran McCann, Dennis Raetz, and Bob Warn.

The induction ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Heritage Ballroom of the Tirey Hall on the campus of Indiana State University. The six inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the Indiana State Homecoming football game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Sycamores will take on Western Illinois starting at 3:00 p.m.

Wayton competed in cross country and track & field for Indiana State from 2000 to 2005. She is the only member of the women's cross country team to be named an All-American after placing 47th at the 2003 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships.

"It was an amazing, fun, and exhilarating experience," Wayton said. "I looked forward to practice every day. Most runners don't love the sport like I did and didn't like to practice. For me, it was the best part of my day. I looked forward to being with my teammates who were my best friends. There was a lot of camaraderie."

The 2003 season was Wayton's best as a Sycamore, claiming the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championship in cross country, earning All-Region honors with a 16th place finish at the Great Lakes Regional, and earning All-American honors with a 47th place finish at the NCAA Championships.

"The NCAA Championship was an experience of a lifetime," Wayton said. "It was really cold that weekend. There was snow on the ground when I got up and it was five or 10 below wind chill. Even at race time the temperature was only about 10 degrees."

Wayton remembers that she had to wear more clothes than usual which worried her some.

"I ended up discarding only my gloves," Wayton said. "My focus was to pick off as many people as I could and start out hard which was not my usual strategy."

Starting slow, staying at the end of the pack, and then pouncing at the end was her more typical race and one that she was comfortable with.

"Coach convinced me that I h ad to go out hard in this race, harder than I have ever ran," Wayton said. "He watched me come down that final straightway and said I wasn't fading even though I was being passed by a few people and it felt like I was fading."

She established several Indiana State records during the season including running 14:17 in a 4K event that set not only the ISU record but also the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course record. She also set the school record for 5K at 17:09, for 6K at 20:52, and for a 6K at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course of 21:18.

Wayton also earned All-Region honors in 2001 with a 23rd place finish at the Great Lakes Regional.

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Cross Country Team, Wayton also received the MVC Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award in 2005. She was a four-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in cross country, a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field selection, and a member of the MVC Scholar-Athlete team.

She was also named an Academic All-American by the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCCA) three straight years (2001-2003) and was named to the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association All-Academic team in 2005. She finished her collegiate career with a 3.967 grade point average.

The Lewis, Ind., native was also dominant in the distance events during both the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. She remains the Indiana State record holder in the indoor 3,000 meters (9:47.59), indoor 5,000 meters (16:59.86), and the outdoor 5,000 meters (16:42.89) each set during her final season of competition in 2005.

She also ran a 5:03.60 indoor mile which was the sixth fastest in 2003 and is still the 13th best in school history. Wayton still has the fourth fastest outdoor mile (9:53.07) and sixth fastest outdoor 1,500 meters (4:3.79), both set in 2005, and the seventh fastest outdoor 10,000 meters (36:46.40) in 2003. She finished third in the 10,000 meters at the 2003 MVC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Wayton is just the third member of the Indiana State women's cross country team and the seventh member of the Sycamore women's track & Field team to be inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame. Past inductees include: Cheryl Bridges-Flanagan (1984/cross country and track & field), Debbi Ramseyer (2006/cross country and track & field), Holly Wilson Greene (1984/track & field), Christy Barrett-Sherman (2000/track & field), Holli Hyche (2000/track & field), and Angie Bruecker-Martin (2010/track & field).

She is married to Indiana State assistant track & field coach Geoff Wayton.

• Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Cross Country Team 

• Cross Country All-American (2003) 

• NCAA All-Region Cross Country (2001, 2003) 

• Missouri Valley Conference Individual Cross Country Champion (2003) 

• All- Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) 

• All- Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field (2003, 2004, 2005) 

• Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete (2001, 2002, 2003) 

• WICCCA Academic All-American (2001, 2002, 2003) 

• Set six Indiana State records: 4K (14:17 in 2003), 5K (17:09 in 2003), 6K (20:52 in 2003), indoor 3,000 meters (9:47.59 in 2005), indoor 5,000 meters (16:59.86 in 2005), and outdoor 5,000 meters (16:52.89 in 2005). 

• Set LaVern Gibson Championship Course 4K record (14:17 in 2003) 

• Inducted into Hall of Fame October 13, 2011 

• Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Cross Country Team 

• Cross Country All-American (2003) 

• NCAA All-Region Cross Country (2001, 2003)