2024-2025
Competed in 6 XC meets for ACU. Started the season with a 2nd place finish at the home opener – the Naimadu Classic, with a personal best 4K time of 14:19.1an early season 6th place finish in the Gerald Richey UTA XC inv, where she was also the top ACU finisher. At the end of the season, she finished 41st at the WAC Championships and 119th in the South Central Region XC Championship, with an all-time best time of 22:08 in the 6k. In both championship races, she finished as the #3 ACU finisher. Indoor track – competed in three indoor meets, including a 9th place finish in the Red Raider Invitational, but did not compete at the WAC indoors. Outdoor track: competed in 5 outdoor meets, running her favored race, the 3000 meter steeplechase in 4 of them – 2nd in the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, 3rd in the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational, 5th in the Michael Johnson Invitational at Baylor, and finished the season by placing 6th in the WAC Championship.
2023-2024
Ran in all 6 XC meets for ACU, finishing as one of the top-3 Wildcat finishers in all 6 meets. She was the top ACU finisher in the opening 2 meets on the season – TCU John McKenzie Invitational and the Texas A&M Invitational. She would finish the season as ACU’s #2 finisher in both the WAC Championships (51st) and the South Central Region Championship (118th). Indoors – competed in 4 meets, placing 3rd in the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station in the 3K with a new PR time of 10:32.03 and would place 22nd in the WAC 3K in Albuquerque. Outdoors – ran in 6 meets outdoors, placing 3rd in the Bobcat Invitational steeplechase in San Marcos and 2nd in the Michael Johnson Invitational steeple at Baylor, before placing 9th at the WAC Championships in that same race.
2022-2023
Ran in all 6 XC meets for the Wildcats, finishing in the top-4 ACU finishers in all 6 races. Opened with a 12th place finish in the Big Country XC Festival, followed by a 7th place finish at the Lumberjack Invitational. Ended the season with a finish of 41st in the WAC Conference meet (8th best freshman) and 107th in the South Central Region Championship. Indoors – redshirt. Outdoors - won the North Texas Classic (in Denton) 5K and the War Hawk Classic steeplechase, plus finishing 2nd in both the Wes Kittley Invitational steeplechase (11:10.96) and 5K (17:58.94) – both times collegiate PR’s. She would finish 13th in a very fast WAC steeplechase race – a race won by a CBU runner (Greta Karinaskaute) who would go on to finish 2nd in the steeple at the NCAA D-1 Championship.
Before ACU
A highly decorated runner for Tolland HS in Connecticut. As a senior, Peyton won the CIAC Class M cross country championship and just four days later, placed 15th in the CIAC State Open Championship – which is a race including all divisions in CT. In the following winter, she won the CIAC Class M indoor 3200 and also placed 8th in the Nike indoor nationals 5K run. In the spring of her senior year, she would place 2nd in the CIAC Class M 3200. She also finished 13th in the 2000 meter steeplechase at the New Balance National Outdoor meet – finishing as the #34 best time in the US for high school athletes in that event. Peyton won the CIAC Class M 3200 indoors in 2020, before the pandemic caused the outdoor season to be cancelled. She was named to the All-Academic Team for the Central Connecticut Conference every semester of high school.
Personal
Graduated from Tolland HS in Connecticut in 2022. At Tolland, she was a member of the Mark Twain Chapter of the National Honor Society, served as class treasurer all 4 years of HS, and won the Award of Excellence in World History. Her parents are Mary and Aaron Bornstein and she has 2 brothers, Cameron and Colby. Her Mother ran track for the University of North Florida and her aunt, Susan Tabor, ran for Marshall University. Peyton is a Communication Science Disorders major.
