Payton Batliner

Position:
Distance
Height:
6-1
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Highlands Ranch, Colo.
High School:
Highlands Ranch

PERSONAL BESTS

Indoor:

3,000-Meter: 8:30.12 (2004)

5,000-Meter: 14:17.38 (2005)

Outdoor:

3,000-Meter: 8:33.75 (2003)

Steeplechase, 9:10.85 (2005)

5,000-Meter: 14:13.00 (2005)

10,000-Meter: 29:37.52 (2005)

BIG 12 SCORING

2003 (I) 5,000-Meter Run, 6th (14:37.38)

2003 (O) Steeplechase, 8th (9:30.69)

2005 (O) 10,000-Meter Run, 7th (30:13.21)

2006 OUTLOOK: Payton advanced to the NCAA Regional last spring, but is in better shape this year already and training harder than ever. He'll have big personal bests at 5 and 10k this year.

2005: Batliner earned a third-place finish at the Air Force Classic in the 3k during the indoor season. He also recorded a personal record in the 5k with a time of 14:17.38 at the Husky Classic. During the outdoor season, Batliner participated in four events, the 3k, 5k, 10k and Steeplechase. He earned Big 12 Honors in the 10k and Steeplechase with a seventh and eighth-place finish respectively. Batliner ran a personal best and a regional qualifying time of 14:13.00 in the 5k at the Cardinal Invitational. He also ran a personal record and a national qualifying time of 29:37.52 in the 10k at the Stanford Invitational.

2004: His top indoor finish in the 3,000-meter was a personal best when he clocked an 8:30.12 at the Adidas Classic to finish in third place. In the 5,000-meter he competed once at the Big 12 Championships and took home 10^th place by running a 14:41.33. Outdoors, Batliner competed in the 3k steeplechase at the Arizona State Invitational, where he was the runner-up by completing a time of 9:33.18.

2003: Batliner participated in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs during the indoor season. In the 3k he claimed 11^th place at the Air Force Invite (9:03.27), 16^th at the Air Force Classic (9:24.53) and 32^nd at the Big 12 Championships with his season-best mark of 8:43.18. In the 5k, he finished sixth at the Big 12 Championships (14:37.38). During the outdoor season Batliner participated in the 3k, steeplechase and the 5k events. He scored the third-best team mark in the 3k at the Pepsi Invite (8:33.75), finishing 13^th, and the second-best team time in the 3k steeplechase with a 12^th place finish at the Mt. SAC Relays (9:23.71). He claimed 17^th place in the 5k run at the Big 12 Championships (15:13.92), and then scored points with an eighth-place finish (9:30.69).

CROSS COUNTRY: Batliner is a four-year performer and three-year letterwinner (2002, 03, 05) in the fall. He has scored in five of 11 career races. He ran the 2002 Big 12 Championships (29th), the 2003 NCAA Mountain Region Championships (29th) and the 2002 (187th) and 2003 (150th) NCAA Championships. In 2005 he ran in both the NCAA and Big 12 Championships, finishing 16^th at Big 12 and 102nd at NCAA.

HIGH SCHOOL: Batliner was a three-time all-Continental League performer in addition to being named honorable mention all-state as a junior and first-team as a senior on Highlands Ranch’s cross country team. He graduated with school records in the 5k (15:33.80), the 1,600-meter (4:23) and the 3,200-meter (9:25).

ACADEMICS: Batliner carries a better than 3.0 grade point average in music and trumpet performance. A Dean’s List student in the spring of ’04, he has been named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll during the spring and fall ’04 and ?05 semesters.

PERSONAL: Payton Carl Batliner was born with Cherokee bloodlines March 31, 1984 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is the oldest of Terry and Sue Batliner’s three children and the older brother to 16-year-old twins Matt and Fawn. He was Highlands Ranch’s lead trumpet in the wind ensemble and was also a member of the jazz band. His older cousin, Adam Batliner, was a 1997 cross country All-American under CU coach Mark Wetmore.