ARLINGTON — Jaelyn Huntimer has remained a constant for the Arlington girls basketball team.

The 5-foot-9 senior guard has played a major role for the Cardinals each of the past four seasons, but maybe none more important than this year.

Huntimer is powering Arlington to a 6-3 record despite being one of just two returning starters from a year ago, thrusting a freshman and two sophomores into starting roles.

“We have a great group of girls,” Huntimer said. “They are super young so everything is kind of new to them with learning and growing in that way. We’ve probably had a few games that we should’ve won but it’s just the learning experience and learning as every game goes by.”

The high-scoring guard is averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and 1.5 assists a game this season, but says her leadership ability with her younger teammates has played the biggest role in team success.

Arlington's Jaelyn Huntimer drives to the basket during the Cardinals' 56-40 win over Iroquois-Lake Preston on Dec. 15, 2025, in Arlington. (Jon Akre / 605 Sports)

“Just knowing that I was there once just understanding that position of the nerves that comes with being super young and starting,” Huntimer said. “Just doing what I would want in that situation and how I would feel and knowing them as people is what’s going to help our team as a whole.”

Huntimer is a four-year starter for the Cardinals, helping Arlington reach the Class B state championship game in 2024 before falling to Centerville. Following the 2023-24 season, the Cardinals had another major turnover year with Huntimer as the only returning starter for her junior season.

She says the change from her sophomore to junior year was big but allowed her to “grow so much more mentally than anything basketball related.”

“It was definitely all at once,” Huntimer said. “No matter what, I always just want to be my best and do everything I could for the team. We had a lot of change and honestly it just sparked something in me to try and keep what we had from 2024, but also to understand the circumstances that we’re in. It was pretty hard going from what we had to losing four of our starters.”

Huntimer is a two-time all-state selection earning third-team honors as a sophomore and first-team honors last season. She recorded 1,000 career points as a junior, but arguably her biggest accomplishment came back on Dec. 12 when she became Arlington girls basketball’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Tracy Nemitz with 1,291 points set in 2000.

“I’d never been really familiar with any of the records here in Arlington until I was getting close,” Huntimer said of the scoring record. “It’s super cool because one day I’m hoping that my younger sisters see that high standard I’m setting for that and then hoping they can go and chase that record as well.”

Huntimer is already setting a high standard for the new record. After her 36-point, 13-rebound performance against Deuel on Jan. 13, she now sits with 1,505 career points.

Arlington girls basketball coach Tara King says Huntimer’s scoring ability was never a question, but her maturity on and off the basketball court has been her most noticeable trait.

“She’s always been there skill-wise, but watching her mature in her leadership and her relationships with her people,” King said of Huntimer. “She’s obviously been through a lot of different teams and running lots of different things but she’s always been level headed and a great role model. She will do anything you ask her to do and I’m just very blessed to be able to have a person like Jaelyn and I know she’s rare. There’s not many people like her.”

King added she couldn’t wait till Huntimer was old enough to be able to play varsity-level basketball, and didn’t waste a second to get her on the court.

Arlington's Jaelyn Huntimer dribbles past a defender during the Cardinals' 56-40 win over Iroquois-Lake Preston on Dec. 15, 2025, in Arlington. (Jon Akre / 605 Sports)

“We had the rule where if you played for the junior high team, you couldn’t play for the varsity. She could be on varsity but I couldn’t put her out on the floor,” King said. “Chester was our last regular season game so she played in the junior high game that day and the junior high season was over so she got to go in the varsity game that night.”

Huntimer, who plays volleyball and is an NHS member, signed to play college basketball at Dordt University back in October, a decision she credits to her AAU basketball teammate, Colman-Egan and fellow Dordt women’s basketball signee Brynlee Landis.

“Bill (Harmsen, Dordt women’s basketball coach) reached out after our state tournament run in 2024 and I never really showed much interest,” Huntimer said. “I played on my AAU team in the summer with Brynlee Landis and she had nothing but good things to say about it. I went on my visit and it was everything I was looking for.”