Utah Valley sprinter out to set records at NCAA championships


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OREM — Nick Taylor doesn’t necessarily look like a record-setting sprinter, with his wide smile and penchant for jokes.

That’s nothing against Taylor; he’s just too nice — goofy, even.

“He is a very laid-back person,” Utah Valley sprint coach Paul Smith said. “For as much as he is perceived, he’s very laid-back and very goofy — and that is what I attribute to a lot of his success.

“He has fun.”

Taylor, a senior from Pearland, Texas, and the same high school as former UVU and Utah Jazz guard Ronnie Price, is the school’s all-time record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.

The 5-foot-10 sprinter became just the third national qualifier in school history for the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Taylor advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter dash with a school-record time of 10.18 seconds at the NCAA Western Preliminary Rounds in Lawrence, Kansas. He also had to wait around to find out if his 200-meter time of 20.66 seconds — just .01 of a second off his personal best — would be enough to send him through to Eugene in his second event.

But the wait was worth it.

“I was happy making the first one, but everything somehow happened right for the second one,” said Taylor, who called his 200-meter race execution "terrible." “I still don’t know how it happened. I love the 200, and I worked all year. But it was a bad race for me.

“To have a bad race and still make it means I still have a lot of upside to go.”

The NCAA track championships run Wednesday through Saturday, with several local college standouts set to compete. BYU will send nine athletes and one relay team to the championships, including record-setting sprinter Shaquille Walker in the 800-meter run and decathlete Jackson Walker.

Utah State will also send eight athletes to Eugene, tied for the most in school history. The Aggie caravan is highlighted by senior sprinter Parker Bluth, who will run in the 100, 200 and 400-meter relay.

But for UVU’s Taylor, history has already been made. The senior is the Wolverines’ first-ever sprinter to compete at the NCAA championships, and the first dual-event qualifier in program history.

Not bad for a track athlete who never competed at the Texas state meet in high school.

“At one point, I wasn’t going to run track in college,” Taylor said. “I was going to be a nurse, but they brought me here on a visit. We talked for a while, and I told them I’d think about it. Finally they convinced me to come here and I’ve been out here ever since.”

Taylor’s senior year, too, almost never happened. He used a redshirt on his junior year’s outdoor season in 2014 after suffering a severely torn hamstring during the indoor season. Surrounded by his family at a meet at Boise State, Taylor felt a jolt run up his leg. The pain was nearly unbearable; tears streamed down his face as he looked for a comforting face in his parents.

As bad as his hamstring hurt, recovery was even worse. He qualified for the national semifinals in the 200 as a freshman and sophomore, and expected big things in 2014-15.

“Redshirting was the hardest thing I had to do,” said Taylor, the WAC indoor champion in the 60 and all-WAC performer in the 200. “I thought about quitting a couple of times. It was just one of those things you had to overcome. And looking back on it, if I had quit, I would’ve really hated myself.”


Redshirting was the hardest thing I had to do. I thought about quitting a couple of times. It was just one of those things you had to overcome. And looking back on it, if I had quit, I would’ve really hated myself.

–UVU sprinter Nick Taylor


Taylor returned with a vengeance for his senior season. He blitzed the 200-meter indoor crown in a school-record 21.07 seconds (he fell .01 of a second short of a repeat 60-meter title).

When the outdoor season arrived, Taylor broke the school record for the 200-meter race — twice, finishing in 20.74 seconds at the Utah Spring Classic before winning the Mt. SAC Relays with a time of 20.65 seconds a week later. He helped the Wolverines’ 400-meter relay team set a school record in 40.40 seconds, and claimed WAC titles in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter relay for the sprinter’s triple crown.

All the while, his contagious personality rubbed off on his teammates.

“He taught the team how to enjoy it: to have fun, even though it’s a highly competitive sport,” said Smith, whose sprinters filter their jokes in a group text thread. “The sprinters we have now just clicked and have fun together.

“He’s brought the sprinters closer together, and it’s been enjoyable for me as a coach to watch and see how it has progressed over my time here.”

Taylor has designs on an All-American performance in Eugene, which would be Utah Valley’s third since making the jump to Division I in 2003. But he also has higher goals: the 2010 district champion in Texas wants to run with his younger brother — Miami’s Isaiah Taylor, an indoor track All-American who ranks second in the nation with a 100-meter time of 10.26 and 21.14 in the 200.

Because of their age difference, running together would be difficult — plus, the two are separated by more than 2,500 miles.

There’s always the Olympics, though.

Photo: Matthew S. Hicks via UVU Athletics
Photo: Matthew S. Hicks via UVU Athletics

“He keeps me motivated trying to beat him,” said Nick Taylor, who came to Orem through longtime family friend and former UVU track star Nicolette Bell. “Seeing him thrive and win, and the trials I go through — I know I can help him when he goes through them.

“It’s one of those things where family is always first.”

His senior season has been a success for Taylor — especially after graduating with a degree in public relations.

But it’s also been — you guessed it — fun.

“The season has been a lot of fun,” said Smith, a key contributor in Taylor’s recruitment. “But I think that moving forward after Nick leaves, one mindset that we can keep on the team that will make us successful is when they come to practice, they’re going to work hard but they can enjoy it.”

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