Thursday, June 9
Eugene, Ore.
7:08 p.m.
University of San Francisco
vs
NCAA Championships
Charlotte Taylor Vies for NCAA Title
6/7/2016 11:12:00 AM | Track and Field
2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships
June 8-11 | Haward Field | Eugene, Ore.
FOLLOW CHARLOTTE IN EUGENE: Television: ESPN | Video Streaming | Live Results | Meet Central
Video preview
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco track and field athlete Charlotte Taylor vies for the national title in the 10,000 meters on Thursday at 7:08 p.m., on ESPN. The first-year Don is gearing up for her fourth ever collegiate race, representing USF on the track at Oregon's historic Hayward Field in the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
"I'm really excited," exclaimed Taylor. "It's a great opportunity to race the best girls in the country and see where I stand against them. "I'm feeling the fittest I ever had, and I'm excited to go out and see what I can do, really. I've not really raced much up to this point in the season, so I'm still feeling fresh and I'm ready to see what happens."
"It's an amazing story. One year ago at this time, Charlotte wasn't even running, and the progress that she's made since August is really phenomenal," added USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "Her background is in the triathlon, and she was the world champion in the triathlon and she has a high level mentality, obviously is very aerobic and extremely competitive. Her background athletically is very strong so she rises to the occasion and she's definitely excited for the opportunity."
Taylor, a junior from Spalding, England, qualified for the finals after overcoming rain delays and schedule changes in the semifinals, held two weeks ago in Lawrence, Kan. She earned her spot in the championship field after a 12th-place finish at Rock Chalk Park in just her second collegiate 10K race of her career.
"Going in, I was ranked 11th and it's the top 12 [from each region] that qualify, so I knew I had a chance," Taylor recalled. "It was very slow for the first 5K so I just had to bide my time and wait for it to kick off. Probably around the 5K mark things started to pick up a bit, so I was just trying to keep on that group. People were shouting from the sidelines, 'there's 14 in this group!' so I knew I had to beat two of those girls to make the cut and I just snuck in at the end. That was the aim."
This marks the third time in the last four years that the Dons were represented in the 10,000 meter finals, joining 2014 All-American Jana Soethout (2013, '14). Six of the last seven NCAA Championships have had at least one athlete from USF, including a school-best three competitors in 2012 (Nicole Bowler – 1,500m; Sophie Curl – 1,500m; Eva Krchova – 3,000 m SC).
"It's just been such a great experience this whole year. Right from the start, it was so positive and encouraging, and I think coming in I've been doing triathlon for a few years and I wasn't really sure how I was going to fit in," Taylor said at the close of her first year on the Hilltop. "It was going to be a new kind of training schedule and getting used to things like that, but the coaching staff just made it so easy for me. They were very understanding on what I had done up to that point and what we needed to move to throughout this year. Things just keep getting better and better, and hopefully we can continue that way."
TrackTown USA and the University of Oregon are in the midst of an eight-year stretch of hosting the Outdoor Track and Field Championships running to 2021. Eugene has hosted the NCAA Championships a total of 13 times, tied with Chicago for the most of any city.
"As a track and field athlete, everybody knows the history of Eugene, Oregon, and TrackTown, so there's definitely an awareness of what a special place that is to compete," said Lehman-Winters. "The atmosphere is phenomenal and I think Charlotte is excited to experience the entire thing.
"We are very confident in what Charlotte can accomplish this week. We feel that her fitness is really good, her training's been phenomenal, she looks amazing in practice and she's excited to race. She's not afraid – she's excited."
Links to purchase tickets, a full event schedule and spectator information can be found at goducks.com/ncaatf. The meet will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks, and Taylor's race will close the Thursday coverage on ESPN, airing from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
June 8-11 | Haward Field | Eugene, Ore.
FOLLOW CHARLOTTE IN EUGENE: Television: ESPN | Video Streaming | Live Results | Meet Central
Video preview
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco track and field athlete Charlotte Taylor vies for the national title in the 10,000 meters on Thursday at 7:08 p.m., on ESPN. The first-year Don is gearing up for her fourth ever collegiate race, representing USF on the track at Oregon's historic Hayward Field in the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
"I'm really excited," exclaimed Taylor. "It's a great opportunity to race the best girls in the country and see where I stand against them. "I'm feeling the fittest I ever had, and I'm excited to go out and see what I can do, really. I've not really raced much up to this point in the season, so I'm still feeling fresh and I'm ready to see what happens."
"It's an amazing story. One year ago at this time, Charlotte wasn't even running, and the progress that she's made since August is really phenomenal," added USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "Her background is in the triathlon, and she was the world champion in the triathlon and she has a high level mentality, obviously is very aerobic and extremely competitive. Her background athletically is very strong so she rises to the occasion and she's definitely excited for the opportunity."
Taylor, a junior from Spalding, England, qualified for the finals after overcoming rain delays and schedule changes in the semifinals, held two weeks ago in Lawrence, Kan. She earned her spot in the championship field after a 12th-place finish at Rock Chalk Park in just her second collegiate 10K race of her career.
"Going in, I was ranked 11th and it's the top 12 [from each region] that qualify, so I knew I had a chance," Taylor recalled. "It was very slow for the first 5K so I just had to bide my time and wait for it to kick off. Probably around the 5K mark things started to pick up a bit, so I was just trying to keep on that group. People were shouting from the sidelines, 'there's 14 in this group!' so I knew I had to beat two of those girls to make the cut and I just snuck in at the end. That was the aim."
This marks the third time in the last four years that the Dons were represented in the 10,000 meter finals, joining 2014 All-American Jana Soethout (2013, '14). Six of the last seven NCAA Championships have had at least one athlete from USF, including a school-best three competitors in 2012 (Nicole Bowler – 1,500m; Sophie Curl – 1,500m; Eva Krchova – 3,000 m SC).
"It's just been such a great experience this whole year. Right from the start, it was so positive and encouraging, and I think coming in I've been doing triathlon for a few years and I wasn't really sure how I was going to fit in," Taylor said at the close of her first year on the Hilltop. "It was going to be a new kind of training schedule and getting used to things like that, but the coaching staff just made it so easy for me. They were very understanding on what I had done up to that point and what we needed to move to throughout this year. Things just keep getting better and better, and hopefully we can continue that way."
TrackTown USA and the University of Oregon are in the midst of an eight-year stretch of hosting the Outdoor Track and Field Championships running to 2021. Eugene has hosted the NCAA Championships a total of 13 times, tied with Chicago for the most of any city.
"As a track and field athlete, everybody knows the history of Eugene, Oregon, and TrackTown, so there's definitely an awareness of what a special place that is to compete," said Lehman-Winters. "The atmosphere is phenomenal and I think Charlotte is excited to experience the entire thing.
"We are very confident in what Charlotte can accomplish this week. We feel that her fitness is really good, her training's been phenomenal, she looks amazing in practice and she's excited to race. She's not afraid – she's excited."
Links to purchase tickets, a full event schedule and spectator information can be found at goducks.com/ncaatf. The meet will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks, and Taylor's race will close the Thursday coverage on ESPN, airing from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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