Nathan Taylor came to Cornell nine years ago, and since that time, the team has clawed its way to the top of the Ivy League known as the Heptagonal Games Championship, winning championships in each of the last five years, eight of the last 10, and setting the standard for team performance within the Ivy League during the first decade of the 21st century.
The 2007 season was another banner year as Cornell swept to the Outdoor Heptagonal Championships as it had done in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 after not accomplishing the feat in nearly 25 years. Only the great Penn teams of the 1970’s have won more often in the 70-year history of the Heptagonal Championships. Taylor has led the team from the depths of the Ivy League to one of the top programs in the Northeast region and the country, as the Big Red also won the 2007 IC4A title in indoor track for the first time in 70 years. In 2002-03 and again in 2006-07, he was selected the NCAA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year. Under his guidance, the team has also done very well academically, gaining recognition as an NCAA Academic All-America team after sporting a cumulative 3.06 GPA for 2006-07. This GPA was among the highest in Division I, and Taylor continues to prove that academic and athletic excellence can, and do, go hand in hand.
The commitment to a total track and field and cross country program has always been a hallmark of Taylor’s squads. Cornell is able to boast top athletes in every event, and the 2008 team returns its top athlete in almost every event. In 2007, the Big Red scored in all but two events at the Heptagonal Championships. His technical knowledge and enthusiasm have vaulted the program into one of the top 25 Division I teams in the country, both indoors and outdoors. The 2006-07 team earned Cornell’s sixth consecutive top-25 ranking among Division I teams by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. The 2007 team finished seventh at the NCAA Eastern Regionals in Gainesville, Fla., sending four athletes to the NCAAs. The quartet finished 13th, the team’s highest finish since the famed 1951 team that had four athletes go on to the 1952 Summer Olympics. In 2007, the team had 11 NCAA regional qualifiers to go along with an incredible 17 Cornellians selected All-East and 25 selected All-Ivy.
As a coach, Taylor is recognized as an expert in the jumping events and, in particular, the triple jump. In 2007, coaching the men’s and women’s jumpers at Cornell, he had seven athletes at the NCAA Championships, with four earning All-American status. Only Oklahoma had more jumpers (eight) finish in the top eight. In the last two years, he has had 11 jumpers at the NCAA Championships. Those athletes established new school records in 7 of the 8 jumping events, and Cornell incredibly had the #1 and #2 collegiate triple jumpers in the country in Rayon Taylor and Muhammad Halim.
In his career, he has coached 14 NCAA qualifiers in the triple jump, seven of whom became All-Americans. In the long jump, he has had 12 jumpers span 24-3 or farther in the last nine years with five different Heps champions, while 10 different high jumpers have hit 6-11 or better in the last 10 years. Not to be outdone in the pole vault, he has coached 10 different Heptagonal or IC4A champions, and his vaulters have set all-time Ivy League marks both indoors and outdoors, with four over 17-3 and one over 18-1. He also coaches the jumpers on the women’s team, who have established school records in every jumping event, including All-Americans Sarah Wilfred (high jump) and Jeomi Maduka (long jump All-American, triple jump NCAA qualifier). Additionally, he has coached NCAA qualifiers Jamie Grubel (heptathlon) and Natalie Gengel (pole vault).
Taylor also has a long and distinguished resume with the sprints and throws. On the track, his sprint squads have become the dominant team in the league as they have sped to victories in all the relays and established the top two all-time Ivy bests in the indoor 4x400m relay with 3:11.01 and 3:11.13 clockings. Taylor’s teams now hold six of the top 10 all-time Heptagonal performances in the 4x400m. In his years as the coach at Cornell, the jumpers and sprinters under his tutelage have improved dramatically over their high school bests, establishing 31 Cornell records. He has had 24 athletes qualify for the NCAA championships, and 10 have earned All-America honors. Since Taylor’s arrival at Cornell, there have been 152 All-Ivy and 137 All-East selections. He has had at least one NCAA finalist in every jumping event and a NCAA regional qualifier in every throwing and sprinting event, including Scott Benowitz in the javelin (232-5), David Pell and Garrett Huyler in the high jump (7-0 ½), Rayon Taylor in the triple jump (53-8), Evan Whitehall (16-10, a Heps meet record) and Muhammad Halim (24-9 and 53-7, a Heps meet record).
Prior to joining the Cornell coaching staff, Taylor was an assistant track and field coach at the University of Pennsylvania for 11 years. Over his eight seasons at Cornell, he has assembled teams that are very similar to the Penn squads that dominated the Ivy League in the 1990s. During his tenure at Penn, Taylor helped the Quakers to Heptagonal championships in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1997, while coaching 12 NCAA qualifiers, four All-Americans, 64 All-East and 81 All-Ivy performers. Over the course of his stay in Philadelphia, Taylor helped produce some of the greatest athletes to ever compete in the Ivy League. Top performers during his tenure included U.S. Eastern Collegiate and Heptagonal record holder Mamadou Johnson in the pole vault (18-1 1/2) along with three-time All-American, IC4A record holder and three-time Olympic trials qualifier John Taylor in the javelin (237-5). Other standouts included NCAA qualifiers and IC4A champions Stanley Anderson in the triple jump (52-2), Corey Shannon in the javelin (220’5), All-American Matt Pagliasotti in the hammer (211-7), All-American, IC4A champ and former Heps record holder Twan Wreh in the triple jump (53-2), Chuck Hinton in the discus (183-9), and Chris Harper in the 400 (46.48).
Prior to joining the Penn staff, Taylor was head coach of men’s and women’s cross country and track at Milton Academy (MA) from 1983-88. From 1980-83, he was athletic director at Good Hope School in the U.S. Virgin Islands, while also coaching men’s and women’s cross country and track and serving as the head coach for soccer and basketball. A native of Boston, Mass., Taylor was head cross country and track coach at Western Albemarle HS in Charlottesville, Va., from 1978-80. He led Western to the 1980 Virginia state championship and coached the team to state runner-up finishes in 1978 and 1979. He helped produce three All-Americans while serving as a graduate assistant track coach at the University of Virginia in 1976 and 1977. Prior to working with the Cavaliers’ track program, he was an assistant track coach at Charlottesville High School, which won the Virginia state championship and was the top high school track team in the nation in 1976. That team was lead by Rodney Chesley, who ran 13.3 in the hurdles, Mike Keys - the national HS champ in the 100m at 10.3, and Lloyd Burris in the jumps, who later became an All-Pro safety for the Kansas City Chiefs. Their 4x200m team also recorded a fantastic 1:25.17.
Taylor, 53, graduated from the University of Richmond in 1975 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Health and Physical Education as well as Religion while also minoring in English and Education. While at Richmond, he was All-Southern Conference and All-Virginia in the long jump, triple jump and javelin. Later on as a masters competitor, Taylor attained All-America status in the hurdles and vault along with his other events. Taylor is USA Track and Field Level II certified in the jumps and is a highly sought-after speaker and clinician on training theory and coaching. He has served at the President of the IC4A’s and also sponsors his own track and field and cross country summer camps on the Cornell campus.
Taylor and his wife, Sally, live in Ithaca with their two daughters, Meg and Kate.
