Hogs High on the Runner : Prep Standout Taylor Enjoys Smooth Transition from Edison to Arkansas

Early morning. Shelley Taylor’s place in Fayetteville, Ark. A plaque on the wall.

All-American, Cross-Country, 1992.

Is it really hers?

Taylor remembers the cold, gray Monday in late November, the muddy golf course in Bloomington, Ind., where the nation’s finest cross-country runners had come to contest the NCAA championships, and the nervous tension.

Taylor fought off the chill, the mud, the competition and her doubts, covering the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 42 seconds to finish 13th. She was the first freshman and Arkansas’ No. 2 runner, helping the Razorbacks to a second-place team finish.

“Yes,” Taylor reminds herself after a moment of reflection each morning, “it’s really mine.”

Success, maybe because it has happened so quickly at Arkansas, has caught Taylor off guard.

“I was so surprised,” she said. “I don’t think it’s hit me yet. I didn’t expect to be an All-American.”

Taylor and Arkansas Coach Lance Harter had every intention of throttling back after such a successful cross-country season. Taylor redshirted the indoor season after coming down with a cold she couldn’t shake.

But she hasn’t slowed a step, running personal-bests of 9:32.65 for 3,000 meters at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays April 16 and 16:28.43 for 5,000 at the Penn Relays last Friday. She finished second in each race, but her times were fast enough to meet NCAA championship provisional qualifying standards.

“I’m finding in track, especially, that I run a PR no matter what,” said Taylor, who had never raced either distance on the track until this year. “I’ve been saying to Lance, ‘Is that all right? Is that OK?’ and thinking ‘Hey, I don’t know how that went after all.’ ”

It’s been a difficult transition, but so far Taylor is managing just fine.

Certainly, few recruits were better prepared to make the jump from high school standout to collegiate All-American than Taylor.

In her senior season at Edison High, she won the state Division II championship in cross-country, then added a state title in the 1,600 meters on the track. Her time of 4:48.52 was the fastest high school girls’ time in the nation in 1992.

And then she met her Arkansas teammates for the first time and was surrounded by former state champions.

Michelle Byrne was a Texas state mile champion. Deena Drossin won three California state cross-country titles and two 3,200-meter titles. Pauline Durran was the Irish national junior champion at 3,000. Kim Mount was a three-time Arkansas state 1,600 champion. Jamie Park was a two-time California state cross-country champion. Lisa Brown was a Missouri state cross-country champion. Melissa Campbell was the Arkansas state champion in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 as a senior. Sarah Schwald was a Washington state champion with national-leading times in the 1,500 and 3,000.

It was enough to make Taylor’s head swim, her palms sweat and her stomach ache.

“I wasn’t looking to be the top runner, but I wanted to be up there,” Taylor said.

Every workout was so much different, so much more intense than at Edison. At Arkansas, her mileage almost doubled, to an average of 60 miles per week.

As she ran at Arkansas, a curious, pleasing thing began to happen. In high school, all eyes seemed to focus on Taylor when she warmed up for a race. She was the one to beat and everyone knew it.

But at Arkansas hardly anyone noticed her among the crowd of All-Americans and former high school champions. Taylor quickly learned that the pressure to win was firmly on the shoulders of others, and for the moment that’s fine with her.

“It was refreshing, really,” she said. “It allowed me to concentrate on my expectations instead of everyone else’s.”

It’s not likely to last long, however. She’s simply running too well to remain in the background for long.

“Actually, my expectations went up (after cross-country),” Taylor said. “From the first day, I had to be running well up there with everyone else.”

Moving to the longer track races has proved to be good strategy.

She hasn’t given up on more familiar distances, however. She ran 4:35.89 for 1,500 meters at the Hot Springs (Ark.) Invitational and two days after her PR in the 3,000 at Mt. SAC, she clocked 4:36.9. Those times are roughly equal to a 4:55 mile.

So far, the 1993 track season has progressed better than Taylor hoped, but the NCAA cross-country meet remains her most memorable race.

“NCAAs were muddy and cold and very tense,” she said. “I was so nervous. But our coach was so nice. He knows when to lay off. He told us to be proud to be there, that he was proud of us no matter how we did.”

Arkansas finished second behind Villanova and Taylor, who was the Razorbacks’ second finisher, came through with an All-American run through difficult conditions.

“Cross-country was so much fun,” she said. “It took a good three to four weeks to settle down and find my place on the team.”

But as always, Taylor found that her place was at the front of the pack.