Jeff Taylor...is the man

[Opedawg21]

It was a crisp mid-May afternoon, right at the foot of a breathtaking mountain, at Red Bank high school. High school kids had spent all spring for this day, and here it was: their time to shine. 8 of the best competitors in each event faced off, only to find a mere 2 advancing to that sacred pedestal of the state track meet. Field events were crawling along, as to be expected-of course, when the loudspeaker boomed "Third and final call for the mens 3200 meter!" You didn't have to have sight. You didn't have to have your hearing aid turned on. Heck, you might as well have been paralyzed. There was no question; you could literally feel the pulse of the atmosphere: Jeff Taylor had stepped on the track. Shot put? History. Discus? A mere figment of imagination. Even the insane performance of the two Lincoln County's Nettie Halcomb's and Moran's 2 mile couldn't squander the feat at hand. From the crisp crack of the start, it was over. Oh, how it was over. Effortless! Forget the title of Jeff Taylor, just call him the G.O.A.T. To his competition, it was a terrorized ten minutes of pacing convulsions;to the G.O.A.T., it was to Jeff a mere walk in the park. Smooth, determined, disciplined, Taylor rocked the show. While T-town's Brad Shelton elbowed and kicked with McMinn's phenom, you could see the smile on Taylor's face. The eyes in the back of his head twinkled with jubilation. This wasn't even a contest. Effortlessly, and with what seemed abnormal peripheral vision, Jeff maintained a perfect four second spread the entire race. If anyone stepped to the challenge, he would simply turn it up a notch, until they were forced to stray back. With a graceful stride afoot, the bells began to clang signaling the do or die and murderous final lap. With Tullahoma and Mcminn fighting in the background for second like a pair of two year old kids fighting for toys in the sandbox, the G.O.A.T. caressed the track, preparing for the final straightaway. But wait, Shelton has made ground. There's only a 3 second, no just a two second differential, and we still have 75 meters left. As Shelton begins to close the gap, he soon realizes, it is an unbreakable lead, just save it for the mile. And it is over. Taylor clocks in with an impressive 9:56, and he's barely breathing. A heaving Shelton is right behind, only a second and a half behind, that is. We have obtained our first two qualifiers in the mens running events.

 

A savvy senior by the name of Webb from Lincoln County was just finishing jumping over what looked like the heighth of a small house when the 110 hurdles began. The men barely grip the blocks before Ooltewah's huge standout brisks the finish line. Oohs and ahhs are murmered throughout the crowd as the kid smashes everybody away like a bat out of heck, by a whole 15 meters. The running is officially underway now, and 4 components of a lightning quick Brainerd team thrash the competition in the 400 meter relay. Mcminns extremely fast 3200 meter relay runners touch base with the track a mere 100 strides before the baton is passed. The wind being generated by these 32 madmen is a mere breeze for the G.O.A.T., who is already preparing for the pure 1600 meter run. The crowd blinks only 3 times and find themselves missing the whole 100 meter event, both women and men. As standout Nettie Halcomb finds herself struggling for 2nd place in the mile, Laura Knob is rocking the show. But wait, the 3rd lap is almost over, and the junior phenom from Lincoln County is moving in. Jeff smiles, and spits a few words with some friends, eyeing the unpredictable competition in the infield. Its the final straightaway, and Nettie is close behind. Nobody is even close for third, so like Shelton from T-town, she holds back for the qualifying 2nd. Who cares, its two qualifications as a junior. 3rd and final call, lets run that mile everyones been raving about. Who's this kid from Coffee County thats suppossed to have the gravy? The 1st lap is fire, in fact the first 200 is 29 seconds! The soph phenom Knox is lagging back as far as Shelton from t-town. Must have been a hoax. Taylor presses on, effortlessly! But its that third leg again, and the sophomore has moved into third. The space is subtracting rapidly, and Knox has moved into second with 500 meters left. Mcminn and Rhea County are spitting in the two's dust. The bells clang and its on. The effortless Taylor picks ups speed, but there Knox is. 250 meters and Jeff finds himself in a position he hasn't been in a while; second place. But Knox changes must have changed his mind...he moves back to second. The two state qualifiers cruise to the finish, and its the G.O.A.T. with a clocking of 4:35 with the soph out of Coffee County turning some heads with a 4:37. The two shake hands and the meet carries on.

 

It's getting late, and I'd luvv to describe the next few races, but I wanted to express the 1 and final thing. If you don't know who Jeff Taylor is, you should now. He may not be the best in Tennessee, but he may qualify for one of the most exciting. You didn't have to be a runner to feel that powerful last lap of the 800, the race Taylor isn't even suppossed to be a part of. With 2nd and 3rd place hanging around like unwanted relatives, Jeff clocked an awesome 1:59 and dove into the finish line. Blackness engulfed him, as his physical body caught up with him. As his coaches picked him up and walked him across the field, there was no doubt in my mind, Jeff Taylor is the man.

 

Good luck to Jeff and all the other Chattanooga region qualifiers in the state track meet next weekend! Today was fantastic!

 

God bless,

OD21

[Guest BAEagles]

are you kidding? all that for 9:56, 4:35, and 1:59?

[Edited by BAEagles on 5/15/02 11:55P]

[peacemaker]

I was very impressed too- He wasnt going for any P.R's on this particular day- Just the win to make it to state! Not many guys compete and WIN all three races- Not many guys can turn around and run a 1:59 after winning the 3200 and the 1600-with only about 30 minutes rest in between the mile and the 800. Great Job!!!!!!! Go for it all Next year!

[Opedawg21]

Look man, its like this. Now I know good and well that there's a large number of peeps out there that can rock a 4:20 mile on command, and still clock a 1:55 on the same day...but that wasn't what I was focused on. All I was doin was this: I was givin a colorful recap on yesterdays sectionals, not just on JTaylor, but on other races that impressed me. For anyone that was there, it was obvious that he was the overall most impressive athlete participating. Regardless, he did win 1sts in all 3 events, and all he wanted to do was qualify. It wasn't much of a joke, but I guess you could say parts of it were kinda meant to be on the humorous side. I wasn't tryin to put this cat out as Mr. Mile or nuthin, or "the sure fire state winner" cause I really don't think thats happenin. All I'm sayin is that this cat impressed me more than anyone there.

 

Sorry if i offended u, dawg.

 

Peace,

OD21

[Guest BAEagles]

i wasnt offended at all. heck, im happy for the guy with all the wins and/or pr's. i mean, thats what its all about anyways. i just kinda got the impression that you thought he was something incredible.

[peacemaker]

Nice of you to be happy for him- just wanted to clarify this wansn't even close to his P.R's- he just did what he had to - to win and go to state. He much stronger than you or anyone realizes- he made a smart move, holding back- just enough to win................it'll make for some exciting stuff come May 25th at GPS!!!!!!!!! Everybody loves an underdog!!!!!!!!!

[tonto]

peacemaker- i think taylor is a very good runner, but i must say that i dont see any way he will win any titles next saturday. he'll have great performances i'm sure, but dont expect any titles. who has he signed with for college?

[peacemaker]

No sign yet- just a junior- lots of offers though! Didnt say he'd win the title- but definitely a contender- he is one DETERMINED individual!

[Guest kenwoodrun]

Man, I hope you write for a school paper or something...That was the most interesting description of a track meet I've ever read. You've got some mad journalistic talent you should put to use, I'm serious.

OK, now everybody has got me all hyped up to see this kid. I'm confident that he more or less doesn't stand a chance to win AAA, but from your description he sounds like a warhorse with the "Prefontaine" approach that he's going to run until the tank is empty. And that's my kind of runner, especially a distance guy. All questions will be answered in Chattanooga.

[Guest kenwoodrun]

No, we're about 2.5 hours to the Northwest of you up here in Clarksville...you probably saw some kids wearing shirts from our monsterous Kenwood Classic meet from last month at your sectional. But we'll all meet up next weekend.

[Primo521]

All I know is section 1 was smoking on Thursday... Baksa was very disappointed with his 9:30, Dusty ran 4 seconds slower than the week before in 4:14, and I didn't even qualify in the 800 with a 1:56.3 -- But it's all good I guess, I can help improve our 4x800 time, 7:56 just isn't good enough...

[Opedawg21]

Yo TJohnson, primo, whatever...that's incredible, and you ran a what??? 4:25 mile the other day? Wow. I guess the Knoxville area is just pure smoke when it comes to the mile...and 1:56 woulda qualified for our region (Region 4) easily. 1st place was 1:59, but I guess you know that. Best a luck in the 4X4 saturday, what leg do you run?