Running Home | Weather Forecast | What is Redwood Empire
Track All-Time | Cross Country All-Time
Schedule | Archives | Links

State title caps Jacque Taylor's Casa Grande years

By MIKE COIT
PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, February 1, 2010 


Consistently stellar in four years on the Casa Grande cross country team, Jacque Taylor's greatest goal had eluded her 
— a state title.

Three top-five finishes weren't enough for Taylor, who won the Division II girls' crown in November with the Redwood 
Empire's fifth-fastest time ever over the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno.

“That's all I cared about,” she said. “I've been so close every year and it was great that I could finally accomplish 
it,” she said.

Taylor's victory, edging Julie Nacouzi of Montgomery, made her the Redwood Empire's most outstanding girls' cross 
country runner. With Taylor running at the University of North Carolina next season, Nacouzi is poised to challenge 
the region's cross country records as a senior.

Every year a new runner pushed Taylor in the Redwood Empire — “It's a good thing to have,” she said.

Taylor was up to the challenge. Three Sonoma County League crowns, two North Coast Section titles, two appearances in 
the Foot Locker National Championships and the win at state add up to a remarkable cross country legacy.

Since she first started running a weekly mile with classmates at Sonoma Mountain Elementary School in fifth grade, 
Taylor has found joy in running, particularly as the sport became more competitive.

“It was something I loved to do. Part of it is I'm very good at it and I'm very competitive. But a lot of it is it's 
just who I am,” She said.

After running cross country and track with the Santa Rosa Express club through middle school, Taylor was a freshman
phenomenon at Casa Grande. That year she won the first of her SCL and NCS titles, finishing fifth at the state meet.

So fast was Taylor as a freshman that, unlike many successful runners, her personal-best times would improve by seconds 
and not minutes during her four years of high school cross country.

“It's hard to improve,” Taylor said. “But my times were getting better. You just have to push through it.”

Putting in modest mileage and pushing herself through hard, short-distance workouts, Taylor remained surprisingly 
consistent.

This year's greatest challenge was bouncing back from a particularly disappointing race at the Stanford Invitational. 
Taylor said she has never done as well as hoped at the prestigious, early-season competition.

“It's psychological, I'd have to say.”

At last fall's Stanford event, she wilted in hot, humid conditions.

“My arms and legs just felt like they weren't there,” she said.

Always the strong competitor, Taylor responded by increasing her workouts, notably at a gym where she works with 
weights and on strengthening exercises.

“I used it as a little incentive, just thinking I never want to feel like that again. I just worked harder,” she said.

Now training for a final standout year in prep track, Taylor will see her workouts increase this summer to prepare 
for college cross country meets. Collegiate women typically run 6-kilometer courses, up from the 5-kilometer high 
school distance.

Taylor's goal is to be one of the Tar Heels' top five scoring runners.

“If you work hard enough, you can get what you want,” she said.

Email story | Print story | Subscribe to paper

 

Copyright © 2010 The Press Democrat | Privacy Policy | User Agreement