Steve Taylor
Biography
Compiled by Coach Mike McMillion & Steve Taylor
Early Years:
A native of St. Mary’s, W.Va., Taylor began competing in track in 1977 as a twelve year old. He was West Virginia’s Track Athlete of the Year for three consecutive seasons during his high school days. As he reached his junior year of high school he won the West Virginia AAA State Cross Country meet. That state cross country win at Camp Virgil Tate taught Steve that his body was capable of tolerating much more pain than your mind typically believes and three weeks later that gave him the confidence to win (15:18.8) the 1981 Kinney (now Foot Locker) Northeast Region race in Van Cortlandt Park in NYC. He then went on to place 7th (15:05.1) at the 1981 Kinney National Championship as a junior and 3rd (14:53.6) at the national finals the following year in 1982.
In the past 35 years, West Virginia has qualified five high school boys & two high school girls for the Kinney/Foot Locker National Championship: Steve Taylor of St. Marys HS (1981, 1982); Brian Redman of Keyser HS (1982); Michael Cox of Athens HS (1992); Justin Simpson of Oak Glen HS (2002); Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown HS (2010); Maggie Drazba of St. Marys HS (2012); Amelia Paladino of University HS (2012, 2013).
There have only been a total of two runners that have qualified twice for the national championship: Steve Taylor & Amelia Paladino.
To date, in track, Taylor ranks on the West Virginia State Meet AA-A Boys All Time Top Ten List: 800m (rank #5) in 1:55.84; 1600m (rank #5) in 4:20.96; 3200m (rank #1) in 9:09.83, (rank #2) in 9:14.88, and (rank #8) in 9:26.60. In cross country, he ranks #1 all time for all classes in West Virginia High School Cross Country with a time of 14:53.6.
College Years:
Taylor won the 1983 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country title as a freshman at WVU. In the spring of 1985 he was finishing his sophomore year on the WVU track & field team when he traveled to Williamsburg, VA for the Colonial Relays. One of his high school rivals and friend, Joe Wilson a Virginia Tech attendee, introduced him to his future wife, Lori McKee, also a Hokie. As the semester came to a close he decided he would transfer to another school - Blacksburg, VA the home of the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Taylor was an All-American in both cross country and track while an undergraduate at Tech. He paced the 1987 cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, placing ninth in the individual competition. Taylor was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 for his accomplishments as an athlete.
Professional:
Taylor also was involved in professional road racing. He participated in the 1991 World Championship marathon in Tokyo, 1991 World Marathon Cup in London, England and the 1995 World Marathon Cup in Athens, Greece and was the top team USA finisher in both World Cup competitions. He was named an alternate to the 1992 U.S. Olympic team after placing sixth at the ’92 Olympic Trials.
Career Best:
During his career Taylor set personal best performances of 4:00.6 in the Mile (Roanoke, Va., 1990), 13:38 in the 5000 meters (Nissiping, Sweden, 1989), 27:59 in the 10K (Pittsburg, Pa., 1988), 47:01 in the 10 Mile (Washington, D.C., 1989), 1:02:29 in the Half-Marathon (Toronto, Canada, 1990) and 2:13:56 in the Marathon (Columbus, Ohio, 1990).
Personal:
Taylor received his Bachelor of Science degree in education with a sport management option from Virginia Tech in 1988. He is the President/Founder at Collegiate Running Association a non-profit (501c3) organization and currently serves as the Head Track & Field and Cross Country coach for the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia...a highly competitive private University for the public good that competes within the NCAA Division I level for all sports. He is married to Lori McKee Taylor and they have a son, Luke.
Steve Taylor's
Coaching Accomplishments:
1991-2015- Guided athletes to 28 U.S. National Teams and 24 World Championship performers during his career.
1991-2015 - 17 NCAA Division I All-American performers
1991-2015 – over 45 Individual NCAA Qualifying Athletes
1991-2015 – over 70 Conference Champions-Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field
1991-2015 – over 250 All-Conference Performers--Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field
2014 U.S. Junior National Champion
2010 NCAA Cross Country Championship (Team-24th place)
2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year
2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship (Team)
2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship (Individual)
2004 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship (Individual)
2001 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (Distance Medley Relay - 10th place)
2001 World Championship Coach (USATF 100K Team - Cleder, France)
2000 World Championship Coach (USATF 100K Team - Winschoten, Netherlands)
1999 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Indoor T&F
1999 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Outdoor T&F
1999 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1999 Virginia Tech Hall of Fame Inductee
1999 Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
1999 World University Games (Coached individual U.S. athlete - Palma de Mallorca, Spain)
1998 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Indoor T&F
1998 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Outdoor T&F
1998 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Outdoor T&F
1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Team-Indoor T&F
1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year
1997 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championship Team
1996 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championship Team
1996 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year
1995 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1995 World University Games (Coached individual U.S. athlete - Buffalo, N.Y.)
1994 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championship Team
1994 Metro Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year
1994 World Jr. Cross Country Championships (Coached individual U.S. athlete - Budapest, Hungary)
1993 Metro Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1992 Metro Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1991 Metro Conference Cross Country Runner-up Team
1991-2015 -- 17 NCAA Division I All-American performers
1991-2015 – over 45 Individual NCAA Qualifying Athletes
1991-2015 – over 70 Conference Champions-Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field
1991-2015 – over 250 All-Conference Performers--Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field
Steve Taylor's
Running Accomplishments:
1996 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier (Charlotte, N.C.)
1995 U.S. World Marathon Cup Team (Athens, Greece)
1992 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (sixth place, second alternate - Columbus, Ohio)
1991 USATF World Championships Track & Field Team (Marathon - Tokyo, Japan)
1991 U.S. World Marathon Cup Team (London, England)
1991 U.S. Marathon Leader (April-October)
1990 Fourth at U.S. Marathon Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
1990 All-time Canadian National All-Comers Record at Half-Marathon (1:02:29 - Toronto, Ontario)
1989 National Age Group Record at 10 Miles (age 23 – 47:01- Washington, D.C.)
1988 The Athletics Congress National Champion (10,000 meters - Tampa, Fla.)
1988 RRCA National Champion (10 miles - Raleigh, N.C.)
1988 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier (10,000 meters - Indianapolis, Ind.)
1988 Second-fastest 10K time in U.S. -- T&F News, Feb. 1989 (27:59)
1987 NCAA Division I All-America Team (cross country and track)
1986 National Age Group Record at Half-Marathon (age 20 – 1:04:54- Savannah, Ga.)
1986 National Age Group Record at 15K (age 20 – 44:52- Jacksonville, Fl.)
1982-83 Two-time High School All-American (cross country and track)
1982 Kinney (Foot Locker) National Championships (third place - Orlando, Fla.)
1982 Kinney (Foot Locker) Northeast Region Championship (fourth place - New York, N.Y.)
1981 Kinney (Foot Locker) National Championships (seventh place - Orlando, Fla.)
1981 Kinney (Foot Locker) Northeast Region Champion (New York, N.Y.)
1981-83 Three-time West Virginia Track Athlete of the Year
1980-83 11-time West Virginia State H.S. Champion (cross country and track)