Ashley Taylor Takes Third in the Nation in the 800m at the NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. - Ashley Taylor ended her Northern Arizona University track and field career with a third-place finish and first team All-American honor in the 800-meter on the final day of the 2018 NCAA Outdoor National Championships at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field on Saturday.

Like she has all season Taylor stayed patient in the back of the pack in the first lap and a half of the race before surging with a late kick on the field. The senior saw an opening in the final 150 meters and shot through a gap down the inside of the track which allowed her to accelerate to the third-place finish with a 2:05.01 performance.

"I got out and saw I was in the back but I said to myself that was OK. I reminded myself to relax so I just stuck there," Taylor said. "If I just stayed with the girls I knew it was all I would have to do. The last 150 meters, that's when I turned the gears."

Taylor moved up from seventh over the last 400 meters to become the first Big Sky Conference female 800-meter runner to place in the top eight at the NCAA finals since 2011.

"It's funny because earlier in the day coach said it might be open on the inside and to just charge through and from where I was I was a little boxed in at the back but it opened in perfect timing and I slingshot through into third place. It was perfect," Taylor added.

"Our plan today was similar to indoors which was to let the physicality of the front of the race use up some of the resources of our competition," director of track and field Michael Smith said. "To use those elements to her advantage is exactly what Ashley did. She used purposeful positioning and was composed with very little wasted movement. We told her when it comes to the last 150 meters that she'll know what to do."

And know what to do she did as the rain and weather conditions couldn't keep the senior from cutting inside down the back stretch once the opportunity presented itself.

"A couple different scenarios are coming in wide or waiting for the outside to open up and then just like that the inside opened up and she charged that last 100 meters," Smith added. "Third in the nation is a spectacular performance."

The performance was the second first team All-American honor of the year for Taylor after she finished fourth at the indoor national championships. The senior made her mark this season as she switch from the 400-meter hurdles to the 800-meter event during her last year of competition.

"Just thinking about a year ago I was at home watching this," Taylor said. "It was a surreal moment. This race right here was an accumulation of all of the hard this past year with my teammates. I am just so thankful."

"She's earned it. She worked so hard since the summer, embraced new things. She's clearly shown she belongs in this company with the best of America in this event," Smith said. "I think she's just beginning even though her time at NAU will come to a close. Leaving Northern Arizona the place Ashley can be sure of herself is in her ability to embrace unknown challenges. The sky's the limit for her."

Identical to the men the Lumberjack women placed 20th in the country with 14 earned points. The mark is tied for the highest team finish in school history at outdoor nationals which was achieved back in 1997. NAU finished as the second-best mid-major and top FCS program in the country.

"We have just a few women score to make that big team performance but I tell our teams all year long that it's not just in the physical performance," Smith concluded. "We send three athletes to the NCAA and two scored but it's on the backs of this unbelievable year and teammates who are bring energy and excitement all the way since cross country. Truly this team performance is a by product of our entire roster believing and pushing and seeking new heights in a historical year."

In total the Lumberjacks brought seven athletes to NCAAs with five of them (Brooke Andersen, Matt Baxter, Tyler Day, Andy Trouard and Taylor) earning First Team All-American honors.

Luis Grijalva and Helena McLeod each added an All-American honorable mention.

The national meet wraps up the collegiate season for the Lumberjacks, one that will go down as one of the best in program history. The team went a perfect 6-for-6 in sweeping the Big Sky Cross Country and Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships and had 13 athletes qualify for indoor and outdoor NCAAs. Eight of those earned First Team All-American honors and one (Trouard) won an individual national title.