Athlete of the Week: Brenda Taylor `01

In many ways, Saturday's track meet against Brown and Dartmouth was just a typical meet for junior captain Brenda Taylor.

But for an athlete as consistent and versatile as Taylor, a typical meet this season has consisted of winning two or three events, while possibly breaking a school record along the way.

In this weekend's hotly contested meet, the final score read Harvard 67, Brown 64, and Dartmouth 61. Taylor, dependable as always, contributed two individual wins to the final score.

Taylor's run of 24.64 seconds, along with Marna Schutte's time of 25.24 seconds, enabled the Crimson to grab the top two spots in the 200 meters.

In the 100-meter high hurdles, Taylor faced her toughest competition, her sister, Brown junior Lindsay Taylor.

With this meet as close as it was, a second-place finish by the Crimson's Taylor would have meant a second-place finish for Harvard.

The sisters pushed each other to their limit, each running as fast as they ever had in the event.

But Brenda Taylor was unbeatable on the day, winning the event in a new school-record time of 13.73 seconds, breaking her old record of 14.11.

Taylor owns school records in the 400-meter hurdles, the 55-meter hurdles, and the 60-meter hurdles. As in Saturday's meet, Taylor set the latter record while running against her sister this January.

"We are definitely each other's biggest competitor and biggest supporter," Taylor said.

Taylor has had a number of equally impressive meets in her Harvard career.

At the Indoor Heptagonal Championships this February, Taylor won the 55-meter hurdles, the 55 meter dash, and the 200 meter run, while leading Harvard to its first league championship since 1990.

At the 1999 ECAC Championships, her time of 57.29 seconds in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles qualified her for the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials. That performance places her seventh on this year's NCAA performance list.

With Taylor likely to run in a trio of events as well as a relay or two in this May's Outdoor Heps, the Crimson will have every chance to be crowned champions once again.