It is hard not to notice Emma Taylor on the track. The Hawaii Preparatory Academy senior has dominated the 100 and 300 meter hurdles events over her four-year career, quickly making a name for herself as one of the best Big Island athletes — regardless of the sport — over that same span.
As the 2016 Hawaii track and field season winds down, the pieces are beginning to fall into place for life after high school for Taylor, who recently decided to go for a “fresh start” by traveling to the East Coast, where she will attend Boston College.
Taylor has accomplished a lot in her four years at Hawaii Prep. She started winning titles her freshman year, capturing the state 100 hurdles crown. She became dominant in the 300 hurdles her sophomore season, and ever since, she has swept the hurdles at both the league and state level.
The decision did not come easily for Taylor, who also looked at the University on Pennsylvania, Brown, California and the University of Colorado Boulder. Originally, Boston College was not on Taylor’s radar but a former Hawaii Prep teacher, Tim Beneski, pointed her in the direction
“He had gone to Boston College and he told me about the school,” Taylor said. “I looked at their track team and at their times and I saw that I could fit right in.”
After doing her research, Taylor contacted the college and track head coach Randy Thomas.
“We developed a really good relationship and then I went for my visit last summer and I loved it,” Taylor said. “The coach saw that I could improve my times with more coaching and year-round training. It just seemed like the right fit.”
Taylor joined the program late in the process, which meant that all the scholarship spots on the team had been filled. But the soon to be Hawaii Prep grad plans to walk-on as a freshman and hopefully earn a scholarship by her sophomore year.
Earning a scholarship is not a far fetched possibility at the Division I school in the ACC. Taylor says that the current squad’s 100-meter hurdles times are around 14.60-14-70 seconds. Taylor fastest time prior to this past weekends BIIF championship meet was 14.71. However, Taylor knocked more than a half second off her personal record on Saturday with a a new meet-record time of 14.18.
Despite her performance in the 100 hurdles, the Boston College coach wants Taylor to really focus on the 400 hurdles, an event that she has never competed in before. High school only runs a 100 and a 300.
“The 300 is already hard enough and then you add three hurdles and another 100 meters — it’s kind of crazy,” Taylor said. “I think I will be able to do it, but it is going to be a big adjustment.”
Now with an eye toward the future, Taylor will never forget her high school days.
“My time here has been amazing and it will be hard to leave the school and the track team,” Taylor said. “This school has done so much for me. I don’t think you could ever forget your experience here because it is such an amazing school.”
Taylor has a chance to make her high school time even more special as she prepares to defend her titled at states once again. Along with her first place finishing in the 100 hurdles at the BIIF championships, she also finished first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 43.77, also a meet record, but not a personal best. Taylor also won the 200-meter dash and now ranks fourth overall in the state after completing the event in a time of 25.14.
The HHSAA track and field state meet will take place Friday and Saturday at Kamehameha-Kapalama.
