By Just a sophomore, Renea Taylor is already adding pages to the Northern State University record book.
A sprinter and hurdler for the Wolves women’s track team, she has set school records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, as well as the 400-meter hurdles this outdoor season.
During the indoor season, she set the school record in the 60-meter dash and finished 11th at the NCAA Division II national meet, earning All-America honors.
Taylor however, is far more concerned about results than her place in Northern State history.
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“I really don’t ever focus on (records) or trying to set any,” she said. “I don’t think I knew that I broke a school record our first meet out until two hours or so later when I looked it up and was like, ‘Oh, wait,’ and that was only because it was on the wall (of the Barnett Center). I just let the race come to me. You can’t really fix or tweak anything on race day.”
Taylor’s first love was volleyball, not track
Taylor grew up in a “very, very small town” in Okanagan, Wash., and her first love was volleyball, not track.
She didn’t start running track until seventh grade when a teacher suggested it. That was a big ask considering where Taylor envisioned her athletic future was headed.
“At that time, I was all-in on volleyball. I wanted to be a volleyball player when I grew up, that’s all I wanted to do,” she said. “I just kind of fell into track and started running in seventh grade and fell in love with it. Next thing you know, my family and I are driving three hours one way to go to a club team, and honestly getting that experience got me out” of Washington.
Northern State University’s Renea Taylor, a sophomore, already has four school records. Photo courtesy of Gail Stoltenberg
An only child with what she said is “a great support system” at home, Taylor wanted to explore her collegiate options in the Midwest. It didn’t take her long to realize Northern State was the place for her.
“I just wanted to throw myself out into the world,” she said. “I started looking in the Midwest and fell in love with Northern’s program. I was just welcomed with open arms. My coach (Lynne Dingman), all the staff, you just feel right at home. And as for the track team, it just seemed like I knew them as soon as I got there. We were best friends right away.”
By Taylor’s standards, Aberdeen’s 28,000 residents might feel like a lot of people. Okanagan is home to fewer than 2,400 people, according to census numbers.
In north-central Washington, Okanagan is considerably closer to the Canadian border than to Seattle, a four-hour drive, or Spokane, which is nearly three hours.
Taylor overcomes allergies to find success
Success in any sport at any level can be attributed to myriad things. Coaching, better training habits, confidence gained after each race. For Taylor, the one thing that’s contributed to her great performances more than any other is something simple for most people — breathing.
Taylor
Taylor is, as she put it, “allergic to everything.”
“My dad has horrible, horrible allergies,” Taylor said. “When he was younger, he would have to go to the hospital when he had an asthma attack, so I knew I had (allergies). My throat would never close up, but I always had troubling breathing. He would take these generic allergy pills, and I would take them with him, but they didn’t really help much.”
Peanuts, dairy products, pollen and even grass and trees are some of the things on Taylor’s allergy list. So the question is just how she is able to not only run outdoors, but do so at a high level. The answer, Taylor said, is with the help of some special people.
“When I came here, I went to the Aberdeen Allergy & Asthma clinic,” she said. “When I went there, I mean I can show you some pictures, my back looked like a balloon. They ran some tests and got me on some new pills. I have a new inhaler, I get shots every Tuesday. It’s helped me a lot.”
Fortunately, the new regimen does not make her lethargic or hinder her speed. The key is, she said, keeping things “unclogged.”
“The way they put it was to ‘keep the pipes clean,’” Taylor said. “I struggle a little on (lighter workout) days because they inject you with what you’re allergic to. I mean, I can see the difference between not being able to breathe a little, but after that I’m fine. I’m good to go.”
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Curbing the symptoms of Taylor’s allergies has clearly helped her physically, but there have been mental benefits, too. Knowing you have no impediments when you line up to begin a race is a sense sets you free, she said.
“I ran my whole life basically not being able to breathe,” Taylor said. “Once I was able to it was like — bam! —a slingshot, and so yeah, that was a big factor to my running this season.”
NSIC track and field meet is this weekend in Aberdeen
Next up for Taylor and the Wolves is the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference outdoor track and field meet this weekend in Aberdeen. She has already qualified for the Division II national meet in the 100, 200 and the 400 hurdles. That will be May 26-28 in Allendale, Mich.
There’s also potential for another intriguing race closer to campus.
“My professors are very supportive and congratulate me and urge me on,” Taylor said. “Even some of their sons want to race me. The (interim dean of the School of Education, Anna Schwan), her son wants to race me. I think he’s 11-years old, but he’s challenged me to a race. It’s funny, but really, I’m just glad I stepped foot in this town and here at Northern.”
