Johnson, who finished in 56.21 seconds on Saturday, was a considerably more reputable opponent than Patterson. Taylor had not come close to beating Johnson in their two most recent meetings at the national level.

In Friday’s semifinal heat, Johnson crossed the line at 55.87 seconds, while Taylor finished in 56.60 seconds. When Taylor placed seventh in her 2000 Olympic Trial semifinal heat, Johnson took second, over two seconds ahead of Taylor.

But Taylor had improved considerably over the past year, making significant gains in both health and confidence. After struggling with a hamstring injury during her junior year at Harvard, Taylor’s performances took off this past season. Her personal records progressed from 56.64 seconds at the Olympic Trials, to 56.11 seconds at Penn Relays in late April, to her current personal best of 55.88 seconds at the NCAA Championships.

Taylor was not the only recent Harvard graduate to place beyond expectation on Saturday. Men’s track co-captain Chris Clever ’00, who placed ninth at NCAAs on May 30, rebounded to fourth place in the men’s javelin with a peak throw of 72.47 meters and beat 2001 NCAA champion John Steigeler of Oregon in the process.

Clever reached his top distance on his third throw of the preliminaries to lead his flight. He was in third place going into the finals, but American record-holder Tom Pukstys—now in the twilight of his career—reached 74.49 meters on his second throw to bump him out of the top three spots. Clever failed to reach the 70-meter mark in any of his last three throws.

Breaux Greer blew away the competition with a meet record throw of 85.23 meters. Had Clever actually managed to place third, he would have been well back of the world qualifying standard of 82.50 meters. His personal best remains his Heptagonal meet record throw of 74.06 meters.

The IAAF Outdoor World Championships will be held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 10 in Edmonton, where Taylor will look to augment Harvard track’s prominence at the international level.