Taylor’s teammate and 2000 Sydney Olympian Gyorffy had a different set of goals going into her NCAA competition on Saturday. Although Gyorffy, like Taylor, had never won an NCAA Outdoor title, she was the heavy favorite going into the meet. No one else in the nation had cleared 1.90 meters, while Gyorffy’s personal best of 1.96 meters was the fourth-best jump in the world this year.

With the meet essentially already won, Gyorffy was focused more on breaking NCAA and Hungarian records than beating competitors.

“It was hard for her to get motivated,” said Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty. “It was cold, it rained a lot, so she came out early and took a few jumps to stay warm.”

Gyorffy did not miss a height until the bar was moved up to 1.87 meters, which she hit on her second try. After all her competitors failed to advance, Gyorffy struggled by herself with the 1.90-meter bar, missing on her first two attempts. But she cleared it easily on her third try and ignited a crowd full of 6,000 spectators.

“Her third jump was very good,” Haggerty said. “She had three of four inches of clearance.”

Gyorffy already owned a share of the NCAA Indoor record of 1.97 meters and was looking to clear that same height on Saturday, but she failed to clear on three tries. That height would have given her the NCAA Outdoor Championship record.

Haggerty said that the weather limited Gyorffy’s performance on Saturday.