Last Sunday a national television audience of nearly 2.5 million watched two-year Harvard track co-captain Brenda Taylor ‘01 place third in her preliminary heat of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the 2001 IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Edmonton. After the race, an interview given by ABC reporter Todd Harris gave the general public its first close look at Taylor, collegiate track and field’s athlete of the year.

Taylor fielded Harris’ first question on her recent busy schedule by reeling off a list of the places she had been in the past three months—a whirlwind tour that twice took her to Eugene, Ore. where she won her first NCAA title and an American bronze; then to Europe and Zagreb, Croatia where she ran a 55.46-second personal record that earned her the right to run at Edmonton.

“Now I’m here representing Harvard on an international level, and I’m having the time of my life,” said Taylor, who had spoken similar words following her third-place finish at U.S. Nationals in June.

Taylor’s pride in her Crimson roots came as no surprise to those familiar with her. Her passion for her team was revealed in the exhausting workload of three individual events plus relays that she accepted in every championship meet. She was not afraid to put herself at great personal risk for her team, as she proved in the 2000 Outdoor Heptagonal meet, where she ran the 400 hurdles despite reinjuring her hamstring earlier in the day. A year later, she would run in the 200-meter dash instead of the 400 hurdles to strategically maximize her team’s chance of winning the Heptagonal meet, even though it meant graduating without the meet record in her feature event.

Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty ’68 compared Taylor’s dedication, outlook and determination to that off Meredith Rainey-Valmon ’90, the renowned Crimson walk-on runner who won two NCAA titles and made two U.S. Olympic teams in the 800-meter run before retiring last year. Rainey and Taylor between themselves own all of the women’s teams’ records in the sprints and hurdles.

“I’ve given my life to track and to my teammates,” said Taylor in an interview with the Crimson following her NCAA victory. “I’m not like the typical athlete who focuses on just one event.”

By referencing Harvard in her nationally televised interview, Taylor was able to give back to her team months after the conclusion of her college career. Her teammates could take pride in that one of their own was shining on the sport’s premier international stage, while her coaches relished the great publicity that Taylor was bringing to their program.

The refined and mature Taylor, a Third Team Academic All-American, was an ideal representative for all of the potential Harvard recruits that would be glued to the television that afternoon. This was the same Taylor distinguished by her poise and sincerity at the 2001 Honda Awards ceremony—the gathering of the greatest collegiate female athletes in the nation—where several observers told her that she belonged on television.