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Cornell's Taylor, Blair Earn USTFCCCA Northeast Region Honors
Courtesy of Cornell Athletic Communications
ITHACA, N.Y. -- With the indoor track season nearly complete, Cornell was honored with two awards by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association on Monday.
Cornell men's coach Nathan Taylor was named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year and junior high jumper Montez Blair was named the Northeast Region Athlete of the Year.
Taylor coached the Big Red men to the Indoor Heptagonal Championship in thrilling fashion, helping Cornell claim in the Heps crown by one point over Princeton. Taylor also led Cornell to a second-place showing at the ECAC Indoor Championships last weekend.
Taylor's teams have won six Ivy League titles in a 10-year span, he had two athletes make the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend (Blair and Stephen Mozia), and he helped Nick Wade break a four-minute mile earlier this season. Taylor was also named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year last season.
Blair, who will compete for a national championship this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., is already the school record holder in the high jump and bested his own mark this year when he cleared 7' 5 1/4" at the Upstate Challenge in January. That mark, the fourth-best in the country this season, is part of a winter that saw him win nearly every high jump competition he entered. He was the Ivy League champion at Harvard two weeks ago.
Blair will vie for a national championship at 4:30 p.m. EST on Saturday. He will be preceded by Mozia in the shot put at 4:55 p.m. EST on Friday and Rachel Sorna in the 5K at 8:55 p.m. on Friday.
