Anderson sees bright future for Baylor-bound Calisha Taylor

DAVE ANDERSON, the head coach at Holmwood Technical High, views this week’s US Track and Field Coaches Association Junior College Athlete of the Week award for his former pupil Calisha Taylor as a continuation of her track and field fairytale. Brilliant for New Mexico Junior College last weekend, Taylor suffered an untimely injury on international duty in 2018 and now is on the cusp of greater success.

Last year, she won National Junior College champion titles indoors and outdoors and, on the weekend, she started 2023 with a double bang. First, the long-legged St Catherine native circled 600 yards at the Corky Classic in Texas in 1 minute 21.65 seconds, the third-fastest time in NJCAA history. Taylor returned to stroll a 54.25 second leg on New Mexico’s 4x400 winner.

“My first reaction was not being surprised, because Calisha Taylor is really a fairytale story.”

The story began with Taylor going to Holmwood years ago.

“When she turned up at Holmwood with her report, that was what caught my attention. She was first in her class at McGrath. So, definitely there and then, I realised that, alright, she’s not only an athlete who wants to run, but she’s a student who takes her schoolwork seriously,” said Anderson.

SPECIAL TALENT

“From the first time I saw that young lady run, I knew that she was a special talent.”

2018 was bittersweet. She won the Carifta Under-17 400 hurdles title and was chasing gold for Jamaica on the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay at the World Under-20 Championships when disaster struck. A leg injury cut her fluent stride but somehow she held onto the bronze.

She came home frustrated. Anderson counselled her, saying, “Listen, Calisha, you have talent but injury is part of every athlete’s career. So you will just have to deal with it, and I want to see you benefit from your talent down the road.” And, so far, that is happening. “I’m very proud. I’m a very proud man right now,” he said.

From a skeleton season in 2019 to a sketchy 2021 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships performance, Taylor is now on her way to bigger things.

“She has been scouted by many schools. Some try to get her through me still, but eventually, her final choice is at Baylor University where she will join Kavia Francis,” Anderson said, referencing Taylor’s former Holmwood teammate.

Asked if her determination was moulded in the St Catherine hills, Anderson made a sage connection to Ewarton native Christopher Taylor, the World and Olympic 400 finalist.

“There’s something special about the Taylors who go across that Flat Bridge there,” he observed.

“Once she is healthy, I don’t see any limit for her,” Anderson said.

“She is one of those athletes who, on any given day, can turn up big because she has a big heart and she is a very, very, very competitive athlete.”