Students who visit Bill Taylor’s office know the veteran cross country coach is proud of his job and his students.
Women's cross country team running at the Belmont Invitational. Photo credit: Daryl Bell, lipscombsports.com
“The character of Lipscomb University, the environment, the Christian emphasis, the character of the kids is different than other schools, especially at the Division I level,” Taylor said. “And that’s by far the greatest part of coaching here: We can glorify Christ and I get good kids with good character.”
Taylor, who has coached the team four years, explains that all the athletes set goals — both as individuals and as team members — to run to the best of their ability.
“Our goal is to be as good as we can be, and give ourselves the chance for a conference title,” Taylor said. “We talk lightly about a conference championship, but it’s not like we have to win.”
Taylor said that most girls who have been on the cross-country team for more than a year have dropped from one to three minutes off of their times on the 5K run.
Jenny Randolph, a senior biology major and captain of the women’s cross-country team, said she appreciates Taylor’s coaching.
“Coach Taylor knows how to structure workouts to be most beneficial to each individual and always, always pushes us to run to the best of our ability,” Randolph said. “He believes in us, even when we don’t believe in ourselves.”
Randolph has been running cross-country since middle school.
“On my recruiting visit, I was struck by how close the team was, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Randolph said.
Randolph values the family atmosphere fostered by the members of the team. Her favorite memories are more of time spent with her teammates than of time spent on the track.
This family attitude is also what Alex Newby, a freshman and Nutrition major, loves about the cross-country team.
“My favorite memory from the Lipscomb XC team was our first race, the Vanderbilt Classic,” Newby said. “It was really cool to race on our home course, and see how well we all worked together.”
Newby is from Knoxville, Tenn. and has been running cross-country for five years. She was a five-time all-state runner in track and cross-country in high school.
“Coach Taylor sets goals and pushes us to our limits so that we improve as the season goes on and run better than we ever have,” Newby said.
Randolph straightened out a common misconception to the sport of cross country.
“Cross-country is not an individual sport, although it may look like it to spectators,” Randolph said. “Every person is important.”
Important to themselves, the team, the university and of course, the coach.