Niwot track standout commits to Stanford

Stanford University track and field has claimed another prize recruit from Niwot. Standout Taylor James has announced that she will be taking her prodigious talents to Palo Alto next fall, following the trail blazed by former Cougar standouts Elise Cranny and Mary Gillett.

"In the end there were a couple of main things that swayed my decision," the talented senior said of her choice. "Obviously Stanford's athletic and academic prestige is one of the big ones. Also, Coach [J.J.] Clark seems amazing. From our phone conversations and hours on FaceTime, I realized that he is very similar to my coach, Coach Mo, and it seems that I can really bond with him. I also did a Zoom call with a bunch of the girls on the team, and I just like the energy and the atmosphere, and I got the feeling that Stanford is just the place that I wanted to be. I'm really excited to be part of 'The Farm' as they say."

Heading into her final year of high school, James was one of the most highly sought track and field recruits in the nation, and deservedly so. Even without the benefit of a spring 2020 track season, her resume includes four individual Class 4A state track championships, a silver medal at the Reykjavík International Games, and Gatorade's 2020 Colorado Track Athlete of the Yearaward, among many, many more. In track, James has specialized in mid-distance events, specifically the 800 meter, but she also has seen success in high jump and cross country, making her one of the more versatile athletes in her class.

Naturally, that put her in the sights of some of the most elite collegiate track and field programs in the nation, including Michigan, Princeton, Oregon, Duke, and Vanderbilt. According to the aforementioned "Coach Mo", otherwise known as longtime Niwot head track Coach Maurice Henriques, the competition over his talented star and her "unbelievable range" was definitely heated and led to several generous offers.

"It's amazing how many schools offered her scholarships," he said. "They were giving her, like, football scholarships-five years guaranteed, and 100-percent tuition."

James consulted Henriques frequently while weighing her options, and while he didn't tell her which offer to accept, he did help her weigh the pros and cons of each and kept in touch with many of the coaches. He thinks Stanford is "a really good fit" for James, who will be specializing in the 800m and focusing less on distance. He also agrees strongly with her assessment of Clark, who has coached at the collegiate and Olympic levels for nearly 30 years, and is the son of New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark, portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the 1989 film "Lean on Me."

"She has an unbelievable range, so I think it is one of the schools that really looked at her as truly as mid-distance," Henriques said. "Clark's had a lot of success with 800m runners over the years, and he didn't really need her for cross country."

That appealed greatly to James, but Henriques said it was the personal connection Clark made with her during their virtual visits that ended up being the key to signing the prize recruit.

"I think what made a big impact on Taylor was the relationship piece," he said. "Coach Clark is more into the person and wanted to get to know her. I pride myself on that-I want to know who you are, and not just what you can do."

James also talked with Gillett, a 2018 Niwot graduate and now a junior at Stanford. James' was a freshman during the two-time state champion's senior season, and is looking forward to a reunion with the sprinter.

"Mary was very helpful in the process," James said. "She was such a role model to me, and a great friend, and I loved having her around my freshman year. And so it happens to be that I'm going to get another year with her, which is super exciting."

Of course, Stanford's reputation for rigorous academics was also of great interest to James, who is a student in Niwot's International Baccalaureate program. She has yet to narrow down her varied interests to a specific course of study, but is looking forward to "being challenged" in the classroom.

"Athletics can only get me so far in life because, eventually. I won't be able to run anymore," she said. "So going to a good school that will set me up for the rest of my life is something that I really took into consideration."

As for post-collegiate life, that, too, is undecided, but James does have an idea of where she'd like to be in August 2024. And, given Clark's track record of 800m success at the international level, it's not entirely far-fetched.

"I think every runner at one point has fantasized about the idea of competing in the Olympic Games or World Championships, so that's something that would be super awesome," she said. "So it's in the back of my mind, and I have to keep working and trusting my coaches."

To be sure, that's a formula that has worked for James so far, and she made a point to acknowledge the support system that has helped shape her decorated career.

"I want to say how much I appreciate the people who have gotten me to this point. I couldn't have done it without my coaches, Coach [Kelly] Christensen and Coach Mo, and all the assistant coaches, and all of my teammates. I am forever grateful for what they've done to help develop me as an athlete and a person as well."