May 28, 2025 3 min read

Name: Aaron Taylor

School: Canon-McMillan

Grade: Junior

Sport: Track

Taylor’s week: A silver medal in the 300-meter hurdles was a pretty good accomplishment in its own right for Taylor over the weekend at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in Shippensburg, but a fifth-place finish in the 110 hurdles made it even more special.

Taylor wasn’t in the top eight seeds for the 110 hurdles, but put forth a personal best time of 14.40 in the Friday afternoon preliminaries to qualify for the final and guarantee himself two medals.

It was a satisfying weekend, but also one that gives him something to shoot for next year, which is to stand on the top step of the podium in the 300 hurdles.

“That’s my goal next year,” Taylor said. “I want to get that gold medal.”

As far as celebrations were concerned, Taylor didn’t have much planned other than some well-deserved relaxation.

“I don’t plan on doing much except taking it easy,” Taylor said. “It’s been a rough two days with the travel and running these races, so I don’t plan on doing anything crazy.”

Cool runner: It was an unusually cool weekend in Shippensburg with temps in the low 60’s and factoring in wind chill, it felt like it was in the 50’s. There were plenty of gusty winds and rain showers as well, forcing many athletes and spectators to break out their umbrellas, sweatshirts and blankets.

It felt more like a season opening meet than the last one of the year, but that was just fine for Taylor.

He prefers running in cooler temperatures and his performance backed that up.

“I was very happy with it,” Taylor said. “I hate the heat. Last year it was in the 80’s and that was too hot for me.”

Built for hurdles: Taylor first tried hurdles in seventh grade and took to it like a duck to water. It started with a suggestion from his middle school basketball coach, who happened to be a hurdles coach too. He said he has the right body type to be a successful hurdler and has refined his technique over time.

“It just stuck for me and I just kept getting better and better,” Taylor said.

There also is no fear element for Taylor when it comes to leaping high over each hurdle. It’s never been there either. He said he’s been comfortable from the first leap.

“I never really worried about falling, because in middle school the hurdles are not that high,” Taylor said. “They weren’t too bad, so as I got older, I just never worried about it.”

Sports fanatic: While Taylor does not participate in any other school sponsored sport at Canon-McMillan, he enjoys playing them recreationally.

He played golf when he was younger and after a hiatus he’s back on the course.

“I played when I was younger, but I just got back into it last summer,” Taylor said. “It’s for fun, but my friends and I are competitive. We want to get the lowest score.”

Along with golf, he enjoys playing pickup basketball and a backyard game of football. Those activities have been on the backburner, but now that the state meet is in the rearview mirror he’s ready to get back to it.

“I can’t really play backyard football right now, because if I twisted an ankle I would’ve missed the state meet, so I’m going to get back to that in the summer,” Taylor said.

Compiled by Jerin Steele