Oregon Track and Field adds Curtis Taylor to Coaching Staff

Track and Field adds Curtis Taylor to Coaching Staff
Taylor comes from Laney College where he spent eight years and won two California Community College Championships
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Courtesy: GoDucks.com

Release: 09/04/2013

Courtesy: Geoff Thurner
EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon Track and Field has added Curtis Taylor to the coaching staff, head coach Robert Johnson announced, Wednesday. Taylor will assist in coaching sprints, hurdles and relays for the Ducks.

Taylor joins the Oregon staff from Laney College in Oakland, Calif., where he spent eight years as the Head Women’s Track and Field Coach.

“We could not be more excited to hire someone who has not only a tremendous amount of experience, but also a vast understanding about coaching the sprints and hurdles,” Johnson said. “Coach Taylor is an incredible technician who has a similar training philosophy to what we’ve been doing here and will be an outstanding addition to our coaching staff. My goal was to add someone who would make a difference and with the hire of Curtis, I believe we have accomplished that.”

Taylor took a program that finished 23rd at the 2006 California Community College State Track and Field Championships before his arrival and immediately helped them compete for state titles. By his second year at Laney, the team won the Nor Cal Regional Championship and finished second at the state meet, earning Taylor the title of California State Junior College Coach of the Year. The honor was followed by being named the Nor Cal Region Women’s Coach of the Year both in 2007 and 2008.

The level of competition at Laney was maintained throughout Taylor’s tenure as the Eagles finished in the top three in the state during five of his seven years at the helm. In 2010, Taylor guided Laney to its first California State Junior College Championship and duplicated the effort in 2012.

"I am very excited about this opportunity to work in one of the top collegiate programs in the nation,” Taylor said. “I hope to be able to add to and build on the strong foundation that Coach Johnson has already laid."

Prior to his time at Laney College, Taylor had two-year stops at Merritt College as the Head Women’s Track and Field coach and at City College of San Francisco where he was an assistant coach for sprints, hurdles and jumps.

Outside of the collegiate scene, Taylor served as a camp clinician at the USATF Junior Women’s Elite Sprint/Hurdles Camp and was a USATF Western Region Junior Women’s Sprint Coordinator. He was also the Track and Field Coach at the East Oakland Youth Development Program for 17 years, a community-based organization that has produced numerous youth national champions.

Taylor began his coaching career at the interscholastic level in 1988 at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland as an assistant coach before becoming head coach at Skyline High School, also in Oakland, for six years.

In all, Taylor has coached more than 50 High School and Junior College All-Americans.