May 7, 2008

NORMAL, Ill. - George Mason women's cross country/track and field head coach Angie Taylor has been inducted to the Illinois State University's Athletics Hall of Fame, announced by the school this week. Taylor is one of six former student-athletes who were chosen as part of the 2008 class. The 1987 graduate of ISU was a nine-time Gateway Conference champion during her four years as a member of the Redbirds.

Taylor earned nine Gateway titles at Illinois State, four coming during the indoor season and five as a member of the outdoor squad. She was a three-time indoor long jump champion and won the 60-meter high hurdles in 1987. As part of the Redbirds' outdoor team, Taylor claimed three long jump titles as well as the championship in the 100-meter dash and hurdles events in her senior year. She served as team captain and also picked up Most Valuable Track and Field honors.

Additionally, Taylor holds two Redbird outdoor track and field records to this day. She sits atop the record books in the 100-meter hurdles (13.61) and the long jump (20-05.75). In her post-collegiate athletic career, she competed as a heptathlete for various USA national teams and was a finalist in the heptathlon in the 1992 Olympic trials. She finished that year ranked 30th in the world.

She is in her ninth season at the helm of Patriots women's cross country and track and field, and has trained five CAA Rookies of the Year, five outdoor conference Outstanding Championship Performers, including 2008 recipients Murielle Ahoure and Ryann Hendricks. Ahoure, a three-time winner of the award, became the first Mason athlete to capture an NCAA East Regional Championship under Taylor's tutelage, winning the 100-meter dash and qualifying for the national championships in both that and the 200-meter dash.

The honorees will be officially induced during the Hall of Fame banquet at 8 a.m. on Oct. 18 in the Brown Ballroom of the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus. The class will also be recognized during halftime of the Illinois State-Missouri State football game later that day. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.