The Norton Track Family

It was no surprise to see Norton High School running and throwing at the D4 Massachusetts State Championship for track on Wednesday, June 3rd as they have been undefeated for the past two seasons. The team was led by many strong captains and athletes and in particular an extremely good coach..How was this coach able to lead his team through so much success with his copious supply of wins?

In sports, there has been coaches that have proven people wrong, gone against all odds, and have been able to achieve great things. For most coaches it is their dream is to be most popular one out there and have their name all over the record books. For others it is all about the athletes, getting them to achieve as much as they can and succeed past their potential. The Norton Track team has a coach that can prove this point to you.

The Norton Track Team came out victorious in winning the D4 State Championship on June 3. They have gone undefeated for two seasons and have been striving to consummate the D4 state title for the past couple of the years. The team was led by Norton High School's own English teacher. The guy behind all of this team's success was Coach Kent Taylor. He has been able to improve and push his players, so they could be the winning team that they are today. Taylor has been able to constitute a team full of the competitors in Massachusetts track such as his record holding senior captains, Mike Tierney, Eric Sanford, Cam Stalters, and Adam Winiarz. He also been able to bring the potential out of many runners as a lot them racked up on Varsity points this year. The question still hasn't been answered, how was this coach able to lead his team to so much success?

Coach Taylor has been been involved with all of the running going on throughout the school year as he coached cross country,Winter track, and Spring track. It has been easy to see that this man blatantly has a love for running or just plainly loves coaching it. Why wouldn't he love coaching it if he wasn't good at it. Taylor is currently sponsored by Brooks Running, and has competed in hundreds of races over the years. He is simply a good runner and is able to share his small tricks with his runners. He is able to tell them everything they need to know not from research, but from experience. Experience is a key component in sports because you cannot expect athletes to know what to do without a little bit of coaching.

Experience is a big key to all of this success, but another big thing would be Taylor’s passion for the sport. He is so involved with tracks as he is takes care of all of the D4 scores sheets on their website. He is able to keep up with the standings from all of the team’s in his division. I asked track athletes at Norton High School about how involved Coach Taylor is for track. Freshman Julia Pali had a lot to say Coach Taylor, "He's so dedicated to the program and his love for the sport is so evident. He truly cares about the athletes and wants us to each do our best." All of their answers were, I can’t believe this guys has time to do anything else but track. He can be compared to an Olympic track coach because of how involved he is with his coaching job.

One biggest things about Coach Taylor is that he treats all of his athletes as family. EVERYONE on the team is part of his family, not just the varsity point scorers, but every single member on the team. He has been able to create emotions and unity within his team. Usually track meets would be considered boring once your event is over, but at Norton the atmosphere is full of laughter and energy. People cheer for each other and no one is the odd man out.Taylor has been able to bring something new to the face of track. The team work imputed by everyone on the team is amazing. He has created an everlasting family, a Norton Track Family.

Coach Taylor is at the apogee of his career, so who knows what is store for upcoming years. He has shown that he can easily get his hands on another TVL title, and has shown that he can put up a fight and be a top contender for the state title. If he was able to do it one year then he can do it again. Students apprehend Kent Taylor as a normal English teacher that just simply likes to run, but to his athletes he is like a father for he cares for all of them as if they were his family. 

Discussion Questions: 
1. What subject does Coach Taylor teach at Norton High School?
2. How many years has Coach Taylor gone undefeated?
3. Do you think Taylor will go undefeated next year too?
4. What company currently sponsors Taylor?
5. In your opinion, what is the key factor behind all of Coach Taylor's success?