Interpolation_Dawg_EX
06-17-2015, 09:20 AM
SIAP, but I missed this article a few days back and figured it would be appropriate to post with Father's Day this weekend:http://www.clarionledger.com/longform/sports/2015/06/10/msus-taylor-fulfills-vow-father/71015694/
STARKVILLE ? Zach Taylor looked through the life-support tubes and cords keeping father, J.T., alive.
The Mississippi State decathlete held his hand in room No. 321 at the Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte.
The constant hum of doctors, nurses, and visitors within the halls allowed for little privacy.
Last year on the morning of Nov. 21, Taylor closed the room's door, granting him a few moments alone with his dad.
He made a promise to qualify for this month's NCAA Track and Field Championship in Oregon. But he also asked for a promise in return. He insisted his father join him in Eugene.
"I just kept telling him to squeeze my hand," Taylor said. "Do something to tell me that you're there."
A tear then came from his father's eye ? the first of many shed en route to Taylor keeping his promise and qualifying for nationals, which began Wednesday.
"I just lost it," Taylor said. "I knew he could hear me."
With little hope of a recovery from a workplace accident, the Taylor family took J.T. off life support that night.
Taylor woke up to a text message the next morning from his mother.
"He's with God now."
"I lost it," Taylor said. "I don't remember much after that."
'He never goes to the hospital for anything'
Nearly every trip in Zach Taylor's black Toyota FJ Cruiser meant a phone call to his dad.
But on Nov. 20 last year, instead of calling en route to the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex, Taylor talked to his dad 30 minutes before his 1 p.m. practice
As he drove by the gate leading to the MSU president's house, he received a phone call from a Charlotte area code. Taylor and his family moved to Rock Hill, South Carolina, located 30 miles south of Charlotte, when he was a sophomore at Heritage Academy in Columbus.
The call informed Taylor that his father was "sick" and had been brought to the hospital. The woman on the phone needed to get in contact with Taylor's mother.
"Right then and there I knew something was wrong," Taylor said. "He never goes to the hospital for anything."
Taylor remembered helping his father build deer stands on their property when he was 9 or 10. One day, his father shot a nail through his finger.
"He pulled the nail out and put some tape on his finger. Let's go," Taylor said. "Never went to the doctor, especially for being sick."
Taylor interrupted his mother, Trish, during a meeting at work.
After contacting the hospital, Trish called her son back. The Mississippi State sophomore had just walked into the training room in the Shira Complex.
"I answered the phone. She's like, 'He fell. He fell at work,'" Taylor said. "That's the only thing they would tell my mom when she got there. They wouldn't let her go in and see him or anything."
The conversation left Taylor in tears as he walked by MSU dietician Kelly White. She soon called MSU coach Steve Dudley.
"There's not a class you can take, there's not anything in life that you can take that can be prepared for that moment to try to comfort or help somebody," Dudley said. "All you can do is at least be there."
The 13th year head coach prepared travel arrangements for Taylor to fly to Charlotte. A flight to Atlanta was scheduled to leave Golden Triangle Regional Airport in 40 minutes.
It had only one seat remaining.
"Right when he got to the counter, it was paid for right that second," Dudley said. "Things, at least in that scenario, worked the way it should have."
'It looks rough'
Zach Taylor arrived in Charlotte around 9 p.m. He prayed for the best. He wanted to see his father lying in a hospital face with a black eye or scrapes across his face.
The 20-minute drive from the airport ended with a family friend, Jerry Conway, preparing Taylor for the worst.
"You just need to prepare for this. It looks rough," Conway told Taylor.
When he arrived on the third floor of the intensive care section of the hospital, Taylor hesitated to enter the room.
He peeked into room No. 321.
He saw his mom to the right of his dad. The bed was tall, so she had to stand in order to lean over him. Trish laid her head on J.T.'s chest. The couple that celebrated 25 years of marriage nine days earlier was holding hands.
"It's definitely the hardest thing I've ever done," Trish said. "Having Zach there with me meant so much."
The youngest of two walked in, embraced his mother and the two began to cry. Taylor's older sister arrived the next day on Nov. 21.
Later that night, after Taylor made the promise of nationals to his father, the family decided to take J.T off life support. He died early the next morning. He was 55.
J.T. lost consciousness during his lunch break at Shutter Fly. Witnesses say he bent down to pick up his work badge. When he stood up, he passed out and hit his head on the floor. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors thought he fell from a multi-story building.
"They still don't know to this day what caused him to pass out," Taylor said. "My mom just kept saying, 'This doesn't make sense. This doesn't make sense.'
'No chance of it'
The Taylors laid their father and husband to rest on Dec. 1. Mississippi State track and field paused its practices to attend.
"It really lifted my heart when a lot of my teammates showed up," Taylor said.
The semester continued, though, and classes ended Dec. 2.
He owned a 4.0 grade-point average, but needed to take a final exam, a test and a quiz to complete the semester. One of the exams was for a class called Development Through Lifespan, a course revolving around death.
He returned to South Carolina with four A's and his first B, caused by an 85 on the Development Through Lifespan exam.
From the end of November to the beginning of January, he didn't work out. His 150-pound physique grew to 168 pounds.
"I was in the best shape of my life before I left. About a week before we went back, I was like, 'all right time to get serious again,' " Taylor said. "I told him I was going to make it to nationals. I better regain myself and start over."
The process took much longer than expected.
"There was no chance of (nationals). In March, there was no chance of it. In early April, there was no chance of it," Dudley said. "Just being honest."
'I'm done'
Zach Taylor heard a pop. It was a familiar sound to the 20-year-old.
Taylor pulled his hamstring at Northwestern High School causing him to miss his senior season. He felt the pop again in his right hamstring as a freshman at Mississippi State at an attempt in the pole vault.
During the first week of March, Taylor's schedule included three or four 150-meter sprints. In his first attempt, his hamstring popped.
"Right then, I immediately thought this track season is over," Taylor said. "I'm done."
Taylor struggled to walk. A week later, the back of his leg bruised and it eventually extended down to the back of his calf.
"Knowing he made the commitment to make nationals, and then having the injury, it deeply bothered him," Trish Taylor said. "Am I going to be able to get there? Am I going to be able to perform? Can I perform without getting an injury?"
About three weeks passed before Dudley suggested running laps.
It began with two laps around the track. The next day he completed three, then four.
He transitioned to endurance workouts ? 12 reps of 200 meters -- that began shredding Taylor's excess weight. At the end of the month, he participated in a meet at Alabama.
He ran 11.3 in the 100 meters.
"I haven't run that slowly since probably eighth grade," Taylor said. "(Dudley) knew I was coming back from a hamstring. He knew I was scared to push it."
A month later, at the end of April, Taylor and his teammates ran 30-meter dashes in practice. In the fall of 2014, Taylor ran 2.90 seconds. The laser-timing system clocked him at 3.30.
"We had been sprinting long enough to where even at those velocities, the hamstring has to be healthy," Dudley said. "Sometimes you have to motivate those guys a bit."
Dudley widened the lane and asked Erica Bougard, the Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Year, to run beside Taylor.
Taylor ran 3.0.
"At that point I just had to show him that the leg is OK. You can sprint that fast, you just weren't finding it. You weren't digging deep enough to go find it," Dudley said. "I think that was a benchmark moment."
'I always thank him'
Zach Taylor gazes up at the sky at the start of every event and practice. He mouths a few sentences. They're different every time, but the overall theme is similar.
"I ask (my dad) to watch over me, to keep me healthy. I tell him I love him," Taylor said. "Let me have a good practice and keep me healthy."
Taylor repeats the routine when he leaves the track as well.
"I always thank him," Taylor said. "You can't really ask without thanking."
Taylor tweaked the procedure for the SEC Track and Field Championships in Starkville last month. Before meets, Taylor visits his father's grave at Friendship Cemetery in Columbus. Six months after promising a trip to nationals, the opportunity lay in front of him on Thursday, May 14. Taylor could earn one of 24 spots in the decathlon at nationals with a strong performance.
"I told (my dad) I was going to work really hard this year and he better be there," Taylor said. "There wasn't I'm going. Just he better be there."
The meet began with the decathlon's 100-meter dash. Taylor placed his feet in the starting blocks hoping to run under 11 seconds.
He crossed the line in first place. He saw 10-point-something on the scoreboard.
"Alright, 10, I'm happy. 10.9 or whatever," Taylor said. "Then the announcer goes that was Zach Taylor at 10.65 and it was just a shock. That was huge."
The momentum from the personal best carried into two more in the shot put and 400 meter.
After the first day and five events, Taylor sat in third with 3,818 points.
That night he sat with his mom calculating the numbers. Taylor predicted a total of 7,300 would qualify for nationals.
"After that first day, he was just grinning and full of excitement," Trish Taylor said. "And confidence, a confidence that I've never seen in Zach. He said, mom, 'I got this. I can do this.' "
Zach Taylor sprints during the 100-meter event during
Zach Taylor sprints during the 100-meter event during the decathlon at the SEC Championships.
(Photo: Bill Simmonds/Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
'Oh my goodness'
The events in day two of the decathlon require more skill and technique than those in day one.
"Anyone in the world can be a first-day decathlete," Taylor said. "?The second day is all technical stuff. Just guts and heart."
Taylor opened Friday like he did Thursday with a personal best in the first event, the 110-meter hurdles. He followed that performance with a career-best 40-meter toss in the discus.
But the pole vault ? his nemesis in the decathlon ? followed. Last year at the conference championships, Taylor pulled his hamstring in the event. He hadn't competed in it since.
Taylor calmed his nerves starting with a low height, 3.9 meters. The anxiety returned at 4.2.
A storm approached, increasing the tailwind. Taylor faulted on his first two attempts with 14-foot pole.
His only option was a 15-foot pole on his third and final attempt. It was a pole he hadn't touched in a year.
"I had no clue where to set my standards. I had no clue where to go up on height in the pole," Taylor said. "I had no clue where to start on the runway. I'm like this is not going to be good. Oh my goodness."
Then lightning struck, which triggered a delay. Competition resumed after a 30-minute warm-up session. Taylor set his standard, knew where to jump and cleared the height on his final attempt.
He used the same pole to clear 4.3 and set a new personal record (PR) at 4.4.
"I think my dad helped me out a lot on that," Taylor said. "I think he helped me out. He turned on the electric switch. That was a blessing."
'He did this for himself'
Dudley held Zach Taylor at the finish line in a headlock. The coach used his other hand to calculate the final results on his iPhone.
Taylor finished the 1500 ? the final event in the decathlon ? in 4 minutes, 23.51 seconds. It was his fifth PR of the day and eighth of the decathlon.
"When I'm still huffing and puffing, (Dudley's) like, 'Now don't get used to this,' " Taylor said. " 'This is not going to happen every time.' He's not discouraging me, he's just being real. It doesn't ever happen. You don't get eight PRs in the decathlon."
Dudley's phone eventually revealed what he and Taylor already knew after he cleared 4.2 in the pole vault.
"He's holding me up and he's messing with something on his phone," Taylor said. "He looks at me and says, 'We're going to Oregon, baby!' "
Taylor finished with a career-best 7,466 points, second to world No. 1 Maicel Uibo of Georgia.
Taylor sprinted to the stands, climbed the fence and embraced his mother, sister and girlfriend.
"It was very bittersweet, wishing his father was there to see him," Trish Taylor said. "But I knew his father was watching. Zach did this not only for his father, but he did this for himself."
Nearly seven months ago, Taylor sat inside a hospital room where he promised his father a trip to nationals.
Three weeks ago, Taylor stood on a platform and received a silver medal as the SEC's runner up in the men's decathlon. It symbolized a journey that caused tears of heartbreak and pain.
Wednesday, saw the realization of a son keeping his word with his father.
"I know he's happy. I know he's sitting down smiling right now," Taylor said. "That's always been something he always wanted to do. He wanted to go to Oregon."
STARKVILLE ? Zach Taylor looked through the life-support tubes and cords keeping father, J.T., alive.
The Mississippi State decathlete held his hand in room No. 321 at the Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte.
The constant hum of doctors, nurses, and visitors within the halls allowed for little privacy.
Last year on the morning of Nov. 21, Taylor closed the room's door, granting him a few moments alone with his dad.
He made a promise to qualify for this month's NCAA Track and Field Championship in Oregon. But he also asked for a promise in return. He insisted his father join him in Eugene.
"I just kept telling him to squeeze my hand," Taylor said. "Do something to tell me that you're there."
A tear then came from his father's eye ? the first of many shed en route to Taylor keeping his promise and qualifying for nationals, which began Wednesday.
"I just lost it," Taylor said. "I knew he could hear me."
With little hope of a recovery from a workplace accident, the Taylor family took J.T. off life support that night.
Taylor woke up to a text message the next morning from his mother.
"He's with God now."
"I lost it," Taylor said. "I don't remember much after that."
'He never goes to the hospital for anything'
Nearly every trip in Zach Taylor's black Toyota FJ Cruiser meant a phone call to his dad.
But on Nov. 20 last year, instead of calling en route to the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex, Taylor talked to his dad 30 minutes before his 1 p.m. practice
As he drove by the gate leading to the MSU president's house, he received a phone call from a Charlotte area code. Taylor and his family moved to Rock Hill, South Carolina, located 30 miles south of Charlotte, when he was a sophomore at Heritage Academy in Columbus.
The call informed Taylor that his father was "sick" and had been brought to the hospital. The woman on the phone needed to get in contact with Taylor's mother.
"Right then and there I knew something was wrong," Taylor said. "He never goes to the hospital for anything."
Taylor remembered helping his father build deer stands on their property when he was 9 or 10. One day, his father shot a nail through his finger.
"He pulled the nail out and put some tape on his finger. Let's go," Taylor said. "Never went to the doctor, especially for being sick."
Taylor interrupted his mother, Trish, during a meeting at work.
After contacting the hospital, Trish called her son back. The Mississippi State sophomore had just walked into the training room in the Shira Complex.
"I answered the phone. She's like, 'He fell. He fell at work,'" Taylor said. "That's the only thing they would tell my mom when she got there. They wouldn't let her go in and see him or anything."
The conversation left Taylor in tears as he walked by MSU dietician Kelly White. She soon called MSU coach Steve Dudley.
"There's not a class you can take, there's not anything in life that you can take that can be prepared for that moment to try to comfort or help somebody," Dudley said. "All you can do is at least be there."
The 13th year head coach prepared travel arrangements for Taylor to fly to Charlotte. A flight to Atlanta was scheduled to leave Golden Triangle Regional Airport in 40 minutes.
It had only one seat remaining.
"Right when he got to the counter, it was paid for right that second," Dudley said. "Things, at least in that scenario, worked the way it should have."
'It looks rough'
Zach Taylor arrived in Charlotte around 9 p.m. He prayed for the best. He wanted to see his father lying in a hospital face with a black eye or scrapes across his face.
The 20-minute drive from the airport ended with a family friend, Jerry Conway, preparing Taylor for the worst.
"You just need to prepare for this. It looks rough," Conway told Taylor.
When he arrived on the third floor of the intensive care section of the hospital, Taylor hesitated to enter the room.
He peeked into room No. 321.
He saw his mom to the right of his dad. The bed was tall, so she had to stand in order to lean over him. Trish laid her head on J.T.'s chest. The couple that celebrated 25 years of marriage nine days earlier was holding hands.
"It's definitely the hardest thing I've ever done," Trish said. "Having Zach there with me meant so much."
The youngest of two walked in, embraced his mother and the two began to cry. Taylor's older sister arrived the next day on Nov. 21.
Later that night, after Taylor made the promise of nationals to his father, the family decided to take J.T off life support. He died early the next morning. He was 55.
J.T. lost consciousness during his lunch break at Shutter Fly. Witnesses say he bent down to pick up his work badge. When he stood up, he passed out and hit his head on the floor. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors thought he fell from a multi-story building.
"They still don't know to this day what caused him to pass out," Taylor said. "My mom just kept saying, 'This doesn't make sense. This doesn't make sense.'
'No chance of it'
The Taylors laid their father and husband to rest on Dec. 1. Mississippi State track and field paused its practices to attend.
"It really lifted my heart when a lot of my teammates showed up," Taylor said.
The semester continued, though, and classes ended Dec. 2.
He owned a 4.0 grade-point average, but needed to take a final exam, a test and a quiz to complete the semester. One of the exams was for a class called Development Through Lifespan, a course revolving around death.
He returned to South Carolina with four A's and his first B, caused by an 85 on the Development Through Lifespan exam.
From the end of November to the beginning of January, he didn't work out. His 150-pound physique grew to 168 pounds.
"I was in the best shape of my life before I left. About a week before we went back, I was like, 'all right time to get serious again,' " Taylor said. "I told him I was going to make it to nationals. I better regain myself and start over."
The process took much longer than expected.
"There was no chance of (nationals). In March, there was no chance of it. In early April, there was no chance of it," Dudley said. "Just being honest."
'I'm done'
Zach Taylor heard a pop. It was a familiar sound to the 20-year-old.
Taylor pulled his hamstring at Northwestern High School causing him to miss his senior season. He felt the pop again in his right hamstring as a freshman at Mississippi State at an attempt in the pole vault.
During the first week of March, Taylor's schedule included three or four 150-meter sprints. In his first attempt, his hamstring popped.
"Right then, I immediately thought this track season is over," Taylor said. "I'm done."
Taylor struggled to walk. A week later, the back of his leg bruised and it eventually extended down to the back of his calf.
"Knowing he made the commitment to make nationals, and then having the injury, it deeply bothered him," Trish Taylor said. "Am I going to be able to get there? Am I going to be able to perform? Can I perform without getting an injury?"
About three weeks passed before Dudley suggested running laps.
It began with two laps around the track. The next day he completed three, then four.
He transitioned to endurance workouts ? 12 reps of 200 meters -- that began shredding Taylor's excess weight. At the end of the month, he participated in a meet at Alabama.
He ran 11.3 in the 100 meters.
"I haven't run that slowly since probably eighth grade," Taylor said. "(Dudley) knew I was coming back from a hamstring. He knew I was scared to push it."
A month later, at the end of April, Taylor and his teammates ran 30-meter dashes in practice. In the fall of 2014, Taylor ran 2.90 seconds. The laser-timing system clocked him at 3.30.
"We had been sprinting long enough to where even at those velocities, the hamstring has to be healthy," Dudley said. "Sometimes you have to motivate those guys a bit."
Dudley widened the lane and asked Erica Bougard, the Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Year, to run beside Taylor.
Taylor ran 3.0.
"At that point I just had to show him that the leg is OK. You can sprint that fast, you just weren't finding it. You weren't digging deep enough to go find it," Dudley said. "I think that was a benchmark moment."
'I always thank him'
Zach Taylor gazes up at the sky at the start of every event and practice. He mouths a few sentences. They're different every time, but the overall theme is similar.
"I ask (my dad) to watch over me, to keep me healthy. I tell him I love him," Taylor said. "Let me have a good practice and keep me healthy."
Taylor repeats the routine when he leaves the track as well.
"I always thank him," Taylor said. "You can't really ask without thanking."
Taylor tweaked the procedure for the SEC Track and Field Championships in Starkville last month. Before meets, Taylor visits his father's grave at Friendship Cemetery in Columbus. Six months after promising a trip to nationals, the opportunity lay in front of him on Thursday, May 14. Taylor could earn one of 24 spots in the decathlon at nationals with a strong performance.
"I told (my dad) I was going to work really hard this year and he better be there," Taylor said. "There wasn't I'm going. Just he better be there."
The meet began with the decathlon's 100-meter dash. Taylor placed his feet in the starting blocks hoping to run under 11 seconds.
He crossed the line in first place. He saw 10-point-something on the scoreboard.
"Alright, 10, I'm happy. 10.9 or whatever," Taylor said. "Then the announcer goes that was Zach Taylor at 10.65 and it was just a shock. That was huge."
The momentum from the personal best carried into two more in the shot put and 400 meter.
After the first day and five events, Taylor sat in third with 3,818 points.
That night he sat with his mom calculating the numbers. Taylor predicted a total of 7,300 would qualify for nationals.
"After that first day, he was just grinning and full of excitement," Trish Taylor said. "And confidence, a confidence that I've never seen in Zach. He said, mom, 'I got this. I can do this.' "
Zach Taylor sprints during the 100-meter event during
Zach Taylor sprints during the 100-meter event during the decathlon at the SEC Championships.
(Photo: Bill Simmonds/Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
'Oh my goodness'
The events in day two of the decathlon require more skill and technique than those in day one.
"Anyone in the world can be a first-day decathlete," Taylor said. "?The second day is all technical stuff. Just guts and heart."
Taylor opened Friday like he did Thursday with a personal best in the first event, the 110-meter hurdles. He followed that performance with a career-best 40-meter toss in the discus.
But the pole vault ? his nemesis in the decathlon ? followed. Last year at the conference championships, Taylor pulled his hamstring in the event. He hadn't competed in it since.
Taylor calmed his nerves starting with a low height, 3.9 meters. The anxiety returned at 4.2.
A storm approached, increasing the tailwind. Taylor faulted on his first two attempts with 14-foot pole.
His only option was a 15-foot pole on his third and final attempt. It was a pole he hadn't touched in a year.
"I had no clue where to set my standards. I had no clue where to go up on height in the pole," Taylor said. "I had no clue where to start on the runway. I'm like this is not going to be good. Oh my goodness."
Then lightning struck, which triggered a delay. Competition resumed after a 30-minute warm-up session. Taylor set his standard, knew where to jump and cleared the height on his final attempt.
He used the same pole to clear 4.3 and set a new personal record (PR) at 4.4.
"I think my dad helped me out a lot on that," Taylor said. "I think he helped me out. He turned on the electric switch. That was a blessing."
'He did this for himself'
Dudley held Zach Taylor at the finish line in a headlock. The coach used his other hand to calculate the final results on his iPhone.
Taylor finished the 1500 ? the final event in the decathlon ? in 4 minutes, 23.51 seconds. It was his fifth PR of the day and eighth of the decathlon.
"When I'm still huffing and puffing, (Dudley's) like, 'Now don't get used to this,' " Taylor said. " 'This is not going to happen every time.' He's not discouraging me, he's just being real. It doesn't ever happen. You don't get eight PRs in the decathlon."
Dudley's phone eventually revealed what he and Taylor already knew after he cleared 4.2 in the pole vault.
"He's holding me up and he's messing with something on his phone," Taylor said. "He looks at me and says, 'We're going to Oregon, baby!' "
Taylor finished with a career-best 7,466 points, second to world No. 1 Maicel Uibo of Georgia.
Taylor sprinted to the stands, climbed the fence and embraced his mother, sister and girlfriend.
"It was very bittersweet, wishing his father was there to see him," Trish Taylor said. "But I knew his father was watching. Zach did this not only for his father, but he did this for himself."
Nearly seven months ago, Taylor sat inside a hospital room where he promised his father a trip to nationals.
Three weeks ago, Taylor stood on a platform and received a silver medal as the SEC's runner up in the men's decathlon. It symbolized a journey that caused tears of heartbreak and pain.
Wednesday, saw the realization of a son keeping his word with his father.
"I know he's happy. I know he's sitting down smiling right now," Taylor said. "That's always been something he always wanted to do. He wanted to go to Oregon."