Evan Taylor sprints through two Lynbrook track records

Evan+Taylor+sprints+through+two+Lynbrook+track+records

Deeksha Raj, Business Manager

After a final burst of energy, senior Evan Taylor is milliseconds away from breaking yet another school record — his team holds their breaths as they watch him cross the finish line of the 200-meter dash in 21.74 seconds, the fastest time a Lynbrook athlete has ever run.

Evan was thrilled to see his record-breaking time appear on the stopwatch as he crossed the finish line, something he had been anticipating for months. His teammates erupted in cheers and rushed over to celebrate the memorable moment with him.

“I felt completely overjoyed and relieved when I crossed the finish line,” Evan said. “When I saw my time on the stopwatch it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

On April 13, Evan broke Lynbrook’s 44-year-old record in the 200-meter dash event. Following that, at the Central Coast Section Last Chance Invite, he broke another 30-year-old Lynbrook record in the 100-meter dash event on April 16. In his fourth year of running for Lynbrook’s track and field team, Evan was determined to leave a mark in its history. 

The previous record for the 200-meter dash was 21.91 seconds, held by class of 1979 alumnus Stan Mitchell. During Evan’s 21.74-second race, he recalls feeling like he was slowing down. 

“Out of all the records that I had my eyes set on, the 200-meter dash was the one I was most confident about, so I knew I’d be able to do it,” Evan said. “It was just a matter of when.” 

At the race, Evan’s friends and family were among the audience celebrating this huge victory with him. 

Right when he crossed the finish line, I saw him jump up into the air and everyone was cheering,” Evan’s father and Lynbrook physics teacher David Taylor said. “Initially, I didn’t know he broke a school record — I thought he just set a personal record — but when he told me later we were all very happy and proud of him.” 

Just three days later, Evan broke Lynbrook’s 30-year record of 10.75 seconds in the 100-meter dash event with a time of 10.63 seconds.

During this race, the result for first place was very tight between Evan and another runner — it ultimately came down to a lung toward the finish line to determine the winner.

“I didn’t expect to break the 100-meter dash record,” Evan said. “But I just gave it my all and was confident because I had just broken the 200-meter dash record.”

Evan has been involved in track and field for the past seven years. His impressive performance in 6th grade track and field motivated him to continue to train and improve. Evan’s efforts to become a better runner started showing during his sophomore year when he began placing and has also allowed him to constantly set new records. 

“I’m proud of how far I’ve come since middle school and I’m really glad that I made the decision to continue track.” Evan said.