Two-time Olympian Taylor Milne is part of the 2018 class of area athletes elected to the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame.
“Taylor Milne represented Canada in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and thus qualifies as an Automatic member of the Hall; he also represented this country at a pair of Commonwealth Games and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won eight medals at Canadian track and Field Championships. He is undoubtedly one of the finest runners ever developed in the North Bay area,” said Bill Jacko, Chair of the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame.
Taylor Milne was born in Callander and attended West Ferris and Widdifield High Schools where he won 5 NDA cross Country championships and nine 1500 and 3000 metre titles.
He captured six NOSSA golds and four silvers in the same disciplines and added OFSAA silver in the 1998 cross country and bronze in the 1500 in 2000.
Attending High Point University in Charlotte, North Carolina, Milne competed both indoor and outdoor at several distances and was a six time Big South champion and eight time All Conference honouree - being named a Big South Hall of Famer and to the Big South All Decade (2000-2009) indoor and outdoor track and field team. He earned All American honours by finishing 13th in the Division 1 indoor 1500 as High Point’s first National track and field qualifier. While at High Point he won four Big South Indoor titles in record times - a pair of 1500’s plus an 800 and 3000 as well as finishing first in the outdoor 1500 in 2002 and 2005.
He ran cross country through high school and in 2006 was a member of the Canadian team at the IAAF World Championships in Japan - his first international competition. A year later he took silver in the Canadian 10k road race and went on to set a record (3:38.01) in the 1500 at the 2008 Olympic trials which qualified him for the Beijing Olympics. In 2010 he ran the 1500 in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. Two years later, after failing to qualify (1500) for the Olympics in London, England he decided to switch gears and specialize in the 3000m steeplechase in 2013.
In 2014, he ran the steeplechase for Canada in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and in 2015 he finished 22nd in the steeple at the World championships in China. He won the Canadian Olympic trials the following year which qualified him to compete for Canada in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Over the years he won eight medals at Canadian Championships including golds in the 1500 and steeplechase. He took silver three times at Canadians and added a trio of bronze medals.
His career bests included 3:36 in the 1500, 3:54.2 in the mile and 8:19.9 in the steeplechase.
His mile time is the 4th fastest for a Canadian and his steeple time is a Canadian 5th.
Milne will be one of four individuals to be inducted into the NBSHF at the Davedi Club on Saturday, May 4th. Tickets are available from the following Executive Members: Karen Cobb (705-493-7578), Mary McTavish (705-497-8111) or Tom Nodwell (705-474-7108).
