Diljeet Taylor named as women's assistant cross country and distance coach

PROVO, Utah - BYU men’s and women’s track and field and cross country coach Ed Eyestone has announced the hiring of new assistant women’s cross country and distance coach Diljeet Taylor. Taylor joins BYU from Cal State Stanislaus, where she served as head cross country coach and director of track and field since 2013.

“Coach Taylor is an incredible coach who has built a powerhouse college track and cross country program from the ground up,” Eyestone said. “She has done this through hard work, technical expertise, diligent mentoring and amazing motivational skills. Her runners will run through a wall for her, and we are excited for her to join our staff and energize our entire team."

Taylor will take over for former distance coach Patrick Shane, who recently retired after a 36-year career with the Cougars.

“I am very grateful for this coaching opportunity at BYU,” Taylor said. “It is an honor and privilege to be considered capable to develop a program like BYU and to follow in the footsteps of Coach Shane, who has been doing it for 36 years. I am excited to share my passion with the women’s cross country and distance team and to help bring them back to national prominence.”

In 2007, Taylor was hired as the head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country programs at Cal State Stanislaus and also served as the distance coach for men’s and women’s outdoor track teams and women’s indoor track team. In June of 2013, she was named director of track and field and cross country.

During her time at Cal State Stanislaus, Coach Taylor guided all-american Courtney Anderson to an NCAA Division II championship in the 1,500-meter run in 2014. Since becoming head coach in 2013, the distance and cross country programs have had 16 all-americans, including consecutive runner-up finishes in the indoor championships by the distance medley relay team.  

Taylor also coached men's middle-distance runner Abraham Alvarado and women's javelin thrower Channing Wilson, who qualified for and competed in the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. Alvarado competed in the men's 800-meter race and made it to the semifinals, and Wilson finished 19th of in the opening round of the women's javelin throw. 

From 2004-2006, Taylor trained with Nike’s Farm Elite Team, an Olympic development team that makes its home at Stanford University. She served as an assistant coach to Keith Spataro at Menlo College before taking over as head coach in 2005-06.

Taylor attended Cal State Stanislaus as a student-athlete from 1999-2002. She was a three-time all-american in indoor and outdoor track and field as a specialist in the 800-meter and 1500-meter runs. She set the school indoor record in the 800-meter in 2002. That same year she finished second at the NCAA National Championship meet. She finished her career second on the outdoor track all-time list in both the 800- and 1,500-meter events.

In 2002 Taylor was named Cal State Stanislaus Female Athlete of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was also the most dominant runner for the Warriors during that time, earning Most Valuable Runner from 2000-2002. She also served as a team captain for the Warriors for two years.

Taylor graduated from Cal State Stanislaus in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies. She graduated with cum laude honors.

Taylor is married to former Cal State Stanislaus basketball player Ira Taylor and they have two children, Taj and Avi.