Taylor named National Women’s Coach of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association today announced BYU women’s cross country coach Diljeet Taylor has been named the 2020 National Women’s Coach of the Year.

In her fifth year coaching at BYU, Taylor led the Cougars to the program’s fifth national title in team history, its first title since 2003, at the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Four of Taylor’s athletes finished in the top 40 at the championship meet to claim All-America honors, the most All-Americans from one BYU team since 2003.

Taylor also led the Cougars to their third consecutive West Coast Conference title as seven BYU runners finished in the top 15. Her athletes collected four All-WCC First Team honors, three All-WCC Second Team honors and the league named Anna Martin the WCC Freshman of the Year. The team’s performance earned Taylor her third straight WCC Coach of the Year award.

The women’s cross country team won every meet it competed in during the 2020-21 season, including first place finishes at the Silver State Challenge and OSU Invitational.

The national award comes one day after the USTFCCCA named Taylor the Mountain Region Women’s Coach of the Year. Taylor joins legendary coach Patrick Shane as the only two BYU women’s cross country coaches to receive the national accolade. The Hall of Fame coach collected the award in 1997, 1999 and 2002.

The complete list of 2020 cross country national award winners can be found on ustfccca.org.