Annaleise Taylor, an Oregon-bound senior at Canyon View High and the reigning Division 2 state gold medalist in the 300-meter hurdles, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss the Jaguars capturing their first girls team title May 3-4 by holding off six-time winner North Canyon by a 112-106 margin at Deer Valley High, in addition to looking forward to capturing the overall team crown May 10-11 at the Arizona Interscholastic Association state championship meet at Mesa Community College. Taylor reflects on Canyon View only opening in 2018 and her joining the program last year following her transfer from Millennium High. She revisits the Jaguars finishing fourth at the Division 2 state final last season with 57 points, trailing champion North Canyon at 88 points. Taylor ranks No. 2 in Arizona prep history in the 300-meter hurdles at 41.28 seconds and is pursuing the all-time mark of 40.90 achieved last year by Williams Field standout and current Arizona State freshman Saira Prince. She is one of seven high school female athletes in the country this year to run sub-14 in the 100-meter hurdles and eclipse the 42-second barrier in the 300 hurdles. Taylor examines her development in both events from running 15.1 and 43.9 as a sophomore and improving to 14.3 and 43.2 last season, before making significant strides this season. She analyzes how impactful the consistency of achieving multiple sub-42 performances has been and her pursuit of challenging the state record in the state championship at Mesa Community College. Taylor explains the decision to return to racing both the 4x100 and 4x400 for the Jaguars in an effort to challenge for the girls team title, following her performances in the long jump and 100-meter dash, in addition to the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles at Deer Valley. She explains how special it was to watch her teammates triumph in the 4x400 relay in 3:56.17 in the Division 2 final to punctuate the team championship, but also motivated Taylor is to return to the lineup and compete against Division 1 winner Chandler High, especially after the Jaguars prevailed in 3:50.68 on April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational in California. She shares how exciting it has been to share the spotlight in the hurdling events the past two years with Hamilton's Kori Martin and Gilbert's Vance Nilsson, as well as Prince, and how meaningful it has been to contribute to the deepest collection of talent in the events in state history. Taylor also looks forward to competing at Hayward Field in June at Nike Outdoor Nationals and the USATF Under-20 Championships before joining the Oregon program in the fall.