RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – High Point University track & field alumnus Taylor Milne (’05) competed in the preliminary round of the 3000m steeplechase on Monday morning at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Suiting up for Canada, Milne placed ninth in his heat and 26th out of 45 competitors overall with a time of 8:34.38. The top-15 runners qualified for Wednesday’s final, including Donald Cabral and Evan Jager of the United States.
The race marked Milne’s second appearance in the Olympic Games. He also finished t-28th in the 1500m run at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Arguably the finest distance runner in HPU history, Milne was named to the Big South Indoor/Outdoor All-Decade Teams in 2014. He was a four-time Big South champion and four-time all-conference selection during his career from 2001-05.
He was an individual champion in the 2003 indoor season in both the 800-meter and mile and in the 3000-meter and mile in 2004. Milne became High Point’s first NCAA Div. I national track & field qualifier when he did so as a senior in the indoor mile. Milne finished 13th at the 2004 NCAA National Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Outdoors, Milne won an individual championship as a sophomore in the 1500m and again won the event as a senior in 2005. Milne still holds the HPU indoor-record in the mile with a time of 4:02.18 and 3000m with a mark of 8:13.43. He holds the outdoor record in the 1,500-meters in 3:43.99 and was named the 2003 Big South Most Outstanding Indoor Track Performer.