TRACK AND FIELD: Taylor-made hurdle victories for Canyon freshman

I have seen the future of area hurdling and her name is Taylor Thomas.

The Canyon freshman left no doubt Friday as to who is the best hurdler in the Foothill League, recording a dominant victory in the 100 hurdles and then holding off a late charge by Saugus senior Ashley Kramer in the 300 hurdles to sweep both championships on her home track, matching the efforts of freshman teammate Tiffini Stone, who doubled in the long jump and triple jump.

Thomas was clearly the class of the league throughout the year in the 100 hurdles, using her speed to pull away from the field in the second half of the race. That was the case again Friday, as she created a larger gap between the rest of the pack with every hurdle, posting a margin of victory of more than a second to prevail in 15.52.

The 300 hurdles was a different story for two reasons. First, Thomas wasn't the top qualifier, after Kramer clocked 48.44 to the freshman's 48.85 in Tuesday's prelims. And second, Kramer had been devoting the majority of her training in the 300 to make one final run at a league title before heading off to play soccer in college at New Mexico Highlands.

Thomas was quick out of the blocks in the 300, creating a gap early between her and Kramer. But the Saugus senior began to make up ground on the curve, pulling even after the fifth hurdle and remaining right with Thomas after they cleared the sixth hurdle.

Thomas then seemed to find an extra gear the final 40 meters, pulling away from Kramer on the final two hurdles to clock a season-best 45.19, with Kramer taking second in 46.78.

Thomas' mark ranks fifth among freshman statewide and second in school history, trailing only Cindy Byrne, who ran 43.47 in 1988. Only Cleveland of Reseda's Cherise Dixon (45.00) has posted a faster time in the area this season and only Harvard-Westlake of Studio City's Zaakirah Daniels (14.96) and Oak Park's Tayler Johnson, with a mark of 14.99, are faster locally in the 100 hurdles than Thomas, whose season best is 15.03.

Thomas has also positioned herself to go after the Foothill League records of 14.61 and 43.76 by Valencia's Katie Kirst in 2004. Saugus' Audry Williams holds the Santa Clarita Valley record in the 300 hurdles, clocking 42.25 in 1981, when the Centurions were in the Golden League.