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Taleea Buxton first started competing in hurdles when she was 12 years old. She was racing some of her friends when Corey Johnson, the track and field coach for a local club, happened to be watching and noticed her speed. Johnson asked Buxton to join the team, so she took a sign-up sheet home.

Once her mom agreed to sign her up, Buxton joined the team and was instantly attracted to the hurdles. Though Johnson wouldn’t put her in the event to start, Buxton was thrust into the competition at a meet at Widener University without prior experience.

“I did not know anything about going over a hurdle,” Buxton said. “And my first time going over the hurdles, I three-stepped (between hurdles), I won and it just came naturally to me.”

Buxton, now a freshman at Syracuse, has made an impact with the Orange after setting the Pennsylvania state record in the girl’s 100-meter outdoor hurdles with a time of 13.80 seconds at Western Catholic High School. After overcoming a high school transfer and lingering injuries, she’s continued her success at SU. Thus far, she’s earned Second Team All-ACC honors after placing fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.38) at the ACC Indoor Championships on Feb. 22.

“(Being named All-ACC) speaks for itself,” Syracuse associate head track and field coach Dave Hegland said. “It’s a really strong conference in her event — the women’s hurdle. So to come in as a freshman and win that accolade right away, I thought was a tremendous achievement for her.”

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While Buxton is now a dominant Division I hurdler, she was naive at first. Still, her natural talent has been on display from the first time she competed in a hurdling competition.

“She took to (hurdles) like a fish on water,” said Brandon Shell, who coached Buxton at Infinity Track Club from age 12 through high school. “I was impressed because she was relatively new to everything and I had some seasoned veteran runners on the team that I knew were pretty fast.”

As she progressed, Buxton became an elite high school hurdler and had her eyes set on breaking the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 100-meter hurdles record in Class 2A, which is one of the six Pennsylvania high school sports divisions. Buxton needed everything to fall into place to break the record — and it did. She set a new record in her senior season, besting the previous 14.04 clip with a 13.80-second finish.

“I just remember going out there and saying, ‘This day is the day that I do what I came here to do,’” Buxton said.

Nia Ali, who won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympics, noticed Buxton’s success. Shell introduced Buxton to Ali and described his up-and-coming runner to the Olympic star as someone who was ready to break her records. Shell explained to Buxton that she was already better than Ali was at her age and was on a great trajectory.

Though Buxton’s development has been bumpy. When she was a sophomore at Bishop McDevitt High School, the school permanently closed. The school was known for its strong track record, prompting Buxton to enroll. Buxton said it was a “devastating time” when the school crumbled and soon transferred to Western Catholic, following her former coach Eric Young and many of her teammates.

Additionally, Buxton has fought lingering injuries throughout her career. As a senior, she could’ve collected her third high school indoor championship, but a groin injury sidelined her.
Since setting the state outdoor record in June 2023, Buxton hasn’t been 100%.

After being diagnosed with a bone bruise last June, she has dealt with hamstring injuries, inflammation on the outside of her posterior and swelling and inflammation on her ankle since coming to Syracuse. Shell believes the injuries stem from Buxton’s aggressive style of running. Buxton said she has to work on rehabbing and strengthening her ankle, not going too hard on it until it is fully healed.

“You’re not a true hurdler until you’ve fallen at least 10 times,” Shell said. “…She hasn’t had any fall that has made her not go back to the track and go at it, just as hard as she did when she fell.”

At Syracuse, Hegland has been patient with Buxton’s lingering injuries. SU’s coaches created an individual training regimen for Buxton that includes managing how much she runs in practice, working out in the pool and being selective on which meets she enters.

Hegland, who specializes in coaching SU’s sprinters and hurdlers, was impressed with Buxton’s starting acceleration out of the blocks and describes her as “an explosive athlete.”

“I know it’s hard for her because she’s a real hard worker and she wants to do everything,” Hegland said. “She’s done a really good job of keeping her eye on the long view and the big picture and not getting too frustrated throughout the process.”

Published on April 16, 2024 at 11:41 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu