Franklin Taylor calls it the most random event on the track.

He trains two hours per day, six days per week and 44 weeks per year in a “never-ending effort” to prepare for the event.

At the Big East championship in February, Taylor competed in the men’s long jump. Challengers get six attempts to set their highest score. In his first five attempts, Taylor recorded marks of 7.19 meters and 7.31 meters but fouled three times.

On his sixth attempt, Taylor jumped 7.44 meters, triumphing his season-best leap. It was a distance no other competitor would beat that day, and earned him gold in the Big East championship for men’s long jump.

“I’m a big meet guy. I think it’s all about preparation and about showing up that day and not letting anything get in your head,” Taylor said. “Everything went in my direction that day, that’s for sure.”

But now in his senior season, Taylor has a tough choice to make.

As part of Syracuse’s decision in September 2011 to leave the Big East, all sports teams will compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference starting in fall 2013.

If Taylor choses to run for the Orange this season, he will not be eligible to compete next season as a graduate student or redshirt senior in the team’s inaugural ACC season.

If he does redshirt, Taylor will be able to run in the ACC next year, a big goal of his, as he considers it one of the premier conferences in the country.

Right now, Taylor expects to redshirt for this season. If he does, he will still be eligible to practice with Syracuse, but will compete in meets as an unattached athlete.

“I would have to get to a spot where I think I can compete at the next level before I would consider taking off my redshirt for this year,” said Taylor. “If I’m having national championship-qualifying jumps, then I might stick around, but that’s pretty ambitious.”

But Taylor has never shied away from ambition, on or off the track.

“The biggest difference in college is it becomes a 24/7 game,” said Taylor. “Every inch is now much harder than it was in high school. You have to sleep a lot, eat right and show up healthy at practice everyday.”

And Taylor’s never-ending desire to work and improve stretches off of the track as well.

Carol Dwyer, a politics policy and society professor at SU, saw that in her classroom. For a two-page assignment, Taylor submitted a nearly five-page paper because he became so invested in the research he was doing.

“I feel like I am in a very fortunate situation where I can work with students like Franklin who are at the top of their game in every way,” Dwyer said. “It’s great to be an academic achiever, but you should have other things in your life besides that and Franklin definitely does in track.”

Taylor will compete with the track and field team this weekend, making his 2013 debut at the Upstate Challenge at Cornell.

SU assistant coach Dave Hegland has been working with Taylor for three years, mentoring and training him. When asked about his expectations for Taylor at the Upstate Challenge and for the rest of the season, Hegland spoke about 2013 as a new beginning.

“Last season doesn’t mean anything now,” Hegland said. “He’s a different guy, and just like everyone else, Frank is trying to get a little bit better every day. At the end of the year, things will take care of themselves.”

Published on January 17, 2013 at 12:42 am

Contact Bryan: bwrubin@syr.edu