NOTE: This is the second of five features on the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2006 which will be inducted on July 10, 2006.
by Eric Maxwell
LSU Sports Information
When Cheryl Taplin first arrived at LSU in 1991 and gingerly stepped onto the track at Bernie Moore Stadium, she remembers feeling like she had come home. Looking back over her time at LSU though, it might have been one of the few times she could be found walking instead of running on the track’s historic oval.
On July 10, the results of Taplin’s dedication to her craft will be recognized as the Seattle, Wash., native will join four other former LSU athletes being inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Accompanying Taplin into the Hall of Fame will be football’s Kevin Faulk, baseball’s Todd Walker, gymnastics’ Jennifer Wood and fellow Lady Tiger track athlete D’Andre Hill.
Taplin and Hill will be just the third and fourth former women’s track athletes to be enshrined.
Taplin’s success came in the heyday of the women’s, “Decade of Dominance,” over the national collegiate track scene. When she finally stepped off the track, she had collected 16 All-American honors, including three national championships and six SEC championships.
A prep sensation out of high school, Taplin herself admits she was ill-prepared for the amount of hours she would put in on the blistering all-weather surface. The Seattle native had won a total of 19 state titles during her four years or prep competition.
“Once I got to LSU, I grew up,” said Taplin. “I had to become a real athlete.”
It didn’t take long for Taplin to adapt to the tougher competition of the SEC and NCAA. In her first year Taplin earned a trio of All-American honors for her efforts at the national meet. Taplin was a member of the national runner-up 4x 100-meter relay team as well as the only freshman in the NCAA 100 and 200-meter finals.
Taplin experienced similar success at her first SEC outdoor meet. In addition to the 4×100-meter relay championship, Taplin finished fourth in the 100 meters and sixth in the 200 meters.
As a sophomore, Taplin and her teammates started a run of six national titles in the 4×100-meter relay, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since the UCLA men’s 4×400-meter squad completed their six-year run in 1974. The Lady Tigers swept the event from 1992 to 1997.
“It was about coming together for the end result; that national championship,” said Taplin. “When it came to being on the track, that title was all that mattered.”
Individually, Taplin finished right off the medal stand in the 100 and 200 meters as she placed fourth in both events on the national stage and at the SEC meet. The short sprint specialist had also added an indoor All-American distinction as she finished seventh in the 55 meters.
Taplin’s junior season proved to be her most dominant. Indoors, she ran off a streak of 13 consecutive wins, including an SEC title, at the 55 meter distance. The streak ended at the NCAA Indoor Championships as she finished second. She also placed sixth in the 200 meters that year.
Outdoors, Taplin continued her dominance. The junior once again took a winning streak into the national meet. After picking up the SEC title in the 100 meters, Taplin once again had her season long win streak broken as she finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The SEC champion also added runner-up honors at the SEC meet in the 200 meters and an eighth-place finish at nationals.
“We wanted to achieve those goals,” said Taplin of her success. “We wanted to continue the legacy that LSU had before we got there.”
Taplin experienced a record-breaking moment as a senior at LSU. Teaming up with three other LSU athletes, Taplin anchored the 4×200-meter relay to a then American record time of 1:32.55 at the 1994 Penn Relays.
If her junior year was her most successful overall, Taplin’s swansong at the NCAA outdoor meet was her most dominating. Taplin finished second in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200 meters. She also anchored the 4×100-meter relay to their third straight national title in the event.
Taplin’s final tally was 16 All-American honors in five separate events for LSU. A short sprint specialist, Taplin earned national recognition in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay from 1991-94. She added indoor All-American honors in the 55 meters from 1992 to 1994 and a lone indoor 200-meter distinction in 1993.
Taplin did not stop competing when she graduated from LSU. The former All-American was a member of three World Championship teams; 1993 while at LSU, 1997 and 1999 after graduating. She also collected gold medals at the Goodwill Games and the World Cup.
“I was on a lot of relays. And being on those relays in college at LSU, we knew how to get it done,” said Taplin. “I incorporated that when I would run relays at the Goodwill Games and World Championships. It was just the team concept. That we were doing this for the USA.”
Since retiring from international competition in 2000, Taplin has been working with her hometown Seattle Mariners in their community services department. She works with the organization, the players and the players wives’ charitable organizations.
When asked about what her happiest memory while attending LSU, Taplin can’t narrow it down to just one moment. However, she is quick to share what makes her smile each time she hears it.
“When I hear people, still to this day, talk about LSU. They still remember what we did,” said Taplin. “I seriously don’t think that I would have had these experiences and these friendships had I gone anywhere else.”
Taplin and the Hall of Fame Class of 2006 will be formally inducted during a ceremony on July 10.