Brothers will each compete in three events at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Xzaviah Taylor (left) and his brother Isaiah Taylor (right) initially spent their childhood alternating between basketball and track and field before deciding to focus on track at age 11. Erin Mizelle

June 11, 2025

When North Carolina A&T State University sophomore Isaiah Taylor punched his ticket to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships by running a personal-best time of 13.46 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA East Regional in late May, it lit a fire within his twin and teammate, Xzaviah Taylor.

Xzaviah’s desire to also compete in an individual event at the national meet helped him achieve his own NCAA qualifying – and personal best – time of 50.27 in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

The twins’ natural competitiveness with one another has helped them find success on the track.

At this week’s Division I Outdoor Track and Field national championship meet in Eugene, Oregon, the Taylors will each compete in three events for North Carolina A&T.

Isaiah will run the men’s 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles and the 4×100-meter relay.

Xzaviah will compete in the 400-meter hurdles, 4×100 relay and the 4×400-meter relay.

“We’re just gonna keep getting better and better,” Isaiah said. “If he sees me running faster, he’s like, ‘Nah, that’s not.

You’re not gonna stay out there for long.’ We’re gonna get better.

I’m gonna get better than you, and then eventually he’s gonna get better than me, and we’re just gonna keep climbing.”

North Carolina A&T State University sophomore Isaiah Taylor (right) ran a personal-best time of 13.46 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA East Regional meet. ERIN MIZELLE

They believe their competitive nature and drive comes from their father, Angelo Taylor, a three-time Olympic gold medalist (two in the 400-meter hurdles and another in the 4×400 relay).

As a collegiate athlete at Georgia Tech, he also won the NCAA outdoor national title for the 400-meter hurdles in 1998.

According to the brothers, having an Olympian and NCAA title holder as a father serves as inspiration as they both vie to win the 400-meter hurdle title.

“Every time I think about it, it’s like dang, my dad was really in the Olympics multiple times.

I could do the same thing. So I’m gonna just keep working hard and strive for that title, just like him,” Isaiah said. “I don’t feel any pressure. It’s motivation.

In high school, I broke his school record in the 300-meter hurdles.

I told him I was faster than him. I just want to say that in his face again.”

The twins initially spent their childhood alternating between basketball and track and field before deciding to focus on track when they turned 11.

As their track and field coach for most of their lives, Angelo Taylor said he always wanted to instill the mindset of working hard, taking proper care of their bodies and dominating every time they stepped onto the track.

“I just think it’s in our DNA, just to be competitive. … My father was an athlete at Albany State, then I became an athlete,” he said.

“I kind of really held them back from track and field because I knew how tough it was [and] how much work you had to put into it. I knew that if they want to be great, they have to want to put in the work.”

North Carolina A&T sophomores Xzaviah Taylor (left) and Isaiah Taylor (right) celebrate with their father, Angelo Taylor (center), after qualifying for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

COURTESY ANGELO TAYLOR

At the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championship in mid-May, after Xzaviah won the men’s 400-meter hurdle race and the men’s 400-meter final, his father challenged him to go for the sweep and win the 110-meter hurdles, too.

Seconds later, Angelo Taylor turned to Isaiah and challenged him to beat his brother and take home a title as well.

“It just keeps our competitive edge on,” Xzaviah said.

“If I’m doing better than him [Isaiah], he wants to do better than me.

If he is doing better than me, I want to do better than him.”

In high school, boys run 300-meter hurdles; at the collegiate level they run 400-meter hurdles.

After spending their freshman season at North Carolina A&T overcoming the learning curve, the twins’ sophomore season has been transformational.

At the CAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in late February, Xzaviah took home his first individual conference title, winning the men’s 400-meter final.

Both twins finished in the top five in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, with Isaiah finishing third and Xzaviah finishing fifth.

Allen Johnson, A&T’s director of track and field programs, is an Olympics gold medalist, and hurdlers/sprinters coach Terrence Trammell is an Olympic silver medalist.

Both have helped the twins lay the foundation to excel on the track this season.

“Coach Allen says everybody doesn’t have the same path, and everybody doesn’t have the same approach. So you can’t be mad because this person grows faster.

You just got to keep going,” Xzaviah said. “If you keep putting in the work, eventually the work will show.

So last year wasn’t really our best year in terms of track since we started, and it was kind of frustrating to me. But I just kept working. Now it’s showing.”

The Taylor twins, who have known Trammell since they were young, affectionately call him “uncle,” and their relationship with Trammell was a big reason why they chose to attend North Carolina A&T.

Trammell believes learning from Olympians has shaped the twins’ work ethic.

“I think that given their pedigree … being around an Olympian their entire lives and having other Olympians around them, understanding how to prepare and just the mindset to compete, I think that is something that they’ve really taken a hold of, and they’ve taken the ownership of,” Trammell said.

“I think that gave them a perspective of what’s required and what they have to do to truly contribute, not only to the team, but to be the best athletes that they can be for themselves.”

Xzaviah Taylor will compete in the 400-meter hurdles, 4×100-meter relay and the 4×400-meter relay at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field national championship meet. ERIN MIZELLE

Last season, the Taylor twins qualified for the national meet in the 4×100 relay but failed to make it out of the preliminary round.

Johnson believes that although it was disappointing, last year’s experience will aid them this season.

“They’ve been there before [and] they’ve seen it.

They got an opportunity to be in the atmosphere and soak it all in, so we just keep talking. They’re ready.

Without a doubt in my mind, they’re ready for it,” Johnson said.

“I think what we’re seeing now, we’re really starting to just scratch the surface.”

In preparation for the national meet, the twins are maintaining their regular practice routine and focusing on their physical recovery and mental health.

“What I’ve been doing the [last] two weeks now, they got me to this stage.

I’m gonna do the same thing,” Xzaviah said. “I’m just mentally preparing myself before I go to sleep.

When I wake up, and I envision my race, I envision me doing good.”

Isaiah added: “We’ve been training all year, since September, so we’re in shape.

The physical aspect is there, so it’s really just the mental part – being mentally strong, being focused and just being ready to compete.”

Liner Notes

2025 NCAA Division I Men’s & Women’s Track and Field Championships When: Wednesday through Saturday Where: Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon Information: www.ncaatickets.com/championship/outdoor-track-and-field/champinfo

Mia Berry is the senior HBCU writer for Andscape and covers everything from sports to student-led protests.

She is a Detroit native (What up Doe!), long-suffering Detroit sports fan and Notre Dame alumna who randomly shouts, “Go Irish.”