Starting this year, MileSplit NY's own Taylor Jo will be talking with top individuals across the State. A running enthusiast herself, and former New York athlete, Taylor brings her own unique perspective to High School running in the Empire State. Stay tuned for more episodes in our new series, TAYLOR Talks.
The highest placing freshman finisher at EastBay Nationals last year, and the highest placing New York freshman since Nicole Blood who also took 9th in 2002, Zariel Macchia is primed for another big Season. Fresh off a training run at the USATF 10K Road Race Championships, where she went out with the leaders for the opening mile before pulling off for a more relaxed tempo, Macchia has already experienced a U20 XC win and an Indoor National Title. On top of that, Macchia excels in the classroom and carries many hobbies on top of that. Learn more about this sophomore above.
About Taylor Jo (in her own words)
A New Yorker turned Floridian turned New Yorker again (after a two year hiatus brought me back to my senses again), I have been a fan of MileSplit since my days of high school yore (literally ancient history) and an official part of the team since 2017 after being at the right place at the right time... with the right camera... and the right words. I was a ranked runner in high school and a speedy soccer player in college, and although I entered into "washed-up athlete" territory in 2016 to focus on my major of civil engineering that I was pursuing at CUNY The City College of New York, as well as becoming a full-time civil engineer in 2020, I couldn't shake the competitive and freeing nature that the world of running continued to lure me towards... I guess you could say that I only ever feel in stride when I'm... well, in stride. Seven marathons (with number eight about to be checked off in Berlin at the end of September) and countless other fun run distances later, it's becomes evident that you can take the girl out of the running world but you can't take the running world out of the girl. Running is so much more than just the pressure to achieve tangible times in a race... It's a state of mind and a necessity to a stable well-being in all aspects of life. Working for MileSplit has helped bring me back to my "why" behind the sport I love to hate and hate to love, and talking with others about their own journeys with it has deepened my appreciation of it on vaster levels. I can't wait to hear what you all have to say and I hope these conversations remind you of your own "why".
