Mount Pulaski's Peyton Taylor commits to Division I SIU Carbondale

[November 16, 2017] 

Mount Pulaski High School senior Peyton Taylor signed a letter of intent on Wednesday afternoon to further his academic and athletic career at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale.

The 6’8 athlete will join the Division I Salukis Track and Field team as a discus thrower. In high school track and field, Taylor has went to state all three years and finished fifth in the state as a sophomore.

While at Mount Pulaski High School, Taylor has excelled in both athletics and academics.

On the basketball court, he is about to embark on his senior year and he is nearing that exclusive 1,000 point club. Earlier in his high school career he played soccer and baseball.

In the classroom, he is currently ranked number one in his class and has never even earned a B grade. According to Peyton's dad, Greg Taylor, he is getting both an academic and athletic scholarship to attend SIUC.

Below is the speech Peyton gave to the student body, family, friends, teachers and coaches who were in attendance Wednesday afternoon:

First of all I’d like to thank everyone for coming. I would not have made it here without all of your support. I would like to thank my teammates who have encouraged time after time, mostly through tough love. I would especially like to thank all my coaches that have helped me along the way: Coach Darlene, Rob Siebert, Darren Moser, Kristin Rucks, Ryan Deibert, Jeff Clements, Eric Cowan, Brian Erlenbush, Ron Tisdale and the late Bill Rucks.

I am especially thankful to Coach Rob Siebert for convincing me in sixth grade to consider giving Track and Field a try. That turned out to be a good decision.

I would also like to thank my teachers. Every teacher I’ve had has supported me through everything time after time. Your encouragement means more than you will ever know and I’m very thankful for my 13 years in the Mount Pulaski school system. Most of all I’d like to thank God and my parents for being there with me 24/7.

I am thankful for the opportunity to meet and consider several excellent schools. I enjoyed getting to know coach Mike Turk from the University of Illinois, coach Shawn Williams from Illinois State University and coach Chris Campbell from the Naval Academy, and each coach and school offered great academic and athletic opportunities, which made this decision a tough one.

This afternoon, I am very very excited to announce I will continue my academic and track and field career at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I am very impressed with Head Coach Kathleen Raske and Throws Coach James Craig Lambert and look forward to growing as a Thrower and joining the Carbondale family.

Go Salukis!

Congratulations, Peyton!

[Teena Lowery]