Kellyn Johnson Taylor is part of the 2025 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted on Sat., Jan. 18.

The witnesses don't remember the exact mile time that Kellyn (Johnson) Taylor ran that day in the Heskett Center. They do remember it went well, better than their high expectations as coaches tried out their new arrival from junior college on the indoor track.

"She blew everybody away," said Marc Burns, former Wichita State cross country coach, who remembers her running around 4:48, about 10 seconds faster than previously. Taylor remembers arriving in January 2007, nervous about the step up in competition from Cloud County Community College and ready to get more serious about running.

"We did a mile time trial, and I ran like 4:47 and I had just barely broke 5 minutes (in junior college)," she said. "That was like a 'Oh, Ok maybe I can do this. Maybe something special can happen here.'"

That day was the start of something special for Taylor, a member of the 2025 class of the Wichita State Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame. She ran for Wichita State from 2007-09. She earned All-American status twice in 2009 by placing third in the mile in the NCAA Indoor Championships and 10th the 5,000 meters in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

She matured into a passionate runner at Wichita State and continues to run professionally while living in Flagstaff, Ariz. She competed in four Olympic Trials, finishing fourth in the 10,000 meters, sixth in the marathon and 12th in the 5,000 in 2016. In 2018, her winning time of 2:24.29 in Grandma's Marathon stood as the seventh-fastest by an American.

She is also a certified firefighter and the mother of four (Kylyn 14, Koen 6, Kaisley 3 and Keagan 1).

"She has done such a great job in her professional career," Burns said. "It's a really rewarding and exciting thing to look back and see kids that continue in the sport in some way beyond college. That means you did a good job instilling in them what a great sport it is."

Taylor, from Sussex, Wis., came to Wichita State after finishing second in the NJCAA indoor mile in 2005 and second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2006 for Cloud County. She possessed plenty of talent, Cloud coaches told Burns, and needed to mature.

"That happens as you get older," she said. "You figure out what makes sense for your life. In juco, I probably took the opportunities and liberties to really enjoy myself and have maybe too much fun. When I went to Wichita State, I put that on the backburner and decided to dedicate myself more to the sport and see what could happen."

Burns and head coach Steve Rainbolt told her those improvements could land her on the podium for an NCAA meet and lead to a pro career.

"There were definitely sit-downs in my office," Burns said. "She would respond. Some kids you bring them and talk to them, they tell you what you want to hear, and they keep doing the same things."

As Taylor saw the results, she kept working and grew more dedicated. Roommates on the track team provided a good example for her diet and rest.

"They were eating healthy and doing all the miles and doing all the things right you were supposed to do," she said. "I went from living on my own and doing whatever I wanted to keying off these other women."

She won nine MVC titles in track and field and won the 2007 MVC cross country title. She helped the Shockers to two MVC cross country titles and the 2007 MVC indoor and outdoor titles.

"Part of what made her great was that she was fearless," Burns said. "She is going to go to the wall in everything she does. When she lined up on the track, you knew you were going to get the very best she had that day."

Taylor isn't sure when she considered running after college. She does remember being driven by a desire to keep improving. In 2009, she went to the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame needing a personal-best in the mile to qualify for the NCAA meet. She won the race with a time of 4:35.35, a Shocker record by more than five seconds and six seconds better than her previous best. That performance qualified her for the NCAA meet, where she finished third.

"I went into that race and took charge and felt super in control," she said. "It was a big shift."