Arguably the most decorated athlete to ever compete for the Cardinals' women's track and field team,
Tayler Dence made an impact early on in her career and carried that momentum moving forward.
As a freshman, Dence was named Second-Team All-Conference in both the 100m dash and the 1600m relay. She was recognized as the Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Week on January 30, 2017 and would go on to earn an All-Academic Award by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Fast forward a year and her sophomore season was even better. Dence earned All-Conference honors six times between the indoor and outdoor seasons and would go on to become the first female track athlete in school history to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
During her junior season, Dence was recognized as All-Empire 8 six more times and was honored as the conference's Athlete of the Week three times in all. Dence, who was named All-Region in the 400m hurdles for the second consecutive season, would go on to earn another spot in the NCAA Championship marking the second year in a row she had accomplished that feat.
Despite having her senior season cut short, the Hannibal native's efforts helped the women's track and field team capture an Empire 8 Indoor Championship for the first time in program history this year after earning three top-two finishes. A three-time All-Conference selection this year, Tayler won the 60m hurdles and finished second in the 60m dash and the 4x400m relay.Â
For her career, Dence is a two-time national qualifier and has been named All-Conference by the Empire 8 17 times over the last four seasons. She is a two-time All-Region selection and became the first track athlete to compete in the NCAAs in Fisher's history. Dence was also selected as the winner of the Senior Scholar Athlete Award and was named the Phil Kahler Award recipient as the College's Female Athlete of the Year.
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