| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Sport | |
| Position | Midfield |
| NCAA team | Northwestern Wildcats (2010–2013) |
Taylor Alexis Thornton is an Americanlacrosse player who competed for theNorthwestern Wildcats. She won theHonda Sports Award in June 2012[1] and was nominated for theSports Illustrated College Athlete of the Year Award in 2013.
A native ofDallas, Texas, Thornton is the daughter of Steve and Janice Thornton. Her brother, Blakely, playedcollege football atPenn. Thornton attended theHockaday School in Dallas. She starred on the lacrosse team and was a two-time All-American, two-time Texas Player of the Year, and three-time all-state selection, in addition to leading Hockaday to its first two state titles in 2008 and 2009. In addition, Thornton was a four-yearletterwinner in field hockey, leading the team in scoring all four years. She also played varsity basketball as a freshman, leading the team in assists as the startingpoint guard.[2]
Recruited byKelly Amonte Hiller, head coach of theNorthwestern Wildcats women's lacrosse team, Thornton committed to Northwestern in October of her senior year of high school.[3]
Thornton made her debut at Northwestern in 2010 starting all 22 games for the Wildcats. In her freshman year, she was namedIWLCA third-team All-American, earned second team All America honors for WomensLacrosse.com and was named to the All-Rookie Team.[2] She led the Wildcats with 29 caused turnovers and was second on the team with 38 ground balls. During her sophomore season, in 2011, Taylor established herself as a top player and premier one-on-one defender for the Wildcat team. She was named First-team IWLCA All-American and IWLCA Division I Defender of the Year.[4] She notched 14 goals, 1 assist, 38 ground balls, and 15 caused turnovers.[2] In 2012 she was named as a Tewaaraton award finalist.[5] Thornton was named the winner of Lacrosse Honda Sports Award as the national player of the year.[1] In 2013 Thornton was co-captain. She started all 85 games of her career. With 24 goals, 2 assists, 38 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers heading into playoffs.
In 2018, Thornton was inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame.[6]
In 2023, Thorton became the first female inductee into the Western Lacrosse Hall of Fame.[7]
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