The Taylor Sisters: Rice’s Double Trouble

HOUSTON – Having siblings on a roster is unique, but when those siblings are identical twins, that unique trait becomes a rarity. Having identical twins that compete in the same event? Flat-out unheard of. Enter Josie Taylor and Alice Taylor, Rice women's track and field's identical twin sensations.

Since arriving at South Main during the 2021-22 season, Josie has been a force for Rice track and field. She has claimed three all-conference honors, two school records, one conference title and one All-American honor in just her first two seasons with the Owls.

Now, her twin sister Alice joins the Owls and is just as athletic and competitive as Josie. Having them both at Rice creates a new double trouble for the Owls in the high jump.

"Having both of them here, it's so unique. They are great athletes and great people," said Rice women's track and field head coach Jim Bevan. "There are some differences though. They have different majors and, on the track, one jumps with her left and one with her right leg."

Being able to reunite at Rice has helped bring a sense of normality to their training, and allowed an extra competitive spirit on the track.

"Alice and I have always trained together and are extremely close so when we went our separate ways for school in 2021, it felt really bizarre and took a long time to get used to," Josie said. "This season feels particularly special because I get to compete and train with Alice. We are the most competitive people, and then when we are competing against each other this is taken to a whole new level."

"Growing up with Josie, we have always had the same coaches and trained in the same group. So, competing with her feels like second nature," Alice said. "Josie and I have always been very competitive with each other, although I believe that is a large contributor to our success."

Throughout the season, Josie and Alice have consistently been at the top of the high jump in meets. The two currently sit second and fourth entering the AAC Indoor Championship meet this weekend: Josie with a clearance of 1.81m and Alice with a clearance of 1.77m this season.

Alice will also be competing in the pentathlon this weekend, where she enters the meet with the eighth-highest point total in the conference this season.

"It's a championship meet and Josie has a great history in championship meets. With Josie having been here, it's great for Alice to have her sister who has been around the block," Bevan said. "I think Josie is like her mentor when it comes to competing in the championship. It should be a lot of fun."

Having dealt with injuries the previous season, Josie is eager to get back to adding to her already incredible resume.

"I was injured for so long last season, so being able to enter this season injury-free and give it my full effort from the get-go feels amazing," Josie said.

"I think she's set up for a great competition for conference," Bevan said. "She's been healthy this year, and last year battled with injury. She's had a great season and has great jumps and is a great competitor."

With the two already neck-and-neck in the rankings, eyes will be locked in on the high jump competition in Birmingham, trying to see which Taylor sister can clear the higher bar.

"I think when people see that we are twins, they instantly want to know who is better, so we have always been used to that. As a result, I don't tend to feel any added pressure to outperform Josie, but only to better my own results. Regardless of the school record being held by Josie, of course, it would be a huge achievement to break it."

Josie currently holds both school records for high jump at 1.86m for indoor and 1.82m for outdoor.

Regardless of which sister outperforms the other this weekend, both are focusing on bigger goals for this indoor and outdoor season.

"My personal goals for the season are to be consistently jumping 1.80m plus and get All-American in the indoor and outdoor season," Josie said. "What would be even cooler is if both Alice and I podium which I really believe we can do."

"A big personal goal of mine, particularly for the indoor season, is just to enjoy it. I have no experience competing indoors and any experience I can gain is invaluable. My first competition of the season did not go as planned. However, there were lots of things I took away from the meet," Alice said. "My goal in high jump is to be able to jump consistently over 1.80 and personal best would always be nice. 5000 points in the heptathlon is another huge goal for me, as I just ran shy of it last season."

Nevertheless, with the Taylor sisters by each other's sides, Rice can only expect the best from them both.

"When we compete and train together, Josie is my biggest hype person and supporter," Alice said. "Which is why it is so special to be able to compete and train with her again."

"She is honestly my best friend so we have so much fun training together," Josie said. "It just adds that competitive spark to whatever we are doing."

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