A year ago, the Taylor Lady Titans fell just five points short of winning their first Howard County Girls Track and Field Meet since 1985.

They made up for it Wednesday, winning nine events, finish, ing 1-2 in four of them, and finishing with 95 points to snap Western's two-year winning skein. The Panthers scored 68 with Northwestern next at 56. Eastern had 52.

"It shouldn't have happened last year," Taylor senior Jasmine Thomas said of coming up short. We weren't going to let it happen again," added Ashli'Oliver.

This point of the season wasn't the best for Taylor in 2004 as distance runner Danielle Glick suffered a stress fracture, sprinter Jamie Dunlap wasn't completely healthy and Oliver and Thomas suffered injuries.

"Our seniors said, 'We're not go to lose this time,'" said Taylor coach Alan Tumner, who was the coach the last time they won the county title. "They helped everyone get up for this."

This time around, the Western Panthers were the ones with the walking wounded. Sprinter Tiffany Reida and state qualifier Anniaa Gruber were out with runner Anna Hurlock has a foot injury.

Glick won the 1,600-meter run in a school-record time and added a first in the 3,200 by breaking former Western standout Christan Bahler's county meet record.

Glick also led off the first-place 3200 relay of Morgan McWhorter, Bridgett Mendenhall and Courtney Dunlap.

"We felt that if we could start out with a win in the first relay, the other events would fall into place," Tunruer said. "That relay ran a school record and then, except for [Northwestern's] Audrey Gaither winning the 100, our sprinters went 1-2 in, the 200 and 400.

"Danielle had a great day. We've never had much [success in] distance before. We have a nice split with Glick, a junior, and freshman"

Two people who weren't even on the team last year played a huge role in the Titans' championship. Sophomore Danae Beavers edged Glick for the meets high-point award as she won the 200- and 400-meter dashes, ran on the winning 1,600 relay and took fifth in the long jump.

Courtney Dunlap, a freshman, ran second to Glick in the 1,600 and won the 800.

The Tigers' Gaither nipped Jamie Dunlap for the 100 dash, but the Titan junior came back and anchored the 400 relay of Sharayah Head, Jessica Wininger and Oliver. Thomas, Mendenhall, Beavers and Oliver formed the first-place 1,600 relay.

Taylor also scored big in the pole vault where Dara Minglin cleared 9 feet to win the event and just barely missed making 10-0. Wininger and Head tied for second.

What Tunmer likes is the blend of classes his team has.

"We have a nice mix so we're not going to go and lose everybody at the same time.,' he said.

Western came away with a win in the 500 hurdles by Liz Hoppes to go with firsts in two field events. Chrystal Campbell won the shot put and Morgan Legan helped the Panthers out by leading a 1-2-3 effort in the long jump.

For Northwestern, Gaither won the 100while Gayle Brunner gave the hosts a first in the 100 hurdles and Megan Schubert was the winner of the high jump. Eastern's lane title came from Kasey Kemp