The historic Maryland lacrosse career that nearly never happened
— -- COLLEGE PARK, Maryland -- Lacrosse's most decorated athlete doesn't embrace the term her family often teases her with: slob. Taylor Cummings admits to abandoning a glass of chocolate milk by her bed for more than a day, and maybe last week's clean laundry hasn't yet been put away, but she's insanely motivated about what counts.
The Maryland senior runs every morning, unhindered by gusts that shake the windows of her College Park apartment on this unseasonably cold Sunday. Despite wind chills in the 20s, Cummings is in a tank top after her two miles.
She's fastidious about completing her classwork on time; late assignments don't cut it in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, where the finance major is finishing up her bachelor's degree.
In lacrosse, the agile and athletic midfielder is the sport's most dreaded matchup, a versatile playmaker who earned the game's highest honor, the Tewaaraton Award, as a sophomore, won it again as a junior and is a favorite to become the first three-time winner.
"Taylor is unique in that she has such a champion mindset about her in everything she does -- in the classroom, at every practice, in every drill, on the field, off the field. She wants to be the best that she can be in all areas of her life," Maryland coach Cathy Reese says. "As a player she does it all for us. Taylor's taken the draw since she was a freshman and has dominated the center circle. Offensively, she's a threat in her dodging and feeding, and defensively, she's one of the best I've seen."
As the Terps (19-0) look to punctuate a perfect season with the program's 13th national championship, Cummings hopes to bring an outstanding collegiate career to a close with a third straight NCAA title.
Top-seeded Maryland, which received a first-round bye, will open its quest for a three-peat on Sunday, hosting the winner of Friday's game between Virginia and Johns Hopkins.
Playing at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex where the Terps have not lost since 2012, Cummings is not ready to dwell on the fact that her time at Maryland is nearing an end.
"It's probably a bit naïve and probably a bit digging my head in the sand," says Cummings, who grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, about 35 minutes from the Maryland campus. "As I get closer to graduation, I'm savoring every moment because soon, I'll be sitting on the couch watching."
Jam-packed with milestones, her college years have included a triple-overtime national championship loss to North Carolina in what's arguably the best lacrosse game ever played; a victory over Syracuse for her first NCAA title in 2014; and a come-from-behind effort last season to avenge that championship loss to the Tar Heels and defend her national title.
The three-time All-American has started all 88 of her collegiate games, leads the Terps in a multitude of statistical categories and is a member of the U.S. national team.
Twice she's been to the ESPYs, on the ballot as Best Female College Athlete alongside, among others, basketball star Breanna Stewart and Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin. Coming face-to-face on the red carpet with her favorite actor of all time, Shemar Moore, aka FBI profiler Derek Morgan on "Criminal Minds," she couldn't form words when her dad dug out his camera.
"Oh, my God, I love him," says Cummings, who immediately texted the pic to her mom with these words: "Life made."
Funny that this Baltimore girl almost wrote off coming to the University of Maryland before ever giving it a chance. The early plan was to be like Mike -- Cummings, that is. Taylor's father was a soccer play at William & Mary, where he met his wife, Carol. Taylor was born June 2, 1994, just six weeks after their first anniversary.
Both parents were intent on Taylor doing some sort of activity. She wasn't artsy. A four-week ballet class turned into two sessions.
