Navy women’s lacrosse sophomore Taylor Miles recently chatted with PressBox about following in her father’s footsteps to Annapolis, a typical day at the Academy and more. The 5-foot-9 attacker scored 17 goals and dished out 18 assists for the Midshipmen in 2025. Miles is a native of Glen Arm, Md., and graduate of Notre Dame Prep.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in lacrosse?
Taylor Miles: My dad, [Glen], was a lacrosse player. He played at the Academy. We just grew up with lacrosse. I have two older sisters that also played Division I. [Jordan] was at High Point for three years and transferred to Northwestern. [Niki] played at Penn for undergrad and did a graduate year at Northwestern, so they played together for their last year of eligibility [in 2025]. It’s just been in my family, and I started when I was pretty young.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
TM: Definitely my dad. He’s always loved the game. He was a multi-sport athlete and always used other sports to try to teach us the game of lacrosse. He’s been my coach ever since I was little. He always finds ways to keep coaching me, even still today after games.
PB: What’s it like growing up in such a big lacrosse family?
TM: It’s fun. We get to watch each others’ games. I try to get to as many of my sisters’ games as I can. It’s hard sometimes with being at the Academy and just being in college in general. It’s hard to get to other college games, but when they had local games last year at the University of Maryland or at Hopkins, I was able to watch a few of them. I got to see them in the semifinals and the national championship at Gillette Stadium, which was super cool. They support me just as much as I support them.
PB: What are some of your favorite memories from playing at Notre Dame Prep?
TM: Definitely my junior year was super fun. We just had a great team. We had a really big team at NDP. Our coaching staff was awesome. … Junior and senior year were just some of the funnest years of lacrosse.
PB: Was it always your dream to follow in your father’s footsteps and go to the Naval Academy?
TM: I’ve always known about the Naval Academy obviously because of my dad, but I came across being more open to the idea of it later in high school. I’d say probably sophomore year it became more of a dream of mine. Since then, I’ve tried my best to pursue it, and it went well ever since I did.
PB: What’s a day at the Academy like for you during lacrosse season?
TM: A typical day being in-season is waking up and you go to formation in the morning and then you go to breakfast with your company. After breakfast, you’ve got four classes. After those four classes, it’s lunch. Being an athlete with the lacrosse team, sometimes we’ll have lift at lunch, sometimes we’ll have meetings or film at lunch. We have another class after lunch. In the afternoon, that’s when practice is. Around 4 p.m. we have practice. The rest of your day is how you see fit … getting anything you want done.
PB: Why were you able to contribute right away as a freshman a year ago?
TM: I think just being on a team like my team, we have a pretty big roster. Everyone contributes and everyone has a role. Being a freshman, it was definitely fun to be able to see the field, but my older teammates led us very well as freshmen. They were good leaders to us and just encouraged us even though we were young.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Annapolis?
TM: Downtown Annapolis is just so pretty. Being on the water, being able to see the water every day at practice, it’s just a beautiful place to be. Great food.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
TM: I’d say I have two best friends on the team and [those] would be Jordan Strang and Tiana Griffin. We just have a lot of fun together. I can’t really think of a specific memory, but we had a lot of fun in the summer together. Last spring break, we got to spend a lot of time together.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Navy?
TM: Definitely one of my current captains, Ava Yovino. She was the person that I watched on the TV when I was junior in high school committed to the Naval Academy. She’s just always been a huge role model to me. She’s a great leader and a great captain. It’s really important that we have her on the team because she wants to win and she instills that in all of us.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players going through the recruiting process?
TM: I’d say keep an open mind. Don’t shut yourself off to any school or any team just because you don’t know much about it yet. Continue to reach out to coaches. Email coaches. Do extra work on your own. Do a bunch of wall ball. Shoot around with your friends. Talk to older players that have been through the process and just have fun. Don’t let it stress you out too much.
PB: Even though you haven’t service selected anything yet, what are your goals for after lacrosse?
TM: I’m pretty young. I still have an open mind with everything, keeping my options open. But right now, I’m pretty interested in aviation. I think it’d be a really cool opportunity to be able to fly either for the Navy or the Marine Corps.
Photo Credit: Phil Hoffmann/Navy Athletics
Issue 297: February / March 2026
Originally published Feb. 18, 2026