Texas Sprint Sensation 'Surprised' By Thursday's Reveal On His Home Track

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Images Courtesy of Gatorade

Tate Taylor was surprised by his family, teammates and coaches with the Gatorade National Player of the Year award for track and field on Thursday morning at his school in San Antonio, Texas. 

Taylor, a junior at Harlan High, said he woke up “way too early” to get to the track. His coach had told him that he was bringing some kids there, and he wanted Taylor to talk to them about what it took to be an elite athlete. Naturally, he obliged.

When Taylor arrived at the track, he saw that his friends and family were there, and he saw his coach holding an award.

“I was very surprised,” Taylor said, “because at first, I kind of knew it was about Gatorade, but I thought it was the state player of the year. I didn’t think it was the national player of the year.”

Taylor said the moment he realized he had won the national award was “like a movie.”

By winning the Texas award, though, he had already put himself in a prime position to win National Player of the Year. Several of this year’s best high school boys hail from the Lone Star State, including sophomore Cooper Lutkenhaus (Justin Northwest), who broke the national record in the 800 meters in 2025. Lutkenhaus and Taylor were the only two male athletes to break national records in both the indoor and outdoor season. 

“I really like living in Texas, man,” Taylor said. “It’s one of the fastest states in the nation for track and field, and there’s competition right in my backyard.”

Taylor blew through that competition, earning two state titles and two national titles over the course of his season. He also broke the national records in the indoor 200 meters and outdoor 100 meters. The latter mark, a wind-legal (+1.1) 9.92 performance that he ran to win the 100 meters at the TX UIL State Championships, is what he thinks earned him the title.

That time made him No. 2 all-time in World U20 history. 

Miraculously, he said he ran in that meet with an injury. After his indoor season, he noticed he was having problems with his hip, but he didn’t take any time off until after the state championships, when he got an MRI that revealed a groin strain. 

After a lot of recovery and “trying to nurture it back to health,” Taylor capped off his season at Nike Outdoor Nationals, where he beat Brayden Williams (Duncanville TX) and Maurice Gleaton (Langston Hughes GA) in a highly anticipated 100 meters final last Saturday.

Taylor ran a meet record time of 10.10 seconds in chilly, rainy conditions at Hayward Field, while Gleaton ran 10.11 and Williams ran 10.17. 

“It was a very, very unreal moment,” Taylor said.

In addition to athletic achievement, Gatorade also considers academic and personal achievement. Taylor said he believes his humility is what put him over the top in that regard.

“I try to stay as humble as I can,” Taylor said, “because I know the same gift God gave me, he can take away. So I give thanks to him in every moment that I can.”