Tate Taylor wins Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year after record-breaking season

The Harlan High School sprinter made history with a 9.92 100-meter dash, then got the surprise of his life in front of family and coaches

Tate Taylor poses with the 2025 Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year Award during a photoshoot after the surprise announcement on Thursday, July 26, 2025 at San Antonio's John M. Harlan High School. / Joe Greer

Tate Taylor thought he was sprinting toward a state title - but he ended up winning the national race.

When his mom rushed into his room Thursday morning and told him to get up early for a surprise meeting with his track coach, he had a good idea of what was coming. Taylor figured the moment had arrived for the Gatorade Texas Track and Field Player of the Year award. He wasn’t wrong - just not entirely right.

“At first I thought I had just won the state Player of the Year,” Taylor said. “So I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ But then they told me it was the National Player of the Year and then I saw all of my family and friends behind them. It was very exciting.”

That moment came as he was walking to the track with his coach. That’s when Taylor saw his club coach standing ahead of him holding the trophy, but didn’t immediately put it all together. The scene quickly unfolded from casual to career-defining. After the trophy presentation, Taylor took part in a stylized photoshoot and media interviews for a glimpse into the pro experience.

“It was ecstatic, man,” he said. “I’m very excited and happy that this has happened to me.”

The honor, presented by Gatorade officials in a surprise ceremony, capped one of the most extraordinary prep seasons in U.S. sprint history. Taylor, a 6-foot-2 junior at John M. Harlan High School in San Antonio, delivered a blistering 9.92 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the Class 6A state meet, the fastest wind-legal time ever by a U.S. high school athlete. That mark broke Christian Miller’s national record of 9.93 and ranks second all-time among under-20 athletes worldwide. A couple hours later, Taylor added a 20.14 in the 200 to complete an unprecedented double.

His selection is part of a 40-year tradition that celebrates the next generation of athletes not only for their performance but for who they are off the track, too. Taylor beat out nearly half a million other student-athletes who compete in boys track and field across the country. He now joins an all-star alumni list that includes Alan Webb, who held the American mile record for 16 years; three-time Olympic medalist Kerron Clement; and Miller, last year’s national honoree.

Tate Taylor poses with the 2025 Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year Award during a personalized photoshoot at San Antonio's John M. Harlan High School after he was surprised with the award on Thursday, July 26, 2025. / Joe Greer

Past recipients of the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field award have combined for more than 19 Olympic gold medals and 14 national championships. For Taylor, it’s more than a trophy. It’s now part of the same legacy that includes names like Peyton Manning, Paige Bueckers, Jayson Tatum and Mallory Swanson.

His resume already included a 20.46 indoor national record at the Nike Indoor Nationals and a 10.10 to win the Nike Outdoor Nationals. He became the only high school sprinter ever to rank in the all-time U.S. top three in both the 100 and 200.

"Tate Taylor is a singular sensation," Rich Gonzalez, editor for PepCalTrack.com, said in a statement. "Only one other high school (boys sprinter) has run sub-10 in the 100 and only four others - three-time Olympic medalist Noah Lyles, Olympic gold medalist Michael Norman, the Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill and Olympian/NCAA champion Roy Martin - have run 20.14 or better in the 200. He's the fastest prep ever in the 100 and the third-fastest ever in the 200. No other high schooler in history ranks in the Top 3 of both those events."

But even in a season full of jaw-dropping numbers, Thursday’s news left him stunned.

“I’m soaking it all in right now,” Taylor said. “I’m sure that when I get home and I kind of relax a little bit, I’ll truly sit down and look back on it and be like, man, I really did it.”

The Gatorade National Player of the Year honor goes beyond just track dominance. It also factors in academic consistency and community service, two areas where Taylor also stood out. He carried strong grades in the classroom and volunteered time with Special Olympics events. The total package is what sets Gatorade winners apart, and Taylor checked every box.

"Gatorade Player of the Year winners go on to become national champions, first round draft picks and even Hall of Famers," Gatorade Chief Brand Officer Anuj Bhasin said in a statement. "With all Tate has already accomplished at such a young age, there's no doubt he is headed toward a lifetime of success on and off the track."

He also happens to run faster than nearly every teenager in the history of the sport.

“It’s cool. It’s fun, I’ll say that,” Taylor said with a smile when asked what it feels like to run that fast. “I really like sprinting. I like moving at a very fast pace. So just to do that for a living and to find something that I think is for me is truly a blessing.”

Tate Taylor cemented his name as one of the greatest high school sprinters of all-time and lands him among some of the sports biggest names. He posed for this photo on Thursday, June 26, 2025 at John M. Harlan High School in San Antonio, Texas, after Gatorade surprised him with its National Track and Field Player of the Year Award, which can be seen on the track behind him. / Joe Greer

Ironically, the guy who runs sub-10 seconds in competition doesn’t exactly race around day-to-day.

“As much as it is ironic, sprinting is fun but I actually don’t like to walk or run places,” Taylor said.

There was an early clue something bigger might be coming. Taylor had seen a social media post from Texas MileSplit the day before saying he'd won the Gatorade Texas Track and Field Player of the Year. So when his mom came bursting into his room the next morning, the puzzle pieces were already forming. What he didn’t know was that the celebration wasn’t just statewide. It was national.

And his family struggled to contain their excitement.

“I knew it was for Gatorade, but I didn’t know it was for National Track and Field Player of the Year,” Taylor said. “So it was a blessing. It was a big surprise for me. It was fun though. So to answer your question: they were very excited. They may have been honestly more excited than I was.”

That excitement has extended far beyond Texas.

Taylor’s performances have him squarely in the conversation for a professional sprinting career - one that some athletes are now pursuing without going the college route. Miller, the same sprinter whose record Taylor broke, turned pro directly out of high school and signed with Puma earlier this year after a breakout season that included a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Taylor hasn’t made that decision yet, but he’s well aware it’s on the table.

“They’re both very important to me,” he said. “Going to college would be a great experience, but me and my coach have not necessarily decided yet, but we are thinking on the lines of that if we continue on the same path we are on now, then going pro would be the more reasonable option.”

That kind of decision would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Now it’s just another reality for America’s elite prep sprinters. Taylor, for his part, is keeping it all in perspective.

“It’s very cool, right,” he said. “I’m very blessed that God has given me even the opportunity to consider both options. It kind of builds my mindset that we are good. We’re kind of at the top, but we’re not there yet. So we have to continue to keep working, because there’s a lot of options for me. But in the instant, those options, anything can happen. God forbid, any instant those options could get taken away. So in order for those options to stay there, we continue to work hard.”

When asked how far his talent can take him, Taylor took a moment before answering.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “We’ll see. You know, whatever records I can break, whatever people I can beat, however many records I can get, we gonna continue working, trust the process and trust God, and we’ll see, man. Eventually, it’ll come.”

Minutes after learning he was being named 2025 Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year, San Antonio's Tate Taylor, of John M. Harlan High School, demonstrates one of his record-breaking sprints Thursday, June 26, 2025, during a personalized photoshoot provided by Gatorade. / Joe Greer

His journey into sprinting came early.

“It was really eighth grade … transitioning into my freshman year that summer,” Taylor said. “That’s when I first started running summer track. And whenever I kind of did it full-time I wasn’t really doing many other sports. I started to realize that this is something I could be great in, so that’s something I pursued.”

But if you think he never dreamed of something else, or didn't have love for another sport, think again.

“I love basketball. I love to play basketball,” he said. “But I put the hooper life behind me and decided to stick to the big red oval for life.”

When you’re in high school and mom comes charging into your room, it's usually with some bad news. But when Taylor’s mom came rushing in that morning to get him moving for a meeting, he knew it was going to be a happy day.

“I knew my mom was pretty excited whenever she rushed into my room and told me coach wants to meet me at the school entirely too early in the morning,” Taylor said with a laugh. “She was excited, and I already had an idea what it was for.”

San Antonio John M. Harlan’s Tate Taylor is interviewed by reporters during the Class 6A UIL State track and field meet on May 3, 2025, at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. / Angela Piazza/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Handling the spotlight at a young age isn’t easy, but Taylor is embracing it.

“I think having that experience now is good for me,” he said. “Considering that I have years and years of preparation … I know I’m young, but I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason, right? It’s on God’s timing and I truly think that God allowed all of this to happen at the right time. And I’m ready for it.

“As opposed to the pressure - there’s really no pressure,” he added. “I’m not necessarily worried or afraid of anything, to be honest. I just have to continue to trust what I do, stick to what I believe in and let God write the path.”

That path, it seems, has turned out to be an oval. And while ovals have a way of keeping you grounded - always bringing you back to your starting point - the “big red ovals” Taylor travels seem poised to take him very, very far.

San Antonio's Tate Taylor - after a record-breaking junior season - has been named 2025 Gatorade National Track and Field Player of the Year. He poses with the award on the track and John M. Harlan High School on July 26, 2025 in a personalized photoshoot provided by Gatorade after its surprise announcement. / Joe Greer

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