Tate Taylor, from John M. Harlan High School in San Antonio, has been crowned the 2025 Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year, following a record-shattering season that has redefined U.S. high school sprinting.
The surprise ceremony took place at Harlan High School. Gatorade representatives presented the award in front of Taylor’s coaches, teammates, and family.
“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 I saw all of my family and friends behind them. It was very exciting.”
Taylor’s rise to the top has been built on blistering speed and consistent dominance throughout 2025. On May 3, at the UIL Class 6A State Championships in Austin, he clocked a wind-legal 9.92 seconds in the 100 meters (+1.1 m/s). He broke the national high school record of 9.93 previously set by Christian Miller in 2024. That time also ranks as the second-fastest ever by an under-20 athlete globally, behind only Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (9.91).
Moreover, Taylor returned to the track and won the 200 meters in 20.14 seconds. He set a Texas state record and completing one of the most impressive sprint doubles in high school history.
Promising Taylor
Earlier in the year, on March 10, Taylor set the indoor National high school record in the 200 meters. He ran 20.46 at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York. He added another major title by winning the 100 meters in 10.10 seconds at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in June 21. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. He edged out top rival Maurice Gleaton in a hotly anticipated showdown.
In that race, Taylor exploded out of the blocks with his signature drive phase, while Gleaton, known for his strong closing speed, tried to reel him in down the stretch. But Taylor’s control and top-end form held, delivering a win that sealed his position as the year’s undisputed sprint king.
Now part of a 40-year Gatorade tradition, Taylor joins a prestigious list of past winners that includes Alan Webb, Kerron Clement, and Christian Miller. The award honors not only athletic achievement, but also academic excellence and character.
He becomes the first-ever athlete from San Antonio to win the national honor. He thrashed out nearly 500,000 student-athletes who competed in boys track & field nationwide this season.