Former Harlan High School track star Tate Taylor made his mark Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic, a prestigious track and field showcase held annually at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

Taylor’s Victory

Taylor, who will be attending Texas Tech, shocked the Olympic-level competition around him — and himself — by winning the men’s 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 19.75 seconds into a headwind.

Taylor bested Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who won the gold medal in the 200-meter dash at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“Whenever I crossed the line, the first thing I thought of was, ‘Look at God,’” Taylor told NBC Sports during a post-race interview. “I came out here — and if I’m being honest — I was praying a lot, but I was expecting to get second, third, fourth. You know, he’s an Olympic champion. I really never thought that I had the chance to beat him.”

Taylor, who also told NBC Sports he had trained all week in Lane 3, was coincidentally positioned to run in Lane 3.

“I came out here really, really pumped up,” Taylor told NBC. “Whenever I stepped on the line, I was like, ‘God, just do You.’ So, all glory to God.”

Past Achievements

Last spring, Taylor clocked a 100-meter dash win in 9.92 seconds at the 2025 UIL Class 6A State Championships, which shattered the previous national high school record.

In January, he broke another high school record by posting a 300-meter dash win (32.45 seconds) to win the USATF division race at the Virginia Showcase.

Last month at Texas A&M, Taylor became the first high schooler to complete the 200-meter dash in under 20 seconds (19.97). Current U.S. Olympian Noah Lyles, who won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash two years ago in Paris, had owned the high school record (20.09) in the 200 when he set it at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Original reporting: KSAT Sports (San Antonio) — read the source article.