Last year, it was Boerne Champion sophomore Elizabeth Leachman who competed at the Olympic Trials. This year, there will be two boys to represent Texas high school athletics at the USA Track and Field Championships with World Championship berths on the line.
Justin Northwest HS Cooper Lutkenhaus who just completed his sophomore year and will be entering his junior season and Tate Taylor who has completed his junior year and will be a senior this fall at San Antonio Harlan HS.
Both have already been competing throughout the week in Eugene, Oregon with collegiate athletes, post collegiate professionals, and Olympians. Lukenhaus has advanced to todays Men’s 800m finals through two qualifying rounds and Taylor advanced through the first round of the Men’s 100m.
On Thursday, with a 10.36 (+0.6) run in the first round, he grabbed the final qualification spot. The following day, he produced a 10/36 (+0.6) in the second round, but that wasn’t good enough to crack the top 9 final round spots.
Taylor’s 9.92 National High School Record from the 2025 UIL 6A State Track and Field Championships in May would have been fast enough to easily get him into the finals. However, months later he would get the incomparable experience of competing in the rounds at the senior national championship level.
Lutkenhaus also competed on the first day of the championships. He cruised a 1:47.23 to earn the 15th fastest time of 21 qualifiers. He was second in the heat only to former high school national record holder Josh Hoey who’s HS indoor record 800m was broken by Lutkenhaus earlier this year in March.Â
The second round took a little more pop and the soon-to-be high school junior provided that. He took second in his heat to two-time Olympic qualifier and and 2024 World Indoor Champion Bryce Hoppel. Hoppel, the Midland HS grad won the heat in 1:45.31 with Lutkenhaus just a bit back in 1:45.57. That marks the second fastest time in the career of the young Northwest HS runner’s career. Lutkenhaus ran 1:45.45 at the USA U20 Championships in June to break his own High School Outdoor National Record.
Similarities and a commonality you might not have known
Today, both Lutkenhaus and Taylor will be competing in the final day at the Championships. Lutkenhaus has the 800m final and Taylor will race in the first round of the 200m and possibly the 200m final, if he advances.
This season, the two Texas high school stars have been almost synonymous with one another. Their almost unfathomable accomplishments have had them almost conversationally linked hand-in-hand since the UIL state meet.
The two are both Nike Elite Program ambassadors for the 2025-2026 season and during the indoor season, each won a Nike Indoor championship. However, the comparisons go much closer and deeper than that.
Lutkenhaus won his second UIL 800m state title in May and was runner-up in the 400m while Taylor won two UIL titles this year. Taylor set a National Record in the 100m and just missed setting a second in the 200m, while Lutkenhaus broke the 800m indoor and outdoor record.
The two were each analyzed for the both Texas Gatorade AOY and MileSplit POY awards. Close comparisons were considered essentially between just those two with Taylor coming away with both awards.
Now the two are at the highest national stage in our sport vying to make the senior Team USA World Championship team. With an additional year of high school on the horizon for them, there will possibly be more similarities and common ground for two of the best Texas boys to ever compete in our sport.
The irony of it all is that they were linked together before either of them knew it and before anyone in the world knew who they were. Their fathers were college teammates at the University of North Texas and now they are both national champions, Texas state champions, national record holders, and competing today for a World Championship team berth.
