Fast 200s highlight Lone Star Grand Prix: Gabby Thomas 21.70 world leader, high schooler Tate Taylor 19.97

Olympic champion Gabby Thomas ran a world-leading 21.70 while 18-year-old Tate Taylor (19.97) became just the second American high schooler to break 20 seconds in a pair of quick 200m races at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix, a Continental Tour Gold meet held at Texas A&M University on Saturday afternoon.

The inaugural event, which was the first World Athletics gold meet held in the US this year, did not feature any events longer than 800 meters – a good thing, as it turns out, considering the hot and humid temperatures (88 degrees Fahrenheit, 77 dew point).

Other highlights included Trayvon Bromell (9.85, +3.8) taking down world champion Oblique Seville (3rd in 9.95) in the 100, a razor-tight men’s 400 hurdles where Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel (47.37) edged the USA’s Trevor Bassitt by two-thousandths of a second, and a strong 1:57.34 victory by Olympic 4th placer Shafiqua Maloney in the 800 meters.

The best competition of the day came in the field, however, as world champion Camryn Rogers (79.36m) defeated American Rachel Richeson (79.33m) in the first meet ever to feature two women beyond 79 meters. 

Below, six thoughts on the meet.

*Full results

Gabby Thomas is back in top form

The biggest 200m race of the week was in Rome on Thursday, where Julien Alfred ran 21.93 to earn a convincing victory over Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. But in College Station, the Olympic champion Thomas served a reminder that she is still very much in the conversation for best 200m runner on the planet. She ran a great turn to get the lead entering the straightaway (meet organizers flipped the track, though it provided only a marginal +0.7 tailwind), and ran away from the field to clock 21.70 – the third-fastest time of Thomas’ career, and her best since the 21.60 pb she ran to win the US title in July 2023.

Thomas had a strong start to the season, winning all five of her races in a two-week African tour in April, including a long-awaited sub-11 in the 100 (with a slight altitude boost) in Botswana. After that, she took a six-week break from racing to get in a long training block, and looks to have emerged even stronger. A statement win for the 29-year-old.

TAKING IT BACK 🔥

🇺🇸 Olympic champ, Gabby Thomas clocks 21.70 in the women’s 200m at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix to reclaim the world lead!

Tune into the livestream now 👉 https://t.co/c4LO4F0ycy#ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/1uKbEk6U3a

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 6, 2026

Tate Taylor joins Erriyon Knighton in the high school sub-20 club

Just minutes after Thomas’ run, another American tore up the turn in College Station as Tate Taylor clocked 19.97 (+0.1) to become just the second American high schooler under 20 seconds in the 200, following Erriyon Knighton (best of 19.49 in 2022). Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba won the race in a pb of 19.88.

Taylor was already the US high school record holder in the 100m thanks to the 9.92 he ran last year and had already run 20.05 for 200 earlier this season. He also has the indoor 200m record at 20.46 from 2025.

Taylor with NBC’s Lewis Johnson after the race

Taylor, who has committed to Texas Tech in the fall, is an incredible talent. A potential race at the World U20 championships in Eugene in August against Gout Gout is a mouthwatering prospect.

The announcers on the NBC broadcast said several times that Taylor was the first US high schooler to break 20 seconds. They are ignoring Knighton – who broke 20 a total of 10 times between 2021 and 2022 – presumably because he signed a professional contract at the start of his junior year. But at LetsRun.com, our policy is that if you’re still taking classes, a high schooler is a high schooler, pro contract or not.

It also seems a bit contradictory to acknowledge Taylor’s times but not Knighton’s. Taylor has an NIL deal with Nike, and he opted out of competing for his high school this spring so that he could race on the professional circuit instead.

Adding in Knighton, the top seven on the US all-time high school 200m list has some interesting names.

It’s also worth noting that Knighton was handed a four-year ban for testing positive for trenbolone in 2024, while Assinga, who represents Suriname internationally, was banned four years after testing positive for a banned substance in July 2023, three months after he ran his 19.97.

Trayvon Bromell takes down 100m world champ Oblique Seville

When you are the world champion, there is a target on your back every time you line up, especially in the 100 meters. And on Saturday, Trayvon Bromell found the bullseye as he ran 9.85 (+3.8) to defeat Oblique Seville (9.95), who opened up his season with a win last week in Kingston (9.96 (+0.2)) abut could only manage 3rd in Texas behind Bromell and Canada’s Andre De Grasse (9.95).

Bromell said after the race that he wasn’t happy with his race, but he had a step on Seville early that the world champion could never close.

Ella Onojuvwevwo runs 49.47 pb after not racing at SECs or NCAAs for LSU

Nigeria’s Ella Onojuvwevwo ran a brilliant 49.47 to win the women’s 400, knocking .12 off her personal best. But it was a bit confusing to see her running – in a Nike pro kit – considering the way her collegiate season ended. Onojuvwevwo finished 3rd at NCAA indoors for LSU, then ran 49.59 in her first outdoor 400 in April. But she didn’t run SECs, and LSU didn’t enter her for last week’s NCAA regional meet. We haven’t seen an explanation for why Onojuvwevwo didn’t enter NCAAs, but it’s very odd for a top collegian to turn pro before NCAAs – particularly when they are in this sort of shape.

Shafiqua Maloney runs 1:57, Victoria Bossong clocks big pb of 1:58

Olympic 4th placer Shafiqua Maloney showed her class by earning a convincing win in the women’s 800 in 1:57.34, just .05 shy of her personal best. With Maloney setting a fast pace up front, the next three women all ran personal bests: Jamaica’s Kelly-Ann Beckford (1:58.46) and Americans Victoria Bossong (1:58.52) and McKenna Keegan (1:58.60).

Bossong’s time was especially noteworthy. A 2025 Harvard grad, the 23-year-old PR’d by almost a full second as her previous pb was 1:59.48 from last year. Bossong and Keegan now rank #4 and #5 on the 2026 US list at 800.

Not many fans turned out for this one

This was the first year of the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix, which effectively replaced the USATF NYC Grand Prix, last held in 2024. USATF wants to hold a few meets like this in the US to give athletes a chance to earn world ranking points (this was a Continental Tour Gold event, one step below the Diamond League), especially in rarely-contested field events.

USATF and meet organizers couldn’t make the money work in New York, so instead USATF went to Texas A&M, spurred on by an investment from sponsor and local beef producer 44 Farms.

A&M’s Cushing Stadium doesn’t seat many fans — just 2,200 — but the stadium was still nowhere close to full on Saturday. It looked as if there were only a couple hundred fans in the stands. Staging a meet in the hot sun in the middle of the afternoon probably didn’t help, but USATF and the meet’s hands may have been tied on that one; staging the meet from 4-6 p.m. ET may have been the only way to get it on national TV on NBC. Plus, Texas A&M’s football stadium was hosting a World Cup warmup match between Argentina and Honduras on Saturday night.

Full results appear below. Discuss this meet on the LetsRun.com messageboard:

MB Official 2026 Lone Star Grand Prix (NBC 4-6 pm ET) Live DIscussion Thread

Men’s 100 Metres

Final, Wind: 3.8 m/s

Men’s 200 Metres

Final, Wind: +0.1

Men’s 400 Metres

Final

Men’s 800 Metres

Men’s 110 Metres Hurdles

Final, Wind: +0.5

Women’s 100 Metres

Final, Wind: 1.6 m/s

Women’s 200 Metres

Final, Wind: +0.7

Women’s 400 Metres

Final

Women’s 100 Metres Hurdles

Final, Wind: +1.3

Field Events

Women’s Hammer Throw

Final

Men’s Pole Vault

Men’s High Jump

Final

Men’s Javelin Throw

Final

High School Events – Men’s 100 Metres

Final, Wind: +0.6

High School Events – Women’s 100 Metres

Final, Wind: +2.6