Coy Hyre, of Brookville, seeks strong finish to high school sprinting career before heading to University of Kentucky

Brookville High School senior Coy Hyre raised his profile with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter dash at the Nike Indoor Nationals in March. He finished behind University of Georgia recruit Brayden Williams, University of Miami recruit Tate Taylor, who would set a national record in the 100-meter dash the following month, and Elijah Clark, a Texas track star like Williams and Taylor.

“It definitely helped to spread my name and my image and drew a lot of attention to me,” Hyre said.

Uncommitted at the time, Hyre signed with the Kentucky Wildcats on May 4 after an official visit in early April.

“I loved the coach, the campus, the team and the school,” Hyre said. “I think it’ll be fun. I think it’s a good fit.”

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After qualifying for state but not reaching the finals as a sophomore, Hyre won Division II state championships in the 100 (10.65 seconds) and 200 (21.61) last year at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. He hopes to repeat next week as the meet returns to its longtime home, Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.

“I almost need to win for my my health,” Hyre said. “I feel like I have to, which isn’t good, but I really want to.”

First, Hyre has to qualify in Piqua at the regional meet, which began Wednesday with preliminaries and continues Friday.

Hyre entered his races as a big favorite. Last weekend in the district meet at Trotwood-Madison, Hyre won the 100 (10.46) and 200 (20.96). Only one other runner in the 100 heading into the regional meet had a seed time under 11 seconds. In the 200, Hyre’s seed time was more than a second faster than the other 15 sprinters. Hyre will also race with the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Hyre has focused on improving all his weaknesses over the last year.

“Obviously, you feel like you can always improve every aspect of your race and who you are as an athlete,” he said. “I think I’ve just been focusing on trying to marginally improve every aspect — from my start, my top speed, my technique, to my focus in training and on the track and also just me as a person. I’ve been trying to slightly improve and grow in every aspect of sports and life in general."

Hyre has twice set the Division II state record in the 100 — both times at the Wayne Invitational. He tied the mark with a time of 10.48 in 2024 and broke the mark by clocking 10.39 on May 2.

“He’s been amazing,“ Brookville coach Melissa Ross said. ”He’s an amazing teammate. He’s an amazing leader. He gets it done in the classroom. We’re going to really miss him next year. He’s easy to coach.I don’t do much, but let him do his thing, and I think I try to keep him a little bit grounded and just kind of mentally help him to focus and relax a little bit."