Hillsboro senior Kobie Miles finishes career at state 100m hurdles

COLUMBUS — Hillsboro senior Kobie Miles worked her way to the 2026 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships to finish up a successful career by racing against the best in the state, as she competed in the Division III 100-meter hurdles on Friday morning. 

Miles finished her state debut race with a time of 16.55 for 16th place in the two-heat race. Miles — a three-sport athlete who also played soccer and basketball — said it was a dream for her to race at state, and it has always been a goal of hers to do so. 

“It's been super exciting. I mean, I've been wanting to do this my whole four years, like my whole high school career, and making it my senior year is just even more special,” Miles said. “I’m just so grateful I got the opportunity,

“It was great. I mean, everyone dreams of getting to run at the state meet, and my junior year and my senior year, I put a little more work in than my freshman and sophomore year, and I think that showed coming into my senior year.”

Miles earned a spot to be a state qualifier in the 100m hurdles by entering the event with a sixth-place regional time of 15.55, gaining one of the two wildcard spots for the state meet event. 

The Hillsboro senior during the Frontier Athletic Conference meet in May placed third overall with a time of 15.56. At the district championships the following week, Miles had another third-place finish with a time of 15.85.

Hillsboro girls track and field head coach Dave Dietrick talked about all of Miles’ accomplishments and all the hard work she displayed during not just her four years of high school track, but also at the middle school level as he also watched Miles and the rest of the senior class compete in sixth and seventh grades. 

“She was obviously very excited just to be here to have this opportunity. Beautiful day up here, beautiful weather. It looked like she warmed up well. She was ready to go. She had a good looking start with it,” Dietrick said. “Obviously, she's going to wish her time was a little bit faster, and she's going to wish her placement was a little bit higher. 

“All those things are natural, that's a given, but at the same time, just to be here, to have the opportunity of running with this crowd of people, is fantastic. These are memories that she's going to have for the rest of her life.”

Dietrick continued to speak about Miles in the hurdles event and about her career. 

“Not only for the season, but looking back, I've seen her run over her career. I’ve been around this group of seniors for quite a while. I've watched them as they were in seventh grade, or maybe a little bit before, but definitely in seventh grade when they got involved in track,” Dietrick said. “She's been very interested in hurdles since day one, has been very good at it and working on a craft on a regular basis. 

“This is a week where she had no problem coming in, working out, getting what she needed done. When everybody else is kind of done for the season, she was there still putting in time, trying to be here. Kudos to her. It's that nice to see when that career started that six years ago, that you worked for something and then culminated as a senior with a chance to run here at Jesse Owens Stadium.”

Miles — who will be attending Ohio State as a student majoring in business this fall — had plenty of thanks to give as she wrapped up her high school varsity career. 

“I definitely want to thank my mom and dad. My dad, Bruce, is always pushing me, and my mom (Darci) just always wants what's best for me, and my grandparents supporting me every meet, and my coaches always there at practice, pushing me, pushing everyone else to just do their best. 

“My teammates, they are the best. They are so supportive of me and everyone. I love track just because of the friendships, and it’s so different than basketball or soccer, because everyone's individual, but everyone's just cheering everyone on, especially from different schools, too.”