Mike Hillyard

Biography

After dominating the Great Lakes Valley Conference and being a major player on the NCAA Division II national stage for the better part of two decades, University of Southern Indiana Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Head Coach Mike Hillyard has led the Screaming Eagles into a new era during the last three seasons as USI made the jump to NCAA Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022. It did not take long for the transition to be a successful one as Hillyard guided both the USI Men's and Women's Cross Country teams to OVC titles in 2024 after leading his teams to second-place finishes at the league meet in 2023. He was named the OVC Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for his efforts, marking the 30th and 31st time in his storied career that Hillyard has earned Coach of the Year recognition at the conference level. A native of Norris City, Illinois, and a 1994 USI graduate, Hillyard resides in Evansville with his wife, Jessica, daughter, Madison, and two step-daughters, Alix Macdonald and Brady Minton. Hillyard was a member of the USI cross country team and ran the steeplechase in track in 1992, earning All-America honors with a fifth-place performance at nationals. He placed 34th in the 1991 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Hillyard enters his 30th season at the helm of USI Cross Country/Track & Field after taking over the women's program in 1996 and the men's program in 1998.