Cooper concludes AAU career with nine Junior Olympic national titles, along with nine Club Championship golds after winning 100, 200 and 400 for Miami Gardens Xpress in 17-18 division

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Tyrese Cooper, an incoming senior at Miami Norland FL, completed a sweep Saturday of AAU Junior Olympic national sprint titles in the men’s 17-18 division in Des Moines, Iowa.

In his final AAU Junior Olympics, Cooper – representing Miami Gardens Xpress – won the 100-meter dash in 10.47 seconds, the 200 in 20.73 and the 400 in 46.02.

Cooper, 18, completed his AAU career with nine Junior Olympic titles, to go along with nine Club Championship individual gold medals. He added three consecutive 400 championships at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, along with a pair of 200 titles, in addition to a second-place finish this year.

Cooper also captured New Balance Nationals Indoor crowns in the 200 and 400 in 2017, when he also won a USATF Junior Outdoor title in the 200 and earned a silver medal at the Pan American U-20 Championships in Peru.

The four-time Florida High School Athletic Association state champion boasts wind-legal personal bests of 10.36 in the 100, 20.51 in the 200 and 45.23 in the 400. He ranks as the No. 10 all-time prep performer in the 400 and is in the top 20 in the 200.

Cooper has targeted a December graduation, looking for early college enrollment, although Miami Gardens Xpress coach Darius Lawshea hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Cooper competing at the prep level again in the spring.

Cooper plans on taking official college visits during the fall, with USC, Texas A&M, Oregon, Texas and Georgia among the leading contenders in his recruitment.