John Dye, Who Brought High School Track and Field Into the Internet Age, Dies at 86

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

It is with great sadness that we report today that DyeStat founder and namesake John Dye, who innovated high school track and field and cross country coverage for the internet in the late 1990s, suffered a stroke and died Friday in Las Vegas. He was 86. 

Dye created a regional rankings database in Maryland to chart the progress of his two high-school aged children, and then expanded this scope to attempt to try and find out where they ranked nationally. 

Thus began DyeStat, which revolutionized and illuminated a sport that had been mostly sectioned off by state boundaries with some regional interest. 

Dye grew the site to become national, covering indoor meets at The Armory in New York City and maintaining a presence at the Foot Locker Cross Country Finals and other national meets. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NFHS National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame as a contributor along with luminaries such as Jesse Owens, Steve Prefontaine and Allyson Felix. 

"He truly made the biggest impact on our sport's coverage than anyone else during my lifetime," said RunnerSpace founder and CEO Ross Krempley, who acquired the DyeStat brand when Dye and his wife, Donna, retired from covering the sport in 2012. 

After some time to absorb the magnitude of the loss, we'll have more on the life of John Dye.