LANDOVER — After winning the triple jump and discus Thursday night, Avery Miller entered Day 2 of the Maryland state championship meet Saturday tied for the most individual state championships in Maryland high school history with 12.
It would have been understandable if there was some apprehension as she stepped into the blocks for the 300m hurdles with a chance to make Maryland high school track history.
It was only her fourth time running the event, and she had ended up on the ground with a lump on her head a week earlier at regionals — an event she did recover to win by 1.33 seconds.
“Going into the event, I knew that my mistake wasn’t going over the hurdle, it was just that I tripped before the hurdle because I stutter step,” the Penn State signee said. “I just needed to run what I normally run. I wasn’t going to let it get in my head.”
Miller left no doubt, dominating the competition with a time of 42.14, a full three seconds better than her previous best. The time broke the all-time Class 1A meet record in the event by nearly a full second and was the 31st best time in the nation this year by a high schooler.
“I was just trying to think one event at a time,” Miller said. “It feels kind of surreal. It’s pretty cool. I’m very happy about it.”
The previous individual state championship record holders at 12, Hammond’s Kisha Jett and Walter Johnson’s Sally Glynn, went on to become collegiate All-Americans at Florida and Stanford, respectively.
Miller added a 14th state title in the 800m 45 minutes later, this time running a 2:14.03 and breaking another all-time class 1A record. It was a record previously owned by Mountain Ridge’s Mary Delaney, who now runs for West Virginia.
Amazingly, Miller’s four state titles were in four different events than the one’s she won as a sophomore and junior. Having state titles in eight different events is also a state record.
Miller now has won gold in the 100m, 200m, 300m hurdles, 400m, 800m, long jump, triple jump and discus.
Before her sophomore year, it had been 27 years since someone had won four events at the Maryland class 1A state championships. Miller has now won four events three years in a row. She is the only girl in MPSSAA history to have won four events more than once.
Her victory Thursday night in the triple jump (36’ 8”) was only the second time she had ever competed in the event.
In her discus victory she threw 115’ 4”, breaking the Allegany school record. She finishes her career holding 12 of the 18 Allegany girls track and field records.
Katie Rice and Brian Miller worked with Miller in the triple jump, Dave Lancaster coached her in the discus and Jade Bean continued to help the Camper standout in the hurdles.
“Avery’s ability to be so versatile in track and field is unmatched for a high school athlete,” Allegany head coach George Brown said. “I am confident that I will never have the privilege and honor to work work with such a superb multi-event athlete again in my lifetime.
“It will be years, if ever, that this community witnesses such an athlete.”
Miller ended her day by placing third in the long jump in her sixth and final event. She also competed in the 4×400 relay.
Mountain Ridge’s Sophia Brill took first place in the 3200m (11:26.31), Fort Hill’s MaeLeigh Plummer (4’ 10”) and Landen Sweitzer (6’ 2”) took gold in the high jump and Alco’ Ryan Wu (discus, 150;’ 10”) took home a state title in discus.
For Plummer, a James Madison signee, it was her second consecutive state title in the high jump. Plummer also took second in the triple jump with a 35’ 4.75” and sixth in the long jump with a distance of 16’ 3.25”.
For Wu, he improved on his 13th place finish from last year, improving his distance by 48 feet from the year before. Wu also landed in second in the shot put with a distance of 49’ 2.25”.
Sweitzer’s winning jump was a 6” improvement from 2024 when he finished 14th.
Brill’s time in the 3200m was 51 seconds better than the time she ran in 2024 as a sophomore, when she placed eighth. Brill also took second in the 1600m (5:05.7) and third in the 800m (2:19.07) — both personal bests.
Brill was also part of the Miners’ 4x800m relay that placed third, along with Fiona Ruddell, Reese Rizzo and Brylee Gray.
The Allegany girls placed third in the Class 1A team competition with 68 points, behind Smithsburg (100) and Western Tech (91). Mountain Ridge finished fifth (40).
Allegany’s Sierra Campbell finished third in the triple jump (35’ 4.25”) and fifth in the long jump (16’ 3.25”).
Campbell has earned silver or bronze in all four years in triple jump, and she held the school record in the event before Miller broke it this spring.
Campbell is also a school record-holder in four relays, along with Miller.
Also placing highly for the Camper girls were Briley Linaburg, fourth in the pole vault (9’ 6”), and Rylee Bauer, sixth in the discus (100’ 5”, personal best).
“I just think coach Brown has really helped turn the track program around,” Avery Miller said. “He does an amazing job.”
The Allegany boys were the highest placing area school, getting sixth with 32 points. Fort Hill was 11th with 23.
Liberty won the championship with 87 points.
Allegany’s Dustin Long nearly won a state championship in the 3200-meter run, taking second with a personal-record time of 9:49.20. He was third in the 1600m with another PR time of 4:32.24.
Other area athletes placing top six were Fort Hill’s Casey Martz (fifth shot put, 47’ 11”) and Sadie Hamilton (sixth 100m hurdles, 15.97); Mountain Ridge’s Zach Haberlein (fourth 100m, 11.07; fifth 400m, 51.26), Austin Simpson (fourth 800m, 1:59.14) and Carolyn Hughes (fourth 300m hurdles, 45.8); and Northern’s Kaylee Bowser (fifth 3200m, 12:05.83; sixth 1600m, 5:33.96).
The Mountain Ridge 4×400 boys relay, comprised of Simpson, Landon Sweitzer, AJ Lauder and Cameron Breighner, also placed highly, taking fourth in a time of 8:26.20.