NEW YORK — Allegany track and field standout Avery Miller is set to compete in the pentathlon at the Nike Indoor National Meet in New York City on Saturday.
Miller, who is signed to Penn State on a full track and field scholarship, met the qualifying standard for the pentathlon based on her previous performances. The elite field of athletes will have just 15 participants.
The pentathlon includes the 60-meter hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump and 800-meter run.
The senior won two outdoor national championships last summer in the heptathlon, taking first at the New Balance nationals in Philadelphia and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Saturday will mark Miller’s first indoor track and field meet.
Two other Allegany student-athletes are slated to participate in the Adidas National Meet next weekend in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Wade Napier qualified for the 400m and 800m in the National Elite Level, and Devin Hall qualified for the 60m in the Freshman Elite Level.
These opportunities and future opportunities are open to all area track and field athletes who meet qualifying standards for national meets.
All three will be running under a newly formed Western Maryland Track and Field Club.
Athletes are not permitted to run under their school names in national meets, so Laura Byrnes, owner of Runners’ Wings in Frostburg, George Brown, Allegany track head coach, and Austin Miller started the club for local athletes to represent the area at national events.
Byrnes provided singlets, which are the tops track and field athletes wear during meets, for each of the three athletes.