NEW YORK — Allegany senior Avery Miller finished second in the pentathlon at the Nike Indoor Nationals on Saturday, earning Nike high school All-American status in the process.
The Penn State track and field signee scored 3,653 points. Cate Bryant, Houston, Texas, took first with a 3,766. Caroline Perri, Nashville, Tennessee, was third (3,558).
“It was a quick turnaround from basketball, but the coaching staff did a great job getting me prepared,” Miller said. “Coach (George) Brown always has a plan. They do a great job preparing all of us at Allegany.
“Coach Brown, Coach (Katie) Rice, Coach (Dave) Lancaster, Coach (Chris) Stewart, Coach (Jade) Bean, coach (Justin) Taylor, coach (Rick) Linaburg, my brother (Austin Miller); they work so hard with all of us. It’s a lot of fun.”
Avery Miller placed first in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:15.37, which would’ve won the Maryland indoor state championship by six seconds this winter.
She needed to beat Bryant by 13 seconds in the 800m, the final event, but Bryant was able to run a 2:21.20 to hold on.
Miller placed second in the shot put (34’, 11.75”), tied for third in the long jump (18’, 0.5”), tied for sixth in the high jump (5”, 1’) and was 10th in the 60-meter hurdles (9.47).
The Camper also notched personal bests in the high jump and hurdles. It was the first time Miller has competed in the 60m hurdles.
Miller competed for the Western Maryland Track Club, newly formed for athletes to represent the area at national events.
“It was really cool to look at the video board and see my name and Western Maryland Track Club,” Miller said. “I want to thank Runners Wings for supporting me.”
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.
Her second-place finish sets up for a stacked field when she tries to defend her title at the New Balance Nationals Heptathlon in Philadelphia in June with Janie Ford from Alabama (Vanderbilt commit, top-rated Heptathlete in class of 2025), Miller (second in class of 2025), Bryant, and Yuliya Maslouskaya (Belarus U18 national champion, 2024 runner-up to Miller) likely to attend.
“I think I need a few days to heal and recover a little bit, but then we really want to win a team state championship at Alco this year,” Miller said. “We want to hang a banner.”