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Saturday, July 1st, 2023 | 6:47 p.m
Chaz Ball | Tribune review
Eliza Miller of Kiski Area wins the girls’ 800 meter dash at the WPIAL Class 2A Track and Field Championships May 17, 2023 at Slippery Rock University.
Eliza Miller will combine her love of distance running and swimming with a more recent endeavor in cycling on the newly formed Duquesne University women’s triathlon team.
She made verbal commitments to the school and program earlier this year and is already preparing for her collegiate athletic career this summer with miles in each discipline.
The aspiring Kiski-area senior put in mileage last school year and shone again in the cross-country, swim and track seasons, highlighted by a WPIAL swimming championship in the 500-yard freestyle and a WPIAL track and field title in the Free 800 meter dash.
Along the way she collected medals and other titles.
For all of her accomplishments over the nine months of competition, Miller was named Valley News Dispatch’s Female Athlete of the Year for the second time, an addition to the honor she received this year.
“Honestly, my teammates, with all their support, really helped me play the season I played,” Miller said.
“Yes, while I’ve had individual achievements that I’m proud of, they’ve always motivated me and helped me stay focused so I can do my best.”
Miller started 2022-23 with a bang, winning multiple cross-country races including the Kiski Invitational (18:55.21) at Northmoreland Park, the Division I, Section 4 Championship for a third time with a Northmoreland Course record of 18:41.6, and the Westmoreland County Coaches Association crowned in a time of 18:18.6.
Those triumphs took her to the WPIAL Class 3A Championships at Roadman Park in Cal, Pa. In a deep field, Miller clocked a time of 19:25.9 and placed 10th.
“My main goal in this race was to get to the states,” she said. “I knew all the girls at the top were really good. I just had to stay in the leading group and I managed to do that.”
This strong field of WPIAL was shown at the PIAA Championships in Hershey.
Miller finished 11th overall (19:14.0) of 233 in the Class 3A field.
She was the sixth finisher of the WPIAL contingent, led by state champion Natalie McLean, a senior from Pine-Richland.
Miller returned from Hershey and hopped in the pool full-time to prepare for swim season.
She soon showed that she would be a force in the water again. The school record for the 500m freestyle was broken and she made her mark with two gold medals (500m freestyle and 100m breaststroke) at the WCCA Championship meeting in Derry.
She also helped place third in the 200-meter medley relay and 400-meter free relay.
It soon moved on to the WPIAL Class 2A Championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool where she was one of a select few to win four medals.
Led by the 500-meter medley title, she also finished second in the 200-meter medley ahead of Mapletown veteran Ella Menear, helping to place third in the 200-meter medley relay and fourth in the 400-meter medley relay.
“It was great to be on the top step of the podium (in the 500cc race),” said Miller. “I wasn’t that happy with my time. That was disappointing. But winning was so exciting.”
Miller added four more state medals, led by a third-place finish in the 500-meter freewheel and fifth in the 200-meter dash.
She also helped place eighth in the 200-meter medley relay and seventh place in the 400-meter free relay.
“To take home four state medals is insane,” Miller said. “The best part was experiencing everything with my teammates. We worked so hard together for these (relay) medals. I was so happy for all of us.”
Miller then made a quick transition to the outdoor track and field season, which started about ten days before the end of the swim season.
“I didn’t really run in the winter,” Miller said. “It’s better for me to just focus on swimming this season. But it didn’t take long to get up to speed, maybe a week or two from easy runs to more challenging runs. I used the first few double hits as thresholds.”
Again, medals were placed around her neck at races throughout western Pennsylvania.
She was a gold medal again at the WCCA outdoor meeting, winning both the 800-meter dash and the 1,600-meter dash.
Miller added a win in the 1-mile dash with a season-best time of 5:00.56 at the 49th Baldwin Invitational.
At the WPIALs, she started sixth in the 1,600m and then ramped up her performance level for the 800m, where she secured a class 3A WPIAL gold with a personal best of 2:14.71.
“I only ran the 1,600m last year and the 800m this year was kind of a surprise,” she said.
“I decided I want to race it this year, so I really focused on the race. Deciding by accident that I wanted to do it and then become a WPIAL champion is actually crazy. I didn’t expect it.”
She was faster in the states 800 with a time of 2:10.88 and placed fifth.
Miller also finished 12th in the 1,600m race (4:56.79). Her time was a career best, beating the 4:58.82 she ran during the regular season.
Michael Love is a Contributor to Tribune-Review. You can contact Michael via email at [email protected] or via Twitter.
Keywords: Kiski area
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