Zak Miller

This story about RSE student Zak Miller was published by Tyler Huey in the Nisqually Valley News November 8, 2013. Zak is the son of fellow students Suzanne & Carey Miller and younger brother to RSE student Alexandria Miller, named Rainier High’s 2011 Valedictorian:

“On a clear, slightly breezy Saturday morning, Rainier sophomore Zak Miller was on the verge of puking. It felt good, though.

At the District 4 1A Championships, he became Rainier’s only cross-country runner to make this weekend’s state tournament. Miller (17 minutes, 54 seconds) placed 15th out of 105, a time that is about 40 seconds faster than the previous meet.

‘I was pretty happy because I knew I made it to state, and I was pretty happy with my time, too,’ Miller said. ‘I almost did puke, actually. It was pretty bad but I was pretty happy because usually I don’t get that feeling after I run, so I felt like I pushed myself.’

Throughout the season, Rainier coach Rob Henry preached to his team that they should be absolutely gassed when crossing the finish line. Being on the verge of vomiting, like Miller, was a perfect sight.

‘It’s great, it’s huge,’ Henry said of Miller. ‘He ran a fantastic race. We figured high 17s, low 18s was going to qualify. And for himself, he’s worked so hard this year, that it’s really nice to see him reach that accomplishment.’

One reason for making state and a drastic time improvement from the week prior was due to the competition. Miller said he tried to go as fast as possible, starting out quicker and maintaining an up-tempo pace. He was also motivated to keep up with the guys in front of him.

‘It just felt like this was it,’ Miller said. ‘It was either do really well at this or go home. I just had to push myself to whatever I had left.’

‘It’s a big motivation when you have other people around because they kind of have this faster pace than you, so in you keeping up with them, you know you’re going at a fast pace,’ he added. ‘It’s harder when you are running on your own pace because you have to keep pushing yourself, and you don’t want to be hurting too badly and it’s hard to find the pace.’
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– UPDATE: October 2, 2014
“Cross-Country Relies on Heart, Self-Motivation”
Zak Miller featured in the Nisqually Valley News.
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