Local Cross Country Runner Sprints to Nationals

The Vikings’ have many talented athletes and one of these standout athletes is freshman Austin Miller of the Hudson Valley Cross Country team.

The team finished sixth place in regionals. Miller finished sixth out of 62 runners in the meet to get All Region honors and advance to nationals.

“It’s been a fun season. We kind of struggled to put things together this year but we had a lot of fun,” said Miller.

“The season is going pretty good,” said Head Coach Chuck Terry. “We have four runners advancing to the national meet Saturday at Delhi.”

Miller started his running career in seventh grade, when he joined his high school cross country team. He has run ever since and continues his success here at Hudson Valley.

“College is definitely different, running longer distances. It took a little while to get used to that,” said Miller.

Along with running cross country, Miller also competed in cross country skiing for his high school. “Last year, I made it to states for skiing. I finished two in states in cross country skiing, which was a big accomplishment,” said Miller.

Coach Terry said, “He was a surprise to me. I didn’t know that he had this type of ability because he didn’t run track in high school. He did cross country running and skiing. So it’s a bit of a surprise to see him so successful in his freshman year,” said Terry.

Miller and the rest of the team put in a lot of effort and hard work to get to where they are at this point in the season.

“We did a lot of training. We started early August running miles and then just a lot of hard work throughout the season,” said Miller.

Along with a lot of training through the season, Miller has progressed throughout the year, finishing in the top 10 in five of his seven races this year.

“You add mileage as you get further into your career. There are harder workouts and just running more often,” said Miller.

Miller is a local athlete who went to Guilderland High School. He chose Hudson Valley for many of its qualities. “They have a great engineering program and it will transfer well into big schools,” said Miller.

“Austin is an excellent student. He holds a 4.0 GPA. As a runner, he was third in our conference championship and finished sixth in regionals,” Terry said.

About two weeks ago, the Vikings team was ranked number eight in the national rankings, which was the first time they made it into the top 10.

The Viking Cross Country team will go to Delhi to compete in the National Tournament. Miller looks to finish off his freshman season with a good placing.