Bakersfield College’s captain of the men’s track team, Jeremy Miller, took fourth place in the high hurdles in last year’s State Championship and is hoping to do better this year.
“My goal is, of course, to win the State Championship. That was my main goal from last year, but so far it looks like it should happen for me, but I don’t want to count my eggs before they hatch,” Miller said.
Miller placed first in the 110m high hurdles at the SoCal Regionals with a time of 14.57.
Miller takes the roll of a leader to help keep his team on top.
“The main thing is to help the coach out, and I try to lead and keep the guys in line because a lot of guys haven’t ran track in a long time,” he said. “So I try to give them a little advice here and there, and well, I’m not perfect either but from what I know, I try to help everybody else out.”
Miller ran hurdles races and competed in jumps during his high school years in Houston. But Miller injured his knee while competing in the triple jump in high school, and he doesn’t compete in jumps today.
While in Houston, Miller got a call from his brother, Jerome, who was a hurdler at BC. Jerome Miller, who took first in the state last year in the high hurdles, urged his brother to come to BC.
“My brother thought I was still fast enough and that I should give it a try to get a scholarship,” Jeremy Miller said. “So I moved out here, then came to find out I still had most of my quickness, and I’m pretty sure I’m faster then I was in high school.”
One of Miller’s main goals is to get his best time down and later transfer to a Division I school, preferably in Texas.
After about two years with the men’s track team, Miller has the No. 1 time in the state of 14.50 seconds in the high hurdles. His time is half a second faster than any of the other hurdlers at the state community college level.
“Miller approaches this sport with a lot of maturity,” BC coach Bob Covey said.
“He’s the type of guy that does not miss practice. He tells you if he’s not feeling well or if he’s injured. His brother (Jerome) is at Baylor this year, and both of those guys are great hurdlers.”
Miller will be competing this weekend at the state championships.