Former St. Cloud State Athlete to Compete at USATF Outdoor Championships

Former St. Cloud State University women's track and field All-American and current Concordia-St. Paul track and field assistant coach Heather Miller will compete in the heptathlon in the upcoming 2014 USATF Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif. The Championships will be held from June 26-29 at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University.

Miller finished fifth in the 2013 USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa and qualified to represent Team USA in the Thorpe Cup for the second consecutive year. The Thorpe Cup is an international track and field competition between USA and Germany. Teams are made up of up to seven men and seven women who compete in decathlon and heptathlon.

"The goal in next week's championships is to finish in the top seven and get back to the Thorpe Cup which is being held in Germany," Miller said of the upcoming year.

Miller set a PR in the heptathlon in 2013 with a mark of 5945 points. She has made steady improvements over the last several years as she finished her college career at St. Cloud State with a personal best of 5239.

"The 6000 point mark is the status point in the heptathlon. It's probably not going to win you a medal at the World Championships but it's an elite level."

With 2014 being an off year for the Olympics and the World Championships, Miller has 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero on her radar. In order to qualify for the World Championships, she must finish in the top three in the 2015 USATF Championships. As for the Olympics, she hopes to continue to make progress and sees it as a goal in the future.

Miller joined the Concordia-St. Paul coaching staff this past year and assisted CU's multi-event athletes while also finding time to work as a nurse and train herself.

A graduate of St. Cloud State University, Miller captured the 2010 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships title in the pentathlon. A 10-time All-American, Miller won NSIC titles during her college career in the indoor 60 meter hurdles (2009 and 2010), indoor triple jump (2009 and 2010), indoor pentathlon (2010), outdoor triple jump (2009 and 2010), outdoor long jump (2010) and outdoor heptathlon (2010). She also set NSIC records as a college athlete in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon.

Miller was selected as the 2010 USTFCCA Central Region Athlete of the Year (Indoor and Outdoor) and she was picked as the 2010 National Field Athlete of the Year (Indoor). A top academic performer at SCSU, Miller was selected to the prestigious ESPN "The Magazine" Academic All-America Team during her collegiate career.

The USATF Outdoor Championships return to "Sac-Town" for 2014. The 2014 USATF Outdoor Championships will bring the nation's best athletes to Northern California while also serving as the final stop on of the 2014 Outdoor USATF Championship Series, including stops at the Penn Relays and Drake Relays in April, the Prefontaine Classic in May, and the adidas Grand Prix in June.

Site of the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials for Track & Field, Sacramento has hosted several prominent track & field events in recently, including the 2011 World Masters Championships, 2010 USA Masters Championships, 2010 USA Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, and 1995 USA Outdoor Championships. Sacramento also has been home to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Sacramento Sports Commission will serve as the local organizing committee for the 2014 USATF Outdoor Championships, to be held at Sacramento State University's Hornet Stadium (capacity 21,195). Site of record attendance during the Olympic Trials, the stadium has undergone significant upgrades since the 2004 Olympic Trails including new public entrances, resurfacing of the infield and track, and a new scoreboard.

Sacramento has been the site of several record-setting performances including Stacy Dragila's first world-record pole vault in 2000 and the legendary "Night of Speed" during the 1968 USA Outdoor Championships at Hughes Stadium. On a single night, three American men broke the existing world record in the 100 meters, with a hand-timed 9.9 in the semifinals – Jim Hines, Ronnie Ray Smith and Charlie Green.

Saint Cloud State University Athletics

Former St. Cloud State Athlete to Compete at USATF Outdoor Championships

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