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DAC Women’s Outdoor Championships
Ramon Miller is one of three recipients of this year's North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Special Achievement award. The award is the organization's highest honor.
Miller was a standout for the Dickinson State University track and field team, winning three NAIA national outdoor titles as a senior. But Miller's biggest career highlight of 2008 came at Beijing Olympics, where he was a member of the Bahamas 1,600-meter relay team that garnered a silver medal. "It was great to go to the Olympics and earn a silver medal," Miller said. "It's more than I could have asked for. I'm blessed." Miller completed his career with the Blue Hawks with 11 national championships.
"There's no doubt he's one of the best we've had and we feel we've had some really great ones," DSU head coach Pete Stanton said. "Ramon had the special qualities you look for in an athlete. He's very talented but he's very hard-working. He's not only talented, but he put that talent to use and that's what made him special." Primarily an 800-meter runner when he arrived on the campus of DSU, Miller quickly became one of the best 400-meter runners in the nation. The transition came when he started training with fellow Bahamian sprint standouts Derrick Atkins and Aaron Cleare.
"I think part of it was some of our other runners before him," DSU head coach Pete Stanton said. "He got in with those two and really wanted to train and do some of the things that they had done. It kind of happened because of training with those guys. We as a coaching staff saw him improving and wanted to keep him there."
Miller is heading for the Bahamas National Games this weekend. If he finishes in the top six in the 400 meters there, he will run for the Bahamas in both the individual 400 and the 1,600-relay team at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin in August.
Miller hopes that those competitions work as a springboard into more international opportunities, and ultimately another trip to the Olympics, the 2012 games in London. "Those will be my two stepping stones this year, hopefully," he said. "Returning to the Olympics to run the individual 400 meter is one of my main goals. That's what I'm working on for the next three years. I know it's not an easy goal, but I'm up for the challenge." Blue Hawks Crown 5 Champions, 17 All-Americans; New Stadium Opens Next Season
New Stadium - Badlands Activity Center - CLICK HERE
NAIA National Meet - Web Page -- Order of Events -- Event by Event Results -- DSU Photo Album
Sixty-three points is a huge single-day tally, and that is exactly what Dickinson State’s men’s track team was able to score on Saturday, the final day of the NAIA national meet, and in doing so, the Blue Hawks secured 2nd place in the team standings. For the three-day meet, DSU collected 71 points. It was the seventh consecutive year that the Hawks have been either 1st (three times) or 2nd (four times) in the outdoor competition.
The Hawks won both relays races, and the 400m sprint and 400m hurdle events. Those 40 points combined with a runner-up placings in both the 200 and 400m races as well as seven more points from the triple jump comprised the 63 points for the day. The Blue Hawk men broke four school records and Kelsey Aide broke her own pole vault record in their five national event champions.
Ramon Miller took home the prestigious men’s Outstanding Performer Award, voted on by coaches for essentially the athlete who made one’s eyes pop and jaw drop to the greatest degree. Miller did plenty. He ran the lead-off leg in the winning 4 x 100m relay (Miller, John Ingraham, Kurt McCormack, Jamal Forbes). Trustworthy in the blocks and an incredible turn-runner, Miller was a natural choice. Their 40.09 clocking was not quite as swift as the qualifying team’s 40.04 mark (Miller did not run on that team) but both times were quicker than the previous school record of 40.19 set in 2004. Later, Miller put his name among the leaders in the world, and made eyes widen, with a blistering 45.43 time in the one lapper. Miller’s performance was the fastest since Devon Morris of Wayland Baptist (Texas), who ran 45.07 in1986. Miller was the event’s defending champion but ran “only” 46.51 last year. No one’s winning time was better than 46.0 since 1998.
He capped off the evening with another jaw dropping run, this time in anchoring the event championship 4 x 400m relay team (Sean Pickstock, Ingraham, Allan Ayala, Miller) in 3:06.58--more than 2.0 seconds faster than runner-up Langston University (Okla.). The time also better the previous DSU mark of 3:09.18 set in 2007 (Ayala, Pickstock, Mike Laducer, Miller).
NAIA National Meet in Full Swing With DSU Record Run in Relay and Two More Blue Hawks All-Americans
NAIA National Meet - Web Page -- Order of Events -- Event by Event Results
Another exciting day occurred for Dickinson State track and field fans at the NAIA national championships in Edwardsville, Ill. The Blue Hawks set a new school record in the men’s 4 x 100m relay and honored two more All-Americans.
The quartet of Ramon Miller, John Ingraham, Kurt McCormack and Jamal Forbes can be proud regardless of the rest of the meet as their 40.04 time in the 4 x 100m relay established a new Dickinson State record. This fastest foursome set the new mark in the semi-finals and thus they will have one more chance to distance itself from the previous Blue Hawk team of Aaron Cleare, Damen Woolsey, Francisco Rose and Derrick Atkins who ran 40.19 in 2004. The new four should feel good about those chances and also getting a shot at the national event championship since they enter Saturday’s final as the fastest qualifying team.
Forbes earned All-American status in the 100m sprint. He was timed in 10.61 seconds and took 4th place. Sheldon King was the other All-American honored. He matched a season best by clearing 6’ 9” in the high jump and claimed 6th place. Lee Irvine did not advance to the finals of the 800m though he ran a solid 1:54.61 in his two-lap semi-final.
Defending event champion in the 400m intermediate hurdles (51.11 in 2008), Allan Ayala passed through the first round of the qualifying heats on Thursday, running 51.95 seconds to lead the field. On, Friday, Ayala sped to another event-leading time of 51.06 to reach the semi-final round.
In other events, Jermaine Christie ran 14.72 over the short version of the hurdles. His 110m mark was his best all year, but still left him .02 seconds from reaching the final round. Senior Bryant Harvey ended his collegiate career with a 9:51.80 clocking in the 3000m steeple chase on Thursday evening.
Ashley Emmons, like Harvey, concluded her collegiate track career. She finished with 4090 points in the heptathlon competition. On Friday she long jumped 16’ 3 ¼”, threw the discus 90’ 8” and finished the seven-event test with a 2:26.75 time in the 800m.
Earlier, Miller and teammate Pickstock set the tone for the Blue Hawks. They both ran their best times ever in DSU uniforms in the 400m dash. Miller, the defending national champion (46.47 in 2008) made the crowd, “Ooh,” and then “Aww” when he leaned across the line in 45.97--almost 1.5 seconds better than Adrian Simpson (Southern New Orleans). Pickstock was nearly as dominant in the semi-final heat immediately following. His 47.00 clocking dominated the field and was 0.6 seconds better than heat runner-up Jordan Heim (Bethel, Ind.). Both Blue Hawks move on to the final round with the gun set to fire at 3:20 pm (MT) on Saturday. |
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