The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

University of Georgia’s assistant coach George Cleare said Shaunae Miller came here and did what she was required to do - win three gold medals and cart off the Austin Sealy Award for the most outstanding athlete at the 2013 BTC Carifta Games over the weekend.

Miller, 18, kept the Bahamian tradition alive by becoming the sixth Bahamian to win the coveted award after she posted a rare double in the under-20 girls 200 and 400 metres as well as running the third leg on the Bahamas’ victorious 4 x 100 metre relay team in the three-day meet at the new Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

“She ran a lot of matured races. She managed herself very well,” said Cleare, who has been working directly with Miller since she joined the Bulldogs’ athletic team in August. “Coming here, we really came here to get three gold medals and we did that. We had a chance to get the record in the 400 as she did in the 200.

“But we had to be very careful because we knew Jamaica was bringing a rocket in Shericka Jackson (in the 200). She’s a super talent and so we knew that if we blew it out in the 400, her legs would have been tired for the 200. So we ran a controlled race and got the gold, although we came up short of the record.”

Miller, who had to get some treatment for her sore legs from therapist Dr Dwight Marshall after the heats of the 200, became the latest winner of the award for her triple gold medal feat, including the record breaking performance in the 200 as she erased Anthonique Strachan’s half-lap race mark she set last year.

Winning the award, Miller followed behind Strachan, the winner of the past two years in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Hamilton, Bermuda, respectively. They joined previous winners, including Mary Ann Higgs in 1978, Lavern Eve in 1982 and 1983, Pauline Davis in 1984 and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie in 1995.

Higgs, Eve, Davis and Strachan marched into the stadium during the official opening ceremonies ahead of Team Bahamas.

When she received the trophy from Prime Minister Perry Christie, legendary Austin Sealy, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson and Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ president Mike Sands, Miller said:

“It feels pretty good. I want to thank God for the opportunity to win it. It’s nice to be home and in my last year at Carifta to win it in front of the home crowd. It was just amazing. Carifta is always a good meet to compete in, but to be able to come out as the most outstanding athlete is just awesome. I’m pretty happy for the award.”

Before she heads back to Athens, Georgia, to resume her studies and collegiate career, Miller said she was going to bask in her glory as she shares the moment with her family and friends.

Missing from the sidelines when the ceremony took place was her mother, May Miller, who was busy working with the organising of the games.

But she was greeted by her father Shaun and coach Cleare, who admitted that Miller gave the public their money’s worth.

While the public would have liked to see Miller contest the 4 x 400 relay in which the Bahamas had to settle for the bronze, Cleare said the plan was for her just to run the two individual events and a relay and based on the make-up of Team Bahamas, the 4 x 1 was the best option for a medal, so they decided to go that route.

“She’s a very super talented athlete and when you run those amazing times, you are going to get the wear and tear on your body,” he said. “But she’s young and 2016 (Olympic Games) is right around the corner, so she will have a lot of time to run for the Bahamas and a lot more medals to win.”

Shaun Miller, an assistant coach on Team Bahamas, said he had all the confidence in Cleare to make the right choice for his daughter.

“First of all, we have to give thanks to God. We all prayed about it,” he said.

“As far as her performance, I have to say it was an outstanding performance. She went out there and ran pretty good for her outdoor debut in the both the 400 and especially the 200 as well as her duties in the relay.

“It was a great achievement, not just to run the way she ran against the stiff competition, but to set a new record in the 200 and to win the Austin Sealy Award here at home, is quite rewarding. I was only the keeper for a few years. I have turned her over to George Cleare and she’s in good hands and I expect only great things from her in the future.”

When Miller returns to Athens, Cleare said she will be re-evaluated by the Bulldogs’ doctors before she returns to action maybe in a week or two.

In addition to winning the Austin Sealy Award, Miller has already been named the NCAA Indoor Freshman of the Year.

It seems as if the accolades are just starting to pile up.