By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
SINCE graduating from Queen’s College in June, versatile Shaun Miller Jr was eagerly looking forward to the day when he will leave home to begin his collegiate career.
His journey will begin today when he heads off to Ohio State along with sprinters Adrian Curry and Devine Parker. They will join sprinter Tavonte Mott, competing in his junior year for the Buckeyes.
“The expectations are always set high. We put in a lot of work this offseason, so I’m looking forward to going over there and doing very well,” Miller Jr said. “Now that I’m going to college, I have a lot of things to look forward to. I just want to go out there and do my best.
“The plan was always to make this next move. Now that I’m going, I am already starting to miss home and I haven’t left yet. I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life.”
The 18-year-old intends to major in aviation, following in the footsteps of his father, Shaun Miller Sr, who was a pilot.
But as for his track career, he acknowledged that he has plans for his own niche and not that of his sister, Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
“I am definitely looking forward to carrying the Miller’s baton, but I want to develop my own legacy,” he said. “A lot of people think that I have some big shoes to fill, following my sister.
“But I’m not even worrying about it. I am just going to go out there and develop my own show. I’m going to concentrate on the high jump and eventually branch out into the multi-events (just like his brother-in-law, Maicel Uibo does for Estonia).”
Veteran coach Ronald Cartwright, who has been coaching Miller Jr for the past three years, said he’s a quick learner, which should help him in his transition to college.
“He’s decided to the sport, so I don’t think he will have any problems adjusting to college,” Cartwright said. “I think he will do very well. He just has to take it one day at a time.
“He has to realise that he’s not in high school anymore, but an adjustment has to be made. The quicker he can make that adjustment, the better it will be for him. So I expect some great things from him.”
When he started coaching Miller Jr, he was jumping around 1.90 metres or 6-feet, 2 3/4-inches. In the short space of time that he worked with him, Cartwright helped him to soar over 2.16m (7-1).
His lifetime best produced a gold medal in the under-20 boys’ high jump at CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands in April. It was Miller’s second gold medal after he rebounded from the fourth place in his first appearance in the division in the Bahamas.
The year before in 2017 in Curacao, Miller claimed the gold in the under-18 boys’ division in a record-breaking performance of 2.06m (6-9) that will stand as the organisers have replaced the division to the former under-17 division.
“I’m not going to predict any height for him, but I know that he’s going to be a good high jumper,” Cartwright said. “I think once he makes the adjustments, the height will take care of itself.”
Miller Jr, who also made his global breakthrough with a fifth-place finish with 2.11m (6-11) at the IAAF World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2017, thanked Cartwright for his support.
“He’s been a father-figure to me,” he said. “I’m thankful that I got the opportunity to call him coach. I’m going to miss him. But I know all of the work he’s instilled in me, I have to go out there and unleash it.”
Only time will tell whether or not Miller Jr will compete in Ohio State’s first indoor meet for 2020 on January 10 at the Kentucky Invite at the University of Kentucky or he waits until the outdoor season starts in March to make his debut.
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