St. Cloud Cathedral High School senior Mitch Miller has come a long way during his cross country career. Not a natural runner, he worked hard to improve, and went from being one of the last runners across the finish line in junior high to becoming a team leader as a high school senior.

Miller, who lives in Clearwater, joined cross country as a 7th grader but didn’t have very good form or dedication, as he was also playing fall hockey. The next year he skipped it to focus on football and hockey instead.

He rejoined the team in 9th grade and ran junior varsity, and by the following season he had pushed himself to accomplish his goal of improved time, becoming one of the top 15 runners on the team. Because of his dedication and hard work, Miller was invited to the team Mountain Run in South Dakota where they train in high altitudes.

As a junior Miller again accomplished his goal of improved time and was one of the top 15 runners on the team, so he was invited to the team Mountain Run for a second time.

That year Patrick Fitzgerald stepped in to become Cathedral’s cross country coach. Miller asked him how he could become a stronger runner, and after seeing his potential, Fitzgerald helped him improve immensely.

During each year of his cross country career Miller had also been playing spring baseball. Fitzgerald suggested it would help his cross country season if he instead ran track, which Miller did last spring. He ended up having a great track season and advanced on to subsections in the one-mile run.

Training hard over the summer Miller continued to improve, and during the preseason time trials he was identified as one of the top runners on the team, so he was advanced to the varsity team.

He continued improving his time throughout the season, and at the Granite Ridge Conference meet in October, Miller placed 4th with a time of 17:23.7 and was named All-Conference Athlete. His team placed 1st in the competition.

Competing in the Section 5A Tournament later in the month Cathedral again placed 1st, and Miller was named All Sections Athlete for placing in the top 10 with a time of 17:23.

Securing a spot at the state championships, the team traveled to St. Olaf College in Northfield to compete at the Minnesota State High School League State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2.

There the Cathedral team worked together to place 11th out of approximately 200 teams in Class A of the Minnesota State High School League. Miller himself achieved a personal best time of 17:14 in the 5k.

After taking note of his successes this season, several college coaches have reached out to Miller to recruit him for their cross country team next year. Still weighing his options, Miller hasn’t yet decided on where he’ll be headed.