Champion! Central’s Miller wins NCAA high jump
Central College
COLUMBUS, OHIO—Less than an hour after a runner-up finish in the long jump, Central College junior Ethan Miller (Seymour) won the high jump at the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships Friday. Miller’s leap of 6 feet, 11 inches set a new personal best and capped a stunning 18-point day for the Dutch standout.
Miller began the day as the favorite in the long jump, entering the competition with the nation’s top mark of 24-1.75. He easily qualified for the final with a first-attempt leap of 23-8 and improved to 23-8.75 on his fifth jump. However, he couldn’t catch eventual winner Kevin Coyle of Springfield College (Ill) and his winning mark of 23-10.25.
“Ethan had a great series of jumps,” said coach Joe Dunham. “One of the reasons he’s been so successful this year is his consistency and he showed that again today.”
Expectations weren’t quite as large for the high jump, as Miller entered the 13-competitor field ranked in a tie for ninth with a mark of 6-8.75. Adding to the difficulty of his double, the long jump and high jump were only separated by a few minutes. However, he responded by uncorking the best jump of his career, a 6-11 leap that won the national title outright, over one inch better than the nearest competitors.
“Ethan is a hard worker and incredibly competitive,” said Dunham. “His first national championship is a largely a result of those two things. He really represented Central College well today.”
Miller’s sixth and seventh all-America plaques were his second apiece in those respective events. He took fourth in the 2009 outdoor championships in the high jump as a freshman and fourth in the 2010 outdoor championships in the long jump.
Meanwhile, senior Jill Ziskovsky (Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) capped her indoor multi-event career with a second-consecutive all-American finish in the pentathlon, taking fifth with a score of 3,345 points.
Ziskovsky had mixed results in her first few events of the day. She took 13th in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.19 seconds, then rallied with a mark of 5-3.25 in the high jump, good for second in the competition. A 12th-place finish in the shot put (28-6.25) put Ziskovsky in 12th place overall entering the final two events. However, a third-place finish in the long jump (17-4.25) and runner-up finish in the 800-meter run (2:23.29) propelled her back to the awards stand for the second time in two years.
“Jill showed a lot of maturity out there today,” said Dunham. “She didn’t have the greatest start but really stepped up when she needed it.”
Dunham also cited assistant Guy Mosher for his contributions in those events.
“Coach Mosher does a great job with those athletes,” said Dunham. “You can really see the passion he has for this sport.”
Miller’s outstanding first day has the Dutch men in contention for a team trophy for the first time since 2000, when Central placed third at the outdoor championships. The Dutch enter the final day of competition in third place with 18 points. Wis.-Oshkosh is leading the men’s field with 24 points with North Central (Ill.) close behind with 23. Meanwhile, the Central women are in a tie for 17th place after one day with four points. Wis.-Oshkosh also holds the lead in the women’s field with 17 points.
The meet resumes Saturday with the men’s pentathlon at 9 a.m. Miller and Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton) hold the nation’s top two marks entering the competition. Returning all-Americans Morgan Darrow (junior, Newell, Storm Lake HS) and Matt Graber (senior, Newton) are slated for their respective shot put competition at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The women’s 4×400 relay of Ziskovsky, Emily Teas (senior, Indianola), Rachel Purdy (sophomore, Ankeny), and Felicia Coleman (sophomore, Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) are the last competitors for the Dutch, with their race scheduled for 7:25 p.m.
“This has been as exciting as any national meet I’ve ever been at,” said Dunham. “We’ve got a lot of momentum going into tomorrow and I can’t wait to see how things play out.”
