By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Seaman senior Ryin Miller opened the 2026 track season on April 2 at the Jerry Beardslee Invitational hosted by Washburn Rural High School.
Seaman senior Ryin Miller (1), who has battled an injury since last summer, won the girls 800 meters in last month's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [File photo/TSN]
In her only race of the meet, she was victorious in the 800-meter run in a time of 2 minutes, 23.65 seconds.
However, getting to that point was filled with many peaks and valleys.
The seasons of 2024
The valleys began back in the spring of 2024 when she finished second in the 3,200-meter run to all-state runner Katelyn Rupe from Salina Central. They had faced one another earlier in the season at the 2024 KU Relays where Miller was victorious in the 3,200 race. When they met a month later at the state championships at Wichita State, the tables were turned and Rupe won the race, pulling away over the final 600 meters.
As both runners began the 2024 cross country season, they faced one another again at the Rim Rock Farm High School Classic in late September. Miller was able to win the race in a time of 17:14.10, defeating Rupe by a little over six seconds. Rim Rock Farm was also the host for the state cross country championships in early November and in the rematch, Rupe once again passed Miller in the final 800 meters of the race, winning the state title by almost 17 seconds.
Seaman star Ryin Miller swept the Class 5A 3,200, 1,600 and 800 meters in the 2025 state track meet. [File photo/TSN]
The track season of 2025
The valley of the 2024 state cross country race was the turning point for Miller.
“I think that race was one of the most pivotal and important races of my career,'' Miller said. "Mainly because I didn’t feel ready -- you work so hard for something, train all summer, train all fall, there’s this huge build-up -- yet I wasn’t ready because I did too much at the wrong time. I would work so hard over the summer and I would build my training block to peak in the first three races.”
Her race tactics had been the same since she began running cross country and track in high school -- she would get out front, lay it all out there -- and most of the time, she would come out victorious.
But in the championship race, those tactics didn’t work.
“At the start of the second mile, with all of the hills and then making it to the top of cemetery hill (about 1,000 meters left in race), I was fully empty and my legs were gone,'' Miller said. "I watched her go past me and I couldn’t match it. Not only did she run a smarter race than me, but a smarter season.”
These two losses provided all of the inspiration Miller needed as she prepared for the 2025 track season.
“I trained in a smarter way in order to have my legs when getting to the state track meet. My training remained the same, but I was able to balance the easy workout with the harder workouts.”
Throughout the track season, Miller began to run fewer races at individual meets, which was part of the plan to train smarter for the long haul. She would run either one or two races per meet instead of three or four.
As the season progressed, it became clear that she would attempt to qualify in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 along with the 4x400 relay.
Quite possibly the best race of the regular season for Miller came at the 2025 KU Relays in the 1,600 meter run because it was a race where she changed up her tactics.
Instead of going out and taking the early lead, she stayed even with Elyse Wilmes, a senior at Father Tilton Catholic High School in Columbia, Mo., who now runs at Oklahoma State University. When Wilmes made her move with about 300 meters left in the race, Miller stayed with her, took a brief lead, but fell back behind Wilmes.
Over the final 100 meters, Miller dug deep and won the race in a time of 4:46.03 -- by three-10ths of a second.
“I realized in that race that I was more than a one trick pony -- going out and taking the lead.”
As expected, Miller qualified for the three individual races (800, 1,600, 3,200) along with the 4x400 relay.
At the state meet, the 3,200 race took place on Friday evening, so Miller was able to rest and relax most of the day. But late in the afternoon, the preliminary race for the 4x400 relay took place, which provided a distraction for the 3,200 race.
In the 3,200, Rupe jumped out to a quick lead and Miller realized her tactic had to be different.
“She really took off, but I knew I had to stay patient because she wanted to run my kick out of me,'' Miller said. "It was the most mentally challenging race I’ve ever ran.”
At the start of the fifth lap, Rupe had about a 50-meter lead, but Miller knew she had something left.
“There was so much of the race left, I just needed to go hard over the next 2-4 minutes. The sixth lap was a huge confidence boost because I had cut the lead down to about 30 meters. In the seventh lap, I was getting closer and in the final lap, I was even with her.”
Miller was able to pull away for her first individual Class 5A state title with a time of 10:19.53.
That victory provided momentum going into Saturday’s races. She was victorious in the 1,600 with a time of 4:57.33 and followed that up with her third championship performance in the 800 in a time of 2:11.14. The 4x400 relay team medaled, finishing fourth in a time of 4:03.44.
The three state championships and medaling in all four of her races capped off an impressive two-year stretch as Miller was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 track and field seasons as well as the 2024-2025 cross country season.
The summer of 2025
The entire 2024-2025 school year for Miller was full of recruiting calls and letters. Her campus visits happened during the winter months.
“It was busy and exhausting, but it was so much fun, too,'' she said. "I got to see new places, new programs and compare the programs. Meeting new people was fun and I met people that I could cheer for and follow in their college seasons.”
The recruiting process for her parents, Justin and Tracee, was more complicated than you might think.
“You get to see new places, meet great people who believed in her, but then you realize that you have to say no to so many great people and great schools,” Tracee Miller said. “We would talk together as a family, list the pros and cons, but we knew that we would have to quiet all of the voices and allow Ryin to make the decision.”
“I didn’t want to push one way and then feel bad if it wasn’t right,” Justin Miller said.
Ryin finished her junior track season by running in the Brooks PR and the Nike Outdoor Nationals. She had a great performance at the Nike event, then took a week off. During this time, she was already a part of the Nike National program and then was asked to become part of the Nike Elite program.
She joined the program, which is about supporting the athletes through education, health and making relationships with other athletes.
“I’m super grateful for the experience in the program. We’ve done so many cool things -- we’ve watched worlds, traveled to their big meets and did many things at their headquarters in Eugene, Oregon.”
Making her college decision happened right around her visit to headquarters.
“I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go, but it was still a big decision and I was scared to make the decision. But I knew where I wanted to go and once I returned home, I told my parents that I wanted to go to Arkansas.”
Miller said the biggest reasons for choosing Arkansas was because of the people on the team and the ones she had met through various visits to other campuses.
After taking the week off at the beginning of the summer, she returned to working out, felt rusty and maybe did too much too soon.
On the fourth of July while running in the pool, she noticed a pain in her knee and felt it the entire day.
During her long run the next day, she immediately felt a shooting pain on the outside of her knee. She stopped for a few seconds and tried to run again, but the pain persisted.
She tried once again that same evening, but the pain was still there.
She was eventually diagnosed with an IT Band injury. Throughout the entire process, she was able to receive help and support from so many people.
Cross country season 2025
Miller took two weeks off, but she became disappointed when there was no progress, which led to another week off. She continued to go to physical therapy and then the cross country season began.
“I was distraught and panicking, wondering if I would be fit by the end of the season. I continued working and correcting muscle imbalances and tightness.”
When the cross country meets started, it became really hard for her to only be able to watch and not compete.
“I never really thought about not being there, showing up and supporting my teammates.”
As the season continued and the approaching championship part of the schedule (league, regionals and state) Seaman coach Rick Brading discussed the possibility of the team winning the league meet, so the decision was made for Ryin to run in that meet.
She finished in third place with a time of 20:36 and she said it was probably the worst race of her life but one she is the most proud.
A coach’s perspective
Brading, the girls cross country and track coach for Seaman, has seen many excellent athletes during his tenure at the school.
But during a spring break workout during Ryin’s sophomore year, he realized she was a standout, exceptional and elite athlete.
“I put her through four 800s and I wanted them in two minutes, forty seconds each. It’s a great workout for a kid who is pretty darn good and she comes by on a cold, frosty day in a time of 2:16. This was right near our school record that Bethany Druse (current KU track athlete) had just set. I looked at my watch and I’m thinking, ‘Holy smokes!’ She comes by on her second one in 2:18, her third one was in the low 2:20’s and her final one was 2:28. All four of these were run with only about three minutes of rest in between.”
It was at this moment as a coach, his thought on her training and what she could accomplish totally changed with one morning workout.
“Going ahead to her junior year and her winning the 3,200 at state by coming from behind in a gutsy race where it looked like the Salina Central runner (Katelyn Rupe) had it won, but didn’t,” Brading said.
The difficult part for him as a coach this year has been watching Miller dealing with the injuries.
“You know what she’s capable of and she knows what she’s capable of, but she’s never let go of that. Her confidence level is super-high even though she hasn’t been able to do it,” he said.
Brading believes this past year has been a learning experience not only athletically, but also in life for her.
“None of us get through things without some challenging times, but you persevere through those things. Not only is she a talented athlete, but in reality, once life continues to go for her, we’re going to find out there’s a lot more to her than just being a talented athlete. Better days are to come.”
A reporter and parent’s perspective
Having the opportunity to watch Ryin compete as a four-sport athlete throughout high school and getting to interview her on occasion, one of many things is obvious -- she is a tremendous teammate.
Continuing to attend practices, traveling to meets, games and matches was an admirable quality coming from a high school athlete who could have ‘stayed away’ from the competitions following her injury. Her infectious energy and demeanor as a teammate of my two oldest children has been a joy to observe.
If Ryin has competed in her last high school event, her personal accolades speak for themselves. But that doesn't encapsulate who she is as an elite athlete, elite teammate or elite individual. Her own words following the end of her cross country season this past fall describe who Ryin is and will continue to be in the future.
“This season did not go how I expected it to, but our lowest moments are where we grow. They force us to step back and pause and learn so we can go forward and farther than we ever have been before. I know someday I can look back on this season and understand why it happened, and all that I learned from it. I set many goals for myself and while I wasn’t able to accomplish most of them, I accomplished my biggest goal and that was to be present in every moment and for that I’m proud.”
