TIDBITS: Lakeview star Fawn Miller enjoyed trip to Olympic Trials

July 04, 2008 08:21 am

— By Rob Malsom
Herald Sports Writer

LAST SATURDAY, Lakeview High track standout Fawn Miller, who just completed her sophomore year for the Sailors, placed 15th in the javelin at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Fawn, who set a record at the PIAA Track & Field Championships with a throw of 167-2 in May, had the 2nd-best throw of her career last Saturday with a 154-5.
Miller, who threw a 158-0 in practice, posted the 154-5 on her 2nd of 3 throws in the Flight 2 preliminaries. She was only 4 feet, 8 inches from reaching the finals.
"I wish I could have gotten into the finals," said Miller. "But 15th is ok," said the understated track phenom.
"She had an exceptionally good three throws," said Lakeview track coach Greg Slatcoff. "She had no problem competing against the country's best throwers. She represented Lakeview very well."
The women's javelin finals were on Monday. The top 3 and 3 alternates will compete in Beijing. They are Kara Patterson (191-9), Dana Pounds (189-9), Rachel Yurkovich (185-1), Kim Kreiner (183-5), Alicia DeShasier (175-5) and Katie Coronado (174-1).
You would think that a 16-year old competing on such a huge stage with over 1,000 combined competitors, over 1,000 media members and huge crowds could be intimidating. Not for Miller.
"They were real nice," said Fawn. "As soon as I walked in they started talking to me and they helped me out a lot. I wasn't nervous. Dana (Pounds - from the Air Force Academy) had one of the best personalities. She made everyone laugh and that kept me from being nervous. They talked me through it. They were great."
Fawn and another sophomore were the youngest competitors at the event. "There was one other girl," said Fawn. "She was in 10th grade but I'm not sure of the event she was in."
A third high-schooler qualified, Hannah Carson of Arizona, but she opted to compete at the USA Junior Track & Field Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
Traveling to Oregon to watch Fawn compete were Slatcoff, Mark Hannay (her javelin coach), her parents (Tom and Faith) and her grandfather, Roger Kayser.
"We had a good time," said Fawn. "We went and saw the Pacific Ocean and we rode dune buggies. I just want to thank everyone who helped me get there and supported me."
Fawn will be a sophomore in college the next time the trials come around and she is definitely interested in qualifying for the games.
"Yeah! I want to go back," said Fawn. The Summer Olympics that year are in London. So it would be cool to go there."
A few other notes about the Trials: Fawn's record-throw of 167-2 at Shippensburg broke the mark held by Westmont-Hilltop's Karlee McQuillen, who is a freshman at Penn State.
McQuillen had qualified for the Olympic Trials but she opted to take part in the Junior National Championships in Columbus. She won the javelin championship at the event with a meet-record mark of 171-5.
She will now compete in the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, later this month.
It isn't hard to think that Fawn could set the national high school record by the time she is a senior, if not sooner.
Yurkovich, who took 3rd at the Trials and is a junior at the University of Oregon, holds that mark with a 172-8. She set the standard while at Newberg High School.

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