Austin Miller (born June 1, 1994) is an American

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er. He won the bronze medal at the

2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds from January 27-28, and the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 16–17. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), it s ...

in the pole vault.

Career

Miller competed in

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

and a variety of track and field events at

Herndon High School Herndon High School is a fully accredited four-year public high school in Herndon, Virginia, United States. Herndon serves grades 9-12 and is a part of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) system. Herndon High School serves the town of H ...

in Virginia, and he was a district champion in the pole vault. He originally joined the High Point Panthers track and field program as a potential

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ� ...

, but he switched to specializing in pole vault soon after joining the team. At High Point, Miller set the school record in the pole vault but never qualified for an NCAA Division I outdoor or indoor national championship, qualifying for the East preliminary round in 2015 and 2016. His senior year, Scott Houston joined the coaching staff and convinced Miller to continue competing after college. With the help of Houston and

Earl Bell Earl Holmes Bell (born August 25, 1955) is a retired American pole vaulter. He competed at the 1976, 1984 and 1988 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1984, placing fourth in 1988 and sixth in 1976. He also briefly held the world record in 1976 ...

, he qualified for his first national final in 2018, placing 9th at the USA Indoor Championships. After improving to 8th outdoors, Miller sustained two injuries in 2019 despite a 4th-place finish at that year's indoor championships. Miller's best national performance was at the

, where he finished 3rd behind

Chris Nilsen Christopher Nilsen (born January 13, 1998) is an American athlete specialising in pole vault and high jump. He won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the Athletics at the 2019 Pan American Games – Men's pole vault, pole vault eve ...

and

Sam Kendricks Samuel Hathorn Kendricks (born September 7, 1992) is an American pole vaulter. He is a three-time indoor and six-time outdoor national champion (2014–2019), the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault, 2016 Olympics bronze a ...

. At the

2024 Xiamen Diamond League The 2024 Xiamen Diamond League was an outdoor track and field meeting in Xiamen, China. Held on 20 April at Xiamen Egret Stadium, it was the opening leg of the 2024 Diamond League – the highest level international track and field circuit. Hig ...

, he finished 4th.

Personal life

Miller is from

Herndon, Virginia Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia, it is part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In 2020, the population at the census was 24,655, which makes i ...

. He competes for the Vaulthouse club in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. In addition to being an athlete, Miller currently coaches pole vault at the Vault House club and at Ragsdale High School. He also coaches club-level

at his alma mater

High Point University High Point University (HPU) is a private university in High Point, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in ...

. Additionally, he worked as a security guard for a music venue in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

and writes for ''This Song Is Sick'', a music publication. He has said he will pursue a career in the music industry after he retires from pole vaulting.

Statistics

Personal best progression

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Austin Living people 1994 births American male pole vaulters 21st-century American sportsmen High Point Panthers men's track and field athletes People from Herndon, Virginia American track and field coaches Track and field athletes from Virginia