UPDATED November 27, 2024
Nate Miller joined the Wayne State University women's track & field coaching staff as an assistant coach in January of 2019. Miller was promoted to associate head coach in May of 2023. The 2024-25 track season will be his seventh on coach Grant Lofdahl's staff.
He works closely with the sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers.
At the 2024 GLIAC Outdoor Championships, Miller mentored Hanne Bastiaansen (200m dash) and Mikayla Williams (triple jump) to GLIAC titles, with Bastiaansen also claiming a runner-up finish in the 100m dash.
The 4x400m relay quartet claimed the GLIAC title at the 2004 Indoor Championships in a school-record time of 3:48.38. Williams was the runner-up in the triple jump.
In the spring of 2023, Mikayla Williams won the triple jump at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships, while Makayla Sumrall claimed the 100m dash title. The 4x400m relay quartet won its second conference title of the season. Both Sumrall and Williams received USTFCCCA All-Region accolades for their performances during the outdoor season. The Warriors recorded the second-most points in school history.
At the 2023 GLIAC Indoor Championships, Sumrall won the 60m dash, while the 4x400m relay was also crowned league champion. Both Sumrall and the 4x400m relay were recognized with USTFCCCA All-Region honors following the indoor season.
In the fall of 2022, Miller was a member of the women's cross country staff which was voted GLIAC Staff of the Year.
In the spring of 2022, Sumrall competed at the NCAA Championships at both the Indoor (60m dash - 15th) and Outdoor (100m dash - 9th) competitions earning Honorable Mention All-America accolades at the Outdoor Championships.
Wayne State surpassed the 100-point plateau for the first time in program history (139.50) at the 2022 GLIAC Outdoor Championships as the squad notched a school-best second-place finish. Williams won both the long jump and triple jump, with Morgan Witzgall placing fourth in the long jump. The 4x100m relay finished third. Sumrall won both the 100m dash and 200m dash, with Aliyah McDonald placing fifth in both events. McDonald was also fourth in the 100m hurdles.
WSU posted a school-record 75 points at the 2022 GLIAC Indoor Championships achieving the best finish (third) in program history. Williams won the triple jump and finished fifth in the long jump, while McDonald was sixth in the 60m hurdles. Sumrall and McDonald combined for 10 points in the 60m dash as Sumrall took first and McDonald finished third. The duo totaled eight points in the 200m dash as Sumrall placed fourth and McDonald was sixth.
Williams finished fifth in the long jump at the 2021 GLIAC Outdoor Championships, while Sumrall was third in the 100m dash and seventh in the 200m dash. McDonald finished fifth in the 100m hurdles and seventh in the 100m dash, with Abigail Dunn placing seventh in the 400m hurdles. WSU's 4x100m relay quartet placed fourth.
At the 2021 GLIAC Indoor Championships, Wayne State had its then-best finish in program history (fourth) as Miller tutored three underclassmen to score points. Williams to third place in the long jump, fourth place in the triple jump, and sixth place in the high jump. Miller also guided junior McDonald to a runner-up finish in the 60m hurdles, and Sumrall to a fourth-place finish in the 60m dash.
Three of his runners scored in the 200m dash as Sumrall (5th), McDonald (6th) and freshman Mikaela Owen combined for eight points.
At the 2020 GLIAC Indoor Championships, he guided Williams, a freshman, to third place in the triple jump and fifth place in the long jump. In addition, McDonald was third in the both 60m dash and 60m hurdles, while newcomer Sumrall was fifth in the 60m dash.
At the 2019 GLIAC Outdoor Championships, Miller mentored scoring performances in eight different events. McDonald was second in the 100m hurdles and fifth in the 100m dash, while Amy Vangieson placed fifth in the triple jump. The day prior, Vangieson finished sixth in the heptathlon.
Also scoring for WSU were Morgan Murphy (sixth in the triple jump), Alexis Brown (seventh in 400m hurdles), Isabella Bertolini (seventh in 400m dash), Yasmine Affes (eighth in 400m dash) and Jada Weatherspoon (eighth in the long jump), along with the 4x100m relay that placed sixth with two freshmen (Affes and McDonald), one sophomore (Weatherspoon) and one junior (Brown).
At the 2019 GLIAC Indoor Championships, Miller tutored five scoring performances: McDonald was sixth in the 60m hurdles, Vangieson was sixth in the triple jump, Affes was seventh in the 400m dash, Arionne Fowlkes was seventh in the 60m dash, and Murphy was eighth in the high jump.
Miller served as the assistant track & field coach and the strength and conditioning coach at Concordia (Ann Arbor) in the fall of 2018. Prior to that, he worked with the sprinters and jumpers at Hillsdale for four seasons (2015-18), where he was part of the program that received the DII USTFCCCA Program of the Year award. Miller served as an assistant coach at Northwood for three seasons (2012-14), while also serving briefly as interim head coach.
He helped Hillsdale break six school records and aided Northwood in breaking 13 program marks.
Miller was an All-American athlete at Grand Valley State where he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science.
He placed third in the high jump with a height of 6-11.50 at the 2009 NCAA DII Indoor National Championships. His all-time best in the high jump was 6-11.75 at the 2010 GLIAC Indoor Championships when he won the conference title.
Miller was an eight-time All-GLIAC honoree (four each in indoor high jump and outdoor high jump) and a four-time GLIAC champion (Indoor High Jump - 2007, 2008 and 2010; and Outdoor High Jump - 2007). He was the GLIAC runner-up three times (indoor high jump in 2009, outdoor high jump in 2008 and 2010) and finished third in the outdoor high jump in 2009 (2.10m).
A native of Trenton, Miller graduated from THS in 2006. He and his wife, Samantha, are the proud parents of Billy and Talina.
