JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Christian Miller had a goal — be the best sprinter ever from Florida.
After a summer unlike any other, the Creekside graduate and now two-time All-News4JAX boys track and field athlete of the year, can realistically say that he may be just that.
Recommended Videos
The proof — four sub-10-second times in the 100-meter dash and a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Miller limited his work during the high school season to focus on the larger goal of going for the Olympics, but competed on the 4x400 relay team at state, won the 100 in the Florida Relays and won the 200 at the Bob Hayes.
Miller, a University of Georgia signee and the first Gatorade national award winner in area history, would have been an overwhelming favorite to defend his championships in the 100 and 200 had he elected to run those events.
He had larger goals than to just be the best in Florida, which he already was by a long shot. Miller was on the world radar. His time of 9.93 in the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet on May 11 in Clermont put Miller into another stratosphere. His time there, followed by a 9.95 at the New Balance Nationals in June stamped Miller as a legitimate Olympic challenger. He found himself in the starting blocks at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon with the best of the best in the United States.
“To kind of know that I’m kind of up there with those pros not just nationally but worldwide, it’s just amazing to me and I feel that this kind of transitions me well into whatever I have in the next coming years,” Miller said. “To possibly go against those bigger competitions, whether it’s in college or whether it’s on the pro field.”
Miller didn’t feel out of place as one of the youngest competitors in the Trials in Oregon. He made his way from the heats to the semifinals and into the finals where he finished fifth. When asked if he had to pinch himself, Miller said it did feel a bit surreal.
“A little bit, definitely in the finals, when I’m lining up to all the previous world champions and Olympians is definitely like, I won’t say a crazy moment, I used to watch all of them and thinking just saying like, ‘Wow, these guys are amazing.’ And knowing I was just on the same exact line, and the same race against them, which is amazing to me.”
Miller’s coach at Creekside and the St. Johns Striders, Ricky Fields, said the goal was set early in the training process. It may have sounded outlandish at the time, but Miller continued to knock down goal after goal to get there.
“The goal was to be the greatest sprinter ever in Jacksonville, at Creekside and now he wanted to be the greatest in Florida, that was the goal and he’s done it,” Fields said. “I don’t know another sprinter, as far as what he’s done against the pros and everyone else, what he has accomplished from his progression, from the data, there’s no one who has done it like Christian.”
Fields has a point.
From the numbers perspective, only Montverde Academy’s Issam Asinga has posted a faster, U20, wind-legal time (9.89) than Miller. Asinga’s mark at the South American Athletics in 2023 could be wiped out after he was banned for four years and his record stripped following a failed performance-enhancing drug test. Asinga is currently appealing that decision.
Other elite high school sprinters from Florida — Boone’s Marvin Bracy, Stanton’s Kendal Williams, South Lake’s Jeff Demps, American Heritage’s Anthony Schwartz, St. Pete Gibbs Trayvon Bromell and Pensacola Woodham’s Justin Gatlin — weren’t clocking wind-legal sub-10s in the 100 until after they graduated.
Miller has now put up four 100s in the 9s (three of them wind-legal), a feat that gets better and better the farther removed from it that he gets.
“Taking me out of it and just looking at the data, no one has done what he did,” Fields said.
All-News4JAX boys track and field first team
Event: Athlete, School, Class
100: Christian Miller, Creekside, Sr.
Back-to-back All-News4JAX athlete of the year. a pair of sub-10s in the high school season and became one of the best sprinters in history this season. His in-season 9.93 at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet is one of the three-fastest times by a U20 athlete.
200: Jaylen Lewis, Mandarin, Jr.
Class 4A state champ who ran PR of 21.2 to win state. Region champ ad second in district.
400: Jaylen Lewis, Mandarin, Jr.
Ran PR of 47.83 to finish fourth in the Class 4A state meet. Had wins in two other meets this year.
800: Roman Mollicone, Fleming Island, Sr.
Dominant middle distance runner won Class 3A state title with PR of 1:50.52. Bob Hayes, district and region champ, too. Lowest time in the state this year.
1600: Matt Ryan, Nease, Sr.
Class 4A state runner-up. Posted PR of 4:14.31 in the Bolles Showcase. District champ and region runner-up.
3200: Finn Thomas, Nease, Sr.
Class 4A state champ. Ran PR of 8:59.51 in Arcadia Invitational. Third place at region and district champ.
110 hurdles: Joseph Bargeron, Jackson, Sr.
Season-best time was a 14.48 to finish Class 2A state runner-up. Had three wins and never finished lower than second in eight meets.
400 hurdles: Nieko Garnes, Jackson, Jr.
Class 2A state champ. Won all four meets he entered (Gateway, district, region and state). Low time (53.58) came in winning conference.
High jump: T’Vario Willis, Ridgeview, Sr.
Went 6 feet, 7.5 inches in season-best jump to win region. Took sixth in 3A state meet. Won nine events this year.
Long jump: Devin Collins, Oakleaf, Jr.
Went 24-05 to win the Clay County championship. Took eighth in the Class 4A state meet.
Triple jump: Elijah Kellum, Bradford, Sr.
Class 2A state champ had season-best 47-6.5 leap to win Santa Fe Mini Meet. District champ and second at region.
Pole vault: Nicholas Desanto, Ponte Vedra, Sr.
Had a season-best 14-11.25 at the Beachside Battery. Class 3A state champ. Region runner-up. Had five total wins this year.
Discus: Colby Cronk, Flagler Palm Coast, Jr.
Class 4A state runner-up with his season-best of 183-11. Had two wins this season. District runner-up and fifth at region.
Javelin: Will Wainwright, Suwannee, Sr.
Runner-up at prestigious FSU Relays with a best of 202-5.25. District and region champ. Class 2A state runner-up.
Shot put: Colby Cronk, Flagler Palm Coast, Jr.
Had a best of 63-0.75 to win Class 4A state meet. Would have likely been athlete of the year if not for Creekside’s Miller. Had 10 meet wins this season including district and region.
4x100 relay: Creekside
Foursome of Jonathan Charley, Josh Howell, Zhaki Noel and Christian Miller clocked a time of 40.58 to win region meet.
4x400 relay: Bolles
Naeem Burroughs, Chase Collier, Dashaydon Phillips and Santana Starks finished third in Class 2A state meet with a 3:18.46.
4x800 relay: Fleming Island
Michael DeRousse, John Keester IV, Roman Mollicone and Graham Myers had fastest time in the state (7:43.03) came in winning Class 3A meet.
Second team
Event: Athlete, School, Class
100: Josh Howell, Creekside, Fr.
Ran wind-aided 10.35 to finish second in the Florida Relays behind teammate Christian Miller. District and region champ.
200: Stephen Degregorio, Mandarin, Jr.
Ran low of 21.24 in the North Florida/South Florida Challenge. Added wins in Gateway, Thursday Night Spikes and district.
400: Jonathan Charley, Creekside, So.
Ran PR of 48.3 in runner-up effort at region. District champ and 14th in 4A state meet.
800: Jake Officer, Episcopal, Jr.
Ran a season-best 1:51.87 to win Class 2A state meet. District and region champ, too.
1600: Tanner Andrade-Brinsko, Ponte Vedra, Jr.
Ran a season-best of 4:14.57 to win the Bolles Mile Showcase. District champ. Fourth at region and 11th in Class 3A state meet.
3200: Parker Adams, Bolles, Jr.
District and region champ. Ran in-season low of 9:04.09 at the Arcadia Invitational. District and region champ. Third in 2A state meet.
110 hurdles: Jarrell Jimenez, Ponte Vedra, Sr.
Ran wind-aided low of 14.58 to win district. Took sixth in 3A state meet.
400 hurdles: Tyrone Summerall, Mandarin, Sr.
Low of 53.6 came in third-place finish at 4A state meet. Second at Gateway, third at region and district champ.
High jump: Jarius Rodgers, Fleming Island, So.
Season-best jump was 6-7.5 in third-place showing at region. Third at region and sixth at 3A state meet.
Long jump: Nethan Verger, Orange Park, So.
Went 23-3.25 in wind-aided third-place showing at region. District champ who finished sixth in 3A state meet.
Triple jump: Takoda Brown, Oakleaf, Sr.
Had a 47-7.35 best to win Bob Hayes meet. Class 4A state champ. Notched five more meet wins throughout the season.
Pole vault: Matias Masony, Nease, Sr.
Turned in a 14-9.25 for his season best in the Class 4A state meet to finish third. Region runner-up and third at district.
Discus: Ethan Fox, Bartram Trail, Jr.
Throw of 169-2 was his best and it came during fourth-place showing at Class 4A state meet. District champ. Four total wins this year.
Javelin: Vincent Jackson, Ponte Vedra, Sr.
Won the Beachside Battery with a best of 196-1.5. District champ. Took runner-up at both region and in Class 3A state meet.
Shot put: Garrison Butler, Bolles, Sr.
Had season-high toss of 54-9 to finish as Class 2A state runner-up. District and region champ. Three other wins, too.
4x100 relay: Fleming Island
Best time (40.99) came in region runner-up finish behind group of Trace Burney, Sebastian Cruz, Jarius Rogers and Kaylib Singleton.
4x400 relay: Jackson
Fourth place in 2A state meet with a 3:18.91 behind Joseph Bargeron, Dashawn Buist, Nieko Garnes and Alex Williams.
4x800 relay: Ponte Vedra
Tanner Andrade Brinsko, Davis Brown, Richard Circelli and Colby Green teamed up for a third-place at 3A state meet with a 7:49.02.