Muir High’s Inger Miller: Rose Princess and Queen of Sprinters : Track: This outstanding scholar-athlete has the fastest times in the nation in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. And she did it without her usual off-season training.

Sprinter Inger Miller’s senior year at Muir High in Pasadena has already been one of crowning accomplishment--and not just on the track.

Earlier in the school year, the attractive 17-year-old fulfilled one dream by serving as a princess in the Tournament of Roses court.

Since then, she has been wearing a more familiar crown as the reigning sprint queen of high school track.

In her first two seasons on the Muir varsity, Miller tended to be overshadowed by Rio Mesa’s Angela Burnham, who has since moved on to UCLA.

But the spotlight has focused on Miller this season, and she has made the most of it.

She has produced the fastest times in the nation in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She has run the 100 in 11.48 seconds and the 200 in 23.57 seconds and also anchors Muir’s 400-meter relay team that has a national best of 46.07 seconds.

What makes those numbers even more impressive is that she missed her usual off-season training regimen in order to participate in her Tournament of Roses responsibilities.

Serving as a princess, she said, consumed much of her time from early in the school year in September through the start of January. But for Miller it was more than worth the effort.

“We got so many things besides the clothes and the other fringe benefits you usually get for being a princess,” she said. “We got the chance to meet so many people. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had a really great time and all seven of us (princesses and queen) are all still friends.”

When she first entered the contest, Miller didn’t hold high hopes of being named one of the princesses. She said going out for the Tournament of Roses court is one of the rights of passage for high school seniors in Pasadena.

“It’s kind of a tradition,” she said. “I know everyone in Pasadena always wanted to go out when they were a senior. So I just decided to go out for it. But I didn’t expect to win or anything like that.”

Besides, with more than 750 candidates participating, Miller realized the numbers were stacked against her.

“There were 763 girls that tried out and they pick only seven from that so what’s that? About one percent? Everyone tries out but not everyone expects to win. But as it turned out I made it.”

From the time she was selected last October through the Tournament of Roses Parade in January, Miller said she had little time to think about track and field.

“We had luncheons, dinners and other functions and benefits to attend and we went to visit places like the City of Hope,” she said. “We did so many things before the parade even took place. The parade just topped it off.”

Even after the parade, Miller still attends Tournament of Roses functions as her time permits. She said she was also required to take a speech class at Pasadena City College, for which she will receive three units of college credit.

But for the most part, it has been back to track since early January. Miller said people were concerned that the layoff from track might slow her development as a senior only that hasn’t materialized.

“People always ask me if it has affected my track performance and I’m actually doing better than I was last year at this time so I guess that answers that question,” she says.

Jim Brownfield, girls track coach at Muir, says Miller has been all business since her return.

“She actually came out of the Tournament of Roses thing very good,” he said. “She never got the big head that some girls get and she came right back into her workouts well.

“We’ll never really know what a solid weight training and hill climbing program (in the off-season) would have done for her. But we do know that she got through with her obligations and went right into running.”

Not that it wasn’t difficult for Miller at first.

“It was just like the beginning of the season after summer and I just had to do a lot of workouts condensed together,” she said. “I just did a lot of workouts all rolled into one instead of spreading them out.”

Going into this season the 100 meters has been considered her best event but Miller has been happy with her progress in the 200 meters this season.

“I have four events that I have to focus on and right now I don’t think I’m stronger in any one event,” she said. “But right now I feel stronger in the 200. I feel more confident with it than I have before. I won’t say it’s my strongest event but I feel it’s more on a par with my 100 than before.”

Miller gives much of the credit to her coach from outside of school, Leo Davis, who has worked with numerous Olympic track stars in the past. Included on that list is Miller’s father, Lennox, a sprinter for Jamaica in the 1968 Summer Olympics and at USC. He is now a dentist in Pasadena.

“He’s (Davis) worked with a lot of people and he’s helped me a lot this season and in the off-season with many events,” she said. “He’s like an uncle to me. I’ve known him for so long. That’s why I call him, ‘Uncle Leo.”

She said Davis started working with her in earnest this season although he has always been available throughout her career to offer tips on training and technique.

Miller said she also receives occasional help from her father and relays and team matters are handled by Brownfield.

“Her father helps her a lot with the mental training and other aspects,” Brownfield said. “Leo helps her with the interval training. We work with her on the relays and team things. It’s like coaching by committee but, you know, whatever works.”

Having more than one coach could be bothersome to many athletes but Miller doesn’t seem to mind. “It may not work for everybody but it’s sure working for me,” she says.

The only thing that has gotten in the way of her progress this season has been a sprained left ankle that she suffered in between races at the Arcadia Invitational about two weeks ago. That forced her to miss the Mt. Carmel Invitational in San Diego last week.

Miller thinks that she injured the ankle stepping into a hole in the infield during the meet but didn’t realize the severity of the injury at first.

“I really don’t know when it happened,” she said. “It was sometime between the 200 and the mile relay. I didn’t really feel it until I woke up the Sunday morning after the meet.”

Since then she has been undergoing therapy. She also is keeping her legs strong by running in the Muir pool. Miller is hoping that she will be able to compete in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on Saturday in Walnut.

Brownfield said Miller will probably compete in the 100 meters and two relay events at the meet if she is healthy but it is a day-to-day proposition at the moment.

Another distraction for Miller could have been her selection of a college she will attend in the fall. But she says it was never much of a problem.

“Once I decided where I wanted to go it was a big relief,” she said. “But I don’t think I was ever that distracted by it, anyway.”

Although Miller has already decided what college she will attend, she will not make the decision public until a press conference Friday night at her home.

“I got my four visits in and I decided where I want to go but I just haven’t announced it yet,” she says.

An outstanding student with a 3.6 grade-point average, Miller has taken recruiting trips to UC Berkeley, Brown, Texas and USC.

Considering that her father graduated from USC, and that she has been spotted on the Muir campus wearing her father’s old letterman jacket, the Trojans are the obvious favorite.

However, she said the choice is her decision.

“I guess you could say that (there is pressure) but it’s my decision to go where I want to go,” Miller said. “I’ve weighed everything and I think I know what’s best for me.”

With the announcement of her college plans, Miller said, it will fulfill just about all of her goals for this year.

“This is the best year I’ve had (in high school),” she said. “It has gone by so fast. I can’t believe that it’s almost over. I had some goals and basically everything that I wanted I’ve accomplished. I became a princess and I’ve decided what college I’m going to.”

Miller can put the finishing touch on her career by winning a state title in the 100 and 200.

Those are the only crowns that have eluded her in high school but, as the state meet approaches in early June, it appears that those titles are finally within reach.