Contact: Ava Yurchison, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(written by Amber Willis, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Oct. 10, 2016- Since the age of five years old, North Central College freshman, Grace Miller, has always had a great passion for swimming. In 6th grade, Miller's mom decided it would be fun for Miller and her neighbors to do a triathlon together. Over 10 years later, Miller's path at North Central has just begun as she races competitively for our brand new women's triathlon team.  

Without the never-failing support from her parents, Miller says she never would have even considered joining a triathlon team. They push her to try new things and give her both the confidence and determination she needs for every race by making sure to never miss a single race. 

"My dad comes and he records like every part when I pass by and he'll send it to me," expressed Miller. "He throughout high school, never missed one of my swim races, and he'd always record them, so we could watch them and be like 'Alright, this is what we need to improve on'. So, it's kind of like a personal coach kind of thing. Just so he can push me and help me. It's really nice." 

Miller knew from the moment she stepped foot on North Central's campus that she loved the homey atmosphere that surrounded her, she also knew that she was going to strive to be a well-rounded student athlete,  little did she know that she would be one of our school's strongest competitors on North Central's women's triathlon team.  

Miller was contacted by Coach Jenny Garrison, knowing Miller also had a background in running, she thought Miller would make a very strong contribution to the team. Coach Garrison definitely made the right decision.  

"The workouts are so hard, and we have doubles everyday," explains Miller. "She [Garrison] gives us a lot of motivation and just the fact that she does it is kind of cool to because she'll like go on runs with us and bike with us, so it's like, 'Alright if she can do it, we can do it'."  

Now that Miller has joined the team, she is more than grateful and very much looking forward to having the opportunity to be able to participate in the first ever NCAA Triathlon National Championship. Miller has consistently recorded the second fastest time for North Central in every competition. Miller's thriving throughout competitions and continuous improvement in every race demonstrates that these workouts are truly paying off.  

Throughout these competitions, it is very important to have a strong, encouraging mindset. Miller laughs saying her coach calls it a "pain party". You just have to accept the fact that you will always be in pain and keep pushing through it.  

The most challenging event Miller has to push through is right in the middle of this thrilling pain party, the biking. Miller does not have much of a background in the sport of biking. She claims it is just really hard to pick up on and says it will take some time to get the hang of this section of the race. 

Miller and the rest of the North Central women's triathlon team will be competing next Saturday at Liberty University.