Hanalani cross country champion proving to be a wise Saige

Before she joined the Royals, Hanalani middle schooler Saige Miller embraced the grind.

“She’s been running since seventh grade, just before COVID. We’ve had quite a few Millers come and run. I met her through her brother, Connor, who graduated in 2022,” Hanalani athletic director and cross country coach Jeremy Honold recalled. “I remember she ran as a sophomore. She didn’t run cross country that fall. I just heard about his younger sister who’s really working out hard at home.”

Instead of running for the Royals’ middle school team, Saige Miller executed her plan. It was a blueprint she did not share, not even with her family. In that sense, it was very personal.

“We didn’t even know. She would come home from school and leave,” said her father, Landon. “One day I just asked what are you doing? I’m training for running. Come home, work out, run a mile. She’s always been pretty driven. She saw Connor and it just kind of stuck.”

Saige Miller is not the chatterbox who raises the decibel level in a small room. She is cerebral, speaks softly, calmly. She has a passion for science. The wheels are churning before she says a word. She never intended to keep her training regimen a secret. She simply could not stand the thought of not being 100% prepared.

“It was their offseason. I wasn’t doing anything crazy. I was just worried about being ready. I didn’t want to be unprepared. I didn’t know what I was training for. I would run a couple of miles,” she said. “We would go to the (high school) races to watch Connor, and we all got into it.”

Honold heard about Saige, then saw her internal fire materialize externally.

“I just remember she would show up to these practices and crush these time trials. Just quietly working. She and her teammates really stepped up to the plate,” he said.

Soon enough, Jeddison, the second-oldest sibling, took up running. Fast-forward a few years, and success is on the table for the Miller siblings. Now a senior, Jeddison placed third in the ILH championships last week. Youngest sister Averie, a freshman, placed 13th in the girls race.

Saige? Now a junior, she won the ILH girls individual title, adding one more gold star to a resume chock full of highlights this fall. In September, she placed 16th overall in a strong field of mainland and local runners on the hilly course of the ‘Iolani Invitational. She then placed second in the Michael Doran Invitational, and first in the Punahou Invitational in early October.

At the ILH Championships at Kamehameha Schools, she crossed the finish line with a time of 19 minutes, 39 seconds. Hanalani led all Division II teams in the girls standings. After running as individuals for the past few years, Hanalani is at the forefront with other Division II state-championship title contenders like Hawaii Baptist, Seabury Hall and Hawaii Prep.

“This is the first time since 2017 that our Hanalani girls team has qualified for a team championship,” Honold said. “If you get a team in, anything is possible.”

Two years ago, Miller and two teammates competed in the state championships at Hawaii Prep. It was an epic mess of a morning, with a deluge of rain, mud and sub-60 degree temperatures on the slope. While the Royals boys finished second in D-II, the Hanalani girls didn’t have the five runners required to qualify for team points. Miller was just a freshman.

“That was a fun one,” Saige Miller said. “Some of our best memories. Something about the bad conditions and the rain is pretty good. We train in the rain. Our rule is if there’s two lightning strikes, we’re going inside. Other than that, we’re running.”

Sloshy fun aside, Miller finished 15th, covering 5 kilometers of mess in 24:07. Two ninth graders finished ahead of her: Amelie Zeitz of Punahou (23:34) and Kekaihulalu Halper of Hilo (23:48).

Landon Miller, a former basketball and soccer player, had never seen anything quite as challenging — as an amateur photographer.

“It was brutal. I’m running around with trash bags on my equipment. It was good fun, though. All my kids, in the worst conditions, run the best. That’s their favorite type of run,” said Miller, a pastor at Aiea Heights Church.

Last year, on the flat course on Kauai, Miller placed 32nd (21:11.67) at the state championships. Halper surged into prominence, emerging as the No. 3 finisher (19:29) behind seniors Zola O’Donnell of Mililani (19:07) and Isabella Ford of Punahou (19:21).

‘Iolani’s young phenom, Logan Pang, placed sixth (19:43). In all, nine current ILH runners finished ahead of Miller at the 2022 state meet.

The five D-II teams in girls cross country finished in this order: Hawaii Baptist, Hawaii Prep, Kauai, Kihei and Kamehameha-Hawaii.

Miller was not discouraged. Neither were her teammates. They devoted themselves and transformed over the past 12 months. Miller won the 2023 ILH title 34 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Pang.

Hanalani led D-II teams with 75 points, followed by perennial state title contender HBA (95). The Royals included sister Averie, who came in 13th (21:24), junior Kiemi Paresa (21:50, 18th), senior Eryn Bunton (22:22, 24th), freshman Jaeana Monalim (22:34, 25th), freshman Eliana Chingcuango (22:37, 26th) and sophomore Morgyn Bunton (27:15, 50th).

“It’s been different this year, I feel like. There were some injuries last year. This year we’ve been focusing on staying healthy and peaking at the right time,” Miller said.

Those health issues included her own.

“I had some low iron issues, and that started the whole thing with my IT bands. I had a little bit of tearing, so I had to take time off. I could still run, but the more I was running, the more it was irritating,” she said. “It’s a hard one to stretch. Even my teammates had some issues with that.”

The solution comes in the form of a tablet.

“I take a supplement now. I try to keep up every day,” Miller said. “It’s 100% now.”

No rainbows and unicorns. Just endurance of physical pain, the kind that runners know well.

The 2023 season has been golden, but not perfect. At the course at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park, site of the Michael Doran Invitational in September, Miller finished second behind Mililani’s fabulous freshman, Kaitlyn Bitterman. Miller finished the race in 20:32. Bitterman posted a 20:04.

“She had a really good pace. She definitely led from the beginning. She’s a strong runner,” Miller said. “It definitely forces me to be uncomfortable. Just having that competition right next to me pushes me to run faster.”

On Saturday at the OIA Championships, Bitterman won the individual title in 20:20. It wouldn’t be a surprise if two league champion runners from Central Oahu are among the most acclimated to the heat and humidity expected at the state meet Saturday,

“It is a tough course. Can’t lie. I think it’s been nice to be so close to CORP. We’ve been practicing there all year,” Miller said. “Figuring out the little aspects. We try to be there once or twice a week. We don’t want to overrun.”

Hanalani as a contender for the D-II girls state title — the excitement surrounding that concept is real.

“There is pressure. I’ve been trying to communicate to the team. We can’t get too comfortable and think that we have it already,” Miller said.

The purple people of Hanalani find a balance between humility and pride, but there’s something special when it comes to titles in a small community.

“Our students have created a bunch of success. Having the school pride to say we’ve been one of the best,” Honold said. “For a long time, they’ve answered that call.”

Miller keeps her perspective on all things.

“We’ve had some pressures, but we try to remember that it’s not about hitting certain times. It’s about performing for an audience of one. It gives us the ability to run freely, just offering our best to God. If you know you’re giving your all, giving your best, success will come in the end.”

Miller is the consummate low-key champion. Nothing about her screams alpha female, not until she hits the course.

“Saige is not the rah-rah, passionate-speech leader, but she looks after her teammates,” Honold said. “It’s a Tony Dungy, quiet strength. She just talks to you to make sure you’re OK.”

The romance of running, from the days of “Chariots of Fire” to “MacFarland, USA” and beyond, is always neutralized by the essence of the sport at its core. There will always be discomfort. Suffering. Pain. Pain shared, though, is half the pain.

“There’s something about being in pain together. It brings us so much closer,” Miller said. “Some of my best friends are on the team. It’s been fun to have the opportunity to run together. Moving up together. It’s been a lot of years with some great people.”

Honold doesn’t manage an athletic program dominated by football. There’s no stadium. No massive trophy case. Yet.

Instead, he relishes the common traits of Royals athletes. More often than not, they have a regal quality.

“Saige is unlike any athlete I’ve coached. I rarely see a combination of talent and work ethic, the perfect blend.,” he said “It’s a coach’s dream. She’s influencing her team. There’s a lot of buy-in from the younger girls. I’ve seen them work hard on their own in the summer. I’m proud of them as a coach.”

Miller is a self-starter who counts her blessings.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity that Hanalani has given me. It’s a pretty tight-knit community and there’s a lot of support from teachers and parents, too,” she said. “It’s fun to see the different sports supporting each other.”

SAIGE MILLER FAVORITES

Hanalani cross country • Junior

>> Favorite movie

1. “Top Gun: Maverick”

>> Top 3 food/snacks/drinks

1. Saimin, Shige’s Saimin Stand (Wahiawa)

2. Raising Cane’s

3. California roll, Foodland

>> Top 3 homemade foods

1. Chicken, rice and eggs

2. Udon

3. Mom’s rice bowls

>> Top 3 music artists (and your favorite song by each)

1. Mitski

2. Chris Stapleton

3. Josh Tatofi

>> Favorite class: Science. “I enjoy science a lot. Just learning about how some things work is pretty cool. Even in sports, how the body works.”

>> Favorite teacher: Mrs. Dennis, kindergarten, SCCS (Calif.). “I always had fun in kindergarten. Those were the good old days.”

>> Favorite athlete: “I enjoy watching sports, but I don’t have a favorite athlete.”

>> Funniest teammate: Chris Chung. “He’s a pretty funny guy. He’s really the life of the team. Sometimes, I don’t think he knows he’s funny.”

>> Smartest teammate: Ronan Case. “He’s kind of like an analyzer. He analyzes everything. We’ve got a lot of smart people on the team, I’d say.”

>> Favorite motto/scripture: Colossians 3:23-24. “It’s what we’ve been trying to focus on as a team. What we’re working for and working for the Lord rather than people.”

>> GPA: 4.1. “It’s hard to balance it. I try to stay on top of it. I have a study hall. Sometimes I get half of my homework done. Sometimes I have to study at lunch if I don’t have time to study at home.”

>> Time machine: “This sounds weird as a runner, but it would be pretty cool to see how they used to run the races. It’s changed so much. Just to see what the beginnings were, it would be interesting. There’s too many movies about messing with time.”

>> Hidden talent: “I like to surf for one. Nothing crazy. Big waves kind of scare me. White Plains is kind of fun. I go with my family. My parents surf a little bit. I have four brothers and one sister. They surf. We have too many surfboards. A couple of foamies and some old ones.”

>> New life skill: Driving. “I’m working on getting my license now.”

>> Bucket list: “I really want to try snowboarding one day. Probably out in Utah. It looks pretty cool there. I like to fish. We have some family in Washington, an hour from Seattle. There’s some different lakes. It’s been a couple years. It’s pretty quiet and it’s just fun. I like to go with my grandpa. He loves to fish.”

>> Youth sports: “I played volleyball in elementary, fourth grade and again in seventh grade. Then I stopped. It was fun, but I started running and I wanted to run full-time. I randomly played basketball for a year in third grade. I was on the elementary school team.”

>> If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self? “Probably, don’t count yourself out. I would have never thought I could go this far. Or stuck with it this long. I really love the sport. No one’s really against each other. We’re all for each other and that’s been fun.”

>> Shoutouts: “The team for sticking with it. It’s been a lot with the pressure, but we’ve been good at lifting each other up when we’re down. We’ve had a little bit of injuries this year, so we’re trying to stay healthy and finish out strong.”