Recording-breaking season makes Woodbury's Miller the diver to look up to now

Woodbury diver Meghan Miller went from apprentice to mentor in the recently completed season.

The sophomore's breakthrough included a sixth-place finish in the Class 2A state diving competition, earning her an All-State honor for the first time. She also won the Section 3 championship and broke Woodbury's 11-dive school record.

"I was more surprised this season than ever," said Miller, who started diving as a sixth-grader. "This season was crazy. Things just kept coming and I couldn't believe what was happening."

Heading into her fourth season of diving for Woodbury, Miller, who fell short in qualifying for last year's state meet, set a personal 11-dive goal of 350 points. In October she blew that score out of the water, tallying a whopping 467.20 at the Hastings Invitational. Her mark broke the Woodbury record of 464.05, set by Erica Schiffler in 2004.

"She's very humble," Woodbury diving coach Sherry Gross said. "She doesn't really realize how good she is."

Miller dives year-round for Woodburyor the Minnesota Diving Academy, operated by University of Minnesota coach and diving guru Wenbo Chen. Miller started with the Royals in sixth grade at an open diving session held by then-coach Rick Light and Gross, an assistant at the time. Miller had competed in gymnastics before but had no previous diving experience.

"You could see she was an athlete and had natural ability," Gross said. "You could tell right away."

Miller said she idolized her former teammates Bonfig and Puglisi when she was a beginner. These days Miller is the one being looked up to, however.

Gross said one of the Woodbury's youngest divers, Audrey Hong, wrote on her goal sheet at the start of the year, "I want to be like Meghan."

"It's weird, the younger girls kind of look up to me now," Miller said. "It makes me feel good, but I'm not quite used to it yet."

In addition to being humble, Miller, a diving team captain, is a great athlete and tremendous leader who sets a good example, Gross said.

"She's just one of those awesome kids that coaches dream about coaching," Gross said. "I'm extremely lucky."

Miller eventually ended up in sixth place (393.05). The top eight finishers received All-State honors.

"I was really surprised when I was in the top five after the semifinals," Miller said. "I was like, 'Are you sure?' I was pretty shocked. Taking sixth place was pretty surreal."

Miller said reaching state by winning the section championship was one thing she relished in this season. Last year Miller finished in fifth at the section meet, one spot short of qualifying for the state meet.

"It was great to see my hard work pay off," Miller said.

Though Miller may not have seen this exceptional season coming, Gross said she did.

With time on her side, Miller hopes to compete for a state title, break more records at Woodbury and eventually compete as a diver in college.