A State Finals appearance was a perfect final chapter for the Penn Cross Country coaching career of Tom Miller, who announced his retirement as the Kingsmen head coach following the 2024 cross country season.
Coach Miller will also retire as an assistant track coach after the 2025 track season. He has been coaching track for 39 years and XC for 29 years.
Miller’s very successful career as a coach which originated at Wayne High School in 1987 when his old high school coach asked him to be an assistant track coach.
When coaching for 39 years, one might question if it is hard to stay motivated, but this doesn’t apply to Coach Miller.
“Motivation is pretty easy when you get to work with the awesome student-athletes that I have been blessed to work with over the years,” Coach Miller said.
During 39 years, a lot has changed in the running world. Coach Miller emphasized how technology has made training and coaching easier.
Since being a head coach for both XC and track, he has won 53 boys’ XC championships, 31 girls’ XC championships, and four girls’ track championships. He coached teams to state a total of 18 times and has had four all-state runners.
With such a successful career, there have to be some things contributing to that success. Coach Miller emphasized that a positive environment and a pursuit of improvement is crucial for the team’s success.
“As a runner, you can always improve on something,” Miller said. “You can learn and grow from every training and racing experience.”
After many years of hard work and dedication, Coach Miller has decided to retire so that he can travel with his wife, spend more time with his family, and cheer on the future Penn XC and track teams.
