Hailey Miller has been named the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week for Jan. 13-18.

Miller is a senior in her first season with the Richmond Senior girls bowling team.

During last week’s Sandhills Atheltic Conference girls singles competition, Miller led the team by posting a three-game total pin score of 453. The pin total placed her in the top 10 of the 80-plus bowlers competing at the Sandhills Bowling Center and solidified her spot in the singles state championships next week.

“I guess I did pretty good overall. I didn’t really expect to do as good as I did,” said Miller after the event.

When she completed her third game, Miller thought she was 28 pins shy of reaching states because only the top eight total pins scores were chosen. But a late rule change on Friday allowed for the top 10 scores to be chosen, sealing her second trip to state competitions in her senior year, having already been a state-qualifier for girls golf in the fall.

Richmond bowling coach Ralph Butler says Miller’s desire and determination as an all-around athlete fueled her performance.

“She’s a competitor. She’s played other sports and at the end of the day, a lot of times, that’s what it takes,” said Butler.

“She’s focused. She’s not distracted by some of the stuff that’s going on around her. She’s dialed in and just worried about the task at hand, which is her lane.

Her finishing ability led to a hot start as she posted pin scores of 163 and 161 in the first two games. That focus helped her make things interesting in the final frame of game 3, as she rolled a strike, then followed with a spare to end the day.

“I did finish really good. I finished with a strike and a spare and that made my score go up higher,” said Miller.

“Hopefully [the good performances] will give us confidence to do good in the conference tournament.”

Below are Miller’s responses to a list of fun questions asked by the Daily Journal staff.

1. Who is your favorite musical artist right now?

Miller: I’ll say Chance the Rapper.

2. Who is your favorite college basketball team?

Miller: I’ve always been a Norte Dame fan.

3. What’s your favorite subject?

Miller: Science.

Miller
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_Mug_Hailey-copy-2.jpgMiller

By Donnell Coley

Sports Editor

Donnell Coley can be reached at 910-817-2671 or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @Sportsinmyveins.