Shaunae Miller Adjusting Well at Georgia – post seasons 4th fastest 400m (52.96)

“I am adjusting well. The coaching staff is great; things are going pretty good and I am looking for the best this year,” said 18-year-old Shaunae Miller, who is in her first year at the University of Georgia (Georgia). Shaunae continued, “training is going pretty good.” Shaunae, who hails from the Bahamas, comes to Georgia with an impressive resume that includes posting lifetime best times of 22.70 seconds in the 200m and 51.25 seconds in the 400m. She also claimed IAAF World Youth and World Junior 400m titles. Most recently Shaunae qualified for but was unable to compete at the 2012 London Olympics due to injury. Shaunae has since enrolled at Georgia, and is adjusting well to life on the track and in the classroom. Shaunae admits that Georgia was the only college that she thought of attending. Fully-recovered “During my first months here, we focused on therapy, rehab and schoolwork. So come January we decided to get back into action (on the track). I am not looking for fast times right now. Hopefully, by the time the big meets comes up I will be ready,” said Shaunae. Shaunae indicates that she is fully recovered from her injury. Training, teammates & missing home When asked whether her current work-out are harder than what she was used to, Shaunae responded, “Not really; I knew coming in that it’s going to be a lot of hard work. But I have my mind set on preparing for it. I guess it’s kinda harder but not really.” As far as her current Georgia teammates are concerned, Shaunae pointed out that ‘I train with a bunch of girls and guys and we treat each other like sisters and brothers. It’s like we are one big happy family and the coaches are like parents to us.” Shaunae said that she has a great relationship with her coach George Cleare, who also hails from the Bahamas. While Shaunae is adjusting to this new phase of her life as a collegian and adjusting to life with her teammates, she misses her parents, family and friends back in the Bahamas. The eloquent Shaunae relays her initially mindset when she started school last September. “When I first came to Georgia, I felt I was coming to a two-week track meet to represent my country. But when the two weeks was up, I then realized that I really had to stay. I miss home a lot but I call and talk to my parents every night.” Relives first collegiate race One of the major adjustments for Shaunae, so far this season is her adjusting to running indoors. She found humor in describing her first experience running the 60m indoors at the Razorback Invitational at the University of Arkansas last weekend, January 26. “The experience was good. It was my first time running the 60m. The backboard was the funniest part of the race. When you hit the backboard and it pushes you off. That was fun and amazing. Other than that I felt great; I was glad how I opened up.” Despite posting a time of 7.59 seconds for 14^th place in her 1^st collegiate race, Shaunae was wearing the Georgia colors for the first time and was very pleased with her performance. She later joined her Georgia teammates Carly Hamilton, Stella Christoforou and Kristie Krueger to stop the clock at 11:39.68 in the distance medley, the sixth fastest time in school history. Takes the 200m/400m double at Akron Invitational At the Akron Invitational this weekend Feb 2, Shaunae took the 200m (23.99) and the 400m (52.96) titles. Shaunae time of 52.96 seconds represents the 4^th fastest time in the NCAA so far this year. Staying healthy When asked about her mental and physically preparation for the 2013 season, she responded “I do feel a lot stronger this year, that’s a good thing. I haven’t started doing hard work as yet, but by getting back into shape, I feel a lot stronger and I am looking forward to the upcoming big meets.” While Shaunae states that her main goal for the season is to stay healthy, one cannot help but to be excited about what this talented young athlete can accomplish this season. Shaunae is a winner at every level of competition and come June at the NCAA’s should we expect anything less? 2013 Akron Invitational Results

200m
1 Miller, Shaunae FR Georgia 23.99
2 Gaither, Tynia SO Georgia 24.22
3 Williams, Shanequa JR Kent State 24.23
4 Vaughn, Briana FR Georgia 24.41
5 Hoyt, Jordan JR Pittsburgh 24.65
6 Westbrooks, Chanitta SO Kent State 24.70
7 Allen, Kala FR Miami (Ohio) 24.88
8 Whittington, Xauddina Unattached 24.99
9 Floyd, Najah Motor City 25.09
10 Christian, Rachel SO Akron 25.17


400m
1 Miller, Shaunae FR Georgia 52.96
2 Whittington, Xauddina Unattached 55.29
3 Floyd, Najah Motor City 55.87
4 Allen, Kala FR Miami (Ohio) 56.19
5 Steele, Shauniece SO Akron 56.72
6 Hollingsworth, Taylor SO Georgia 56.98
7 Myers, Charlotte SO Miami (Ohio) 57.07
8 Myers, Annalisa SR Florida Atlantic 57.38
9 Lee, Jordan JR Pittsburgh 57.98