Primetime Eme

Through the years, Eme Miller has been in the stands watching family and friends swim in the state finals.
Friday will be her day.
Miller, a Jay County High School senior, will compete in the 200-yard freestyle in the IHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis on Friday at 6 p.m.
“I guess I’m still in the process of shock,” said Miller. “It hasn’t sunk in.
“I’m excited. I’m just really happy I made it.”
A swimmer for most of her life, Miller has never competed in a state championship meet before. She’s been to the natatorium to watch her best friend, Mary Hudson, compete in the state finals in 100 breaststroke, and her brother, Sam, swim in the state finals in the 200 freestyle, among  others.
Last season she thought she would be there with Caitlin Mark, Charlotte Becot and Hudson after the quartet won the sectional championship in the 400-yard freestyle relay to earn a state berth. Instead, she contracted pneumonia and was unable to swim at the state meet.
Now she’s qualified as an individual. She’s healthy. She’s ready.
“Now that I’ve made it, I don’t even know what to expect,” Miller said. “I’ve always watched people. … Just to even warm up in the pool means a lot to me. So to swim in it and race in it, I’m super pumped.”
Saturday’s sectional meet marked her last chance to earn the state berth and trip to Indianapolis she had always dreamed of. She set the tone by taking the No. 1 seed in the 200 freestyle at Thursday’s preliminaries and never gave anyone else a chance.
Miller was in the lead from the moment she hit the water, had control of the race 50 meters in and pulled away from the field. After swimming about a second faster than her closest competitor in the preliminary round, she turned in a far more dominant effort in the finals and finished more than five seconds ahead of runner-up Shelby Haggard of Muncie Central in a career-best time of 2 minutes 7.32 seconds.
She said she got a little bit of inspiration from Sam just before her championship swim.
“‘Eme, you’ve got to keep it in the family,’” she said quoting the pep talk from her brother, who made the state finals in the same event. “‘Just go out there and do it. You’ve got this.’”
“I just really wanted it I guess. That’s a main thing about swimming. If you have it in your head, you’ve got it.”
Miller heads to the state meet seeded 31st out of 32 swimmers based on sectional times. Rebecca Haussin of Seeger is the No. 32 seed at 2:08.9 while Sara Karst from Huntington North is seeded 30th at 2:05.32.
Only the top 16 athletes in each event will advance to Saturday’s championship and consolation finals. Kristin VanDeventer of Columbus North is the No. 16 seed at 1:53.52, nearly 12 seconds faster than Miller swam at the sectional meet.
But while a chance to swim on Saturday is unlikely, Miller has set personal goals of posting another career-best time and moving up from her No. 31 seed.
“If we hit (2:05), that will be reaching our expectations, our best-case scenario,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “And I think just given the competition that’s going to be there — she was four body lengths ahead coming home in her race on Saturday — I think she’ll have that as an advantage because she’ll have to chase. … I think she’s got it in her.”
Slavik said he feels Miller’s swim at the state finals will be a fitting end to her career.
She’s helped break the school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay not once, but twice during her four years at JCHS. She set the mark with Cori Vormohr, Michelle Landfair and Hudson as a freshman in 2008. And this season she joined Katy Smeltzer, Caitlin Mark and Hudson in breaking it again.
As a captain this year Miller has been the team’s emotional driving force, always there to lift a teammate when they were down. But on Friday, the focus will be on her.
“She’s got a great spirit about her, a positive attitude,” said Slavik. “She’s a hard worker. She’s got all the qualities you want in a young person …
“Last year it was heart-breaking when she had pneumonia … Her not being a part of it was upsetting. … Eme’s career seems like … she’s always been one who’s been in the back seat.
“She’s always been in the supporting role, and now she’s the spotlight.”[[In-content Ad]]