Natural Born Leader

Late in the summer of 2005, Speedway girls soccer coach Steve Jones started the first practice of the season a worried man. Despite returning nine experienced and talented seniors on his squad, Jones was already trying to figure out what he was going to do the following year, when those seniors were gone. The big question lurking in the back of his mind: where was the program going to go? Who would lead the team? About that time, a 5-foot-7 freshman, Lauren Miller, stepped onto the field. "I thought, 'OK, there she is,'" laughs Jones, who led the Sparkplugs to a 14-3 season last fall. "All of the sudden, there she was." Miller impressed Jones so much that she started alongside those seniors the entire season. "Even as a freshman, she was a leader out there instead of following around and just playing the game," he says. "Right off the bat, she wasn't about playing games - she was focused on what she was doing and separated herself from the first play of the first game." Separating herself from the crowd is something that Miller, now a junior, seems to be quite adept at. A three-sport athlete, Miller fits in perfectly at Speedway, a high school and town named after the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway race track that sits on 16th and Georgetown. Miller is seemingly bouncing from one sport or activity to the next at a frantic pace, all with a certain calm-before-the-storm demeanor about her. Along with soccer, where Miller is the team's top defensemen, she's also the point guard on the Class 2A 'Plugs girls basketball team and catcher for the softball team. And naturally, she's played varsity in those sports since her freshman year as well. The three sports overlap at times, with AAU basketball a staple in her schedule during soccer and softball seasons. Miller says she loves being a three-sport athlete and constantly on the go, working in other things - like, say, friends and spare time - when she can. "It's hard, but I find time on the weekends to hang out with my friends and catch up on homework," says Miller, who maintains excellent grades despite the rigorous schedule. But sports aren't the only thing on her loaded calendar. In fact, sports are just a part of Miller's well-rounded lifestyle. Proclaiming a love for working with kids, she hopes to major in medicine and play basketball upon graduating in 2009. Miller took that passion and volunteered at Wishard Memorial Hospital last summer after her mom, Sheryl, noticed an advertisement in the newspaper. Following an interview and clearing all the necessary medical tests, Miller chose to work in the emergency room and kept children - in good health or bad - company. "Most of them spoke Spanish, some of them were sick and all of them just wanted some company," says Miller, who maxed out the allotted amount of times she could volunteer as quickly as possible. "I would just play with them or sit and watch TV with them and help them pass the time." Along with her work at Wishard, Miller has worked at the Parks Department the past two summers, as a camp counselor in basketball, kickball and tee ball activities. The kids certainly look up to Miller, and in turn, Miller says she gets a kick out of watching something click inside the mind of an eager young athlete. "There are always some kids who don't know how to play or aren't interested in the beginning, but by the end of camp, they don't want to stop playing," she explains. "And that's a good feeling and experience to be a part of." Miller sees it as a responsibility to work with the community, and to show the ropes to those younger than her. Go ahead and give her an assist or two for helping to develop future student-athletes in the Speedway area. Then again, assists are kind of Miller's forte. Last season she set the single-season assists record as a sophomore with 187 while guiding Speedway to a 14-7 mark before falling to eventual state champion Heritage Christian in sectionals. This year, Miller is averaging 9.7 assists per game - which does put her among the state's statistical leaders - and has the Sparkplugs off to a 4-1 start through Dec. 15. Yet you won't always find Miller's name scattered among the statistical leaders for her sports. Miller mostly thrives behind the scenes, doing the gritty work on defense that most athletes choose not to focus on. It's no coincidence that Miller plays positions that act as field or floor general, embraces the high-pressure leadership roles and enjoys setting her teammates up for success. Her basketball coach, Bob Anglea, calls Miller the team's driver. "Everything keys off her," says Anglea, who's in his first season as head coach at Speedway. "She's one of those girls, where, if something happens on the court or she makes a turnover, she's going to go make up for that - and that mentality is contagious and filters down to the rest of the girls." Anglea notes that it's not just the leadership she exudes, but the manner in which she does it. "Even as a freshman, she was able to push the seniors to a whole different level, and it wasn't about stats. Lauren was able to take what they were good at and push them in those areas. For her, it's about winning." "That's true," says Miller, grinning from ear to ear before adding, "I don't like to lose at all." Jones emphasizes that Miller's lack of desire to stuff a stat sheet is a credit to her "we-before-me" attitude. "Everyone always wants to know who scored the most goals or who had the most points, but her name is not in there," he says. "Yet without her, we wouldn't be nearly as successful. Lauren leads in a rationale, diplomatic way - she's not the type of person to create havoc on the team." Derek Doehrmann, Speedway's interim softball coach last spring, agrees with that assessment. "It's in her mindset not to lose; she's going to be the person at crunch-time to make the stop," he says, adding that Miller's mental prowess is evident in the positions she plays. The best example of that, he says, came during last season. "Unlike 95 percent of high school softball coaches, I don't micro-manage a team and call the game. Lauren called every pitch but maybe three all season," says Doehrmann, pausing for emphasis before adding, "and I'm probably high with that count when I say three." There's a level of trust a coach has to have in order to hand a game over to a sophomore, as Miller was at the time, and Doehrmann acknowledges she certainly had his. "The fact that she's a sharp enough athlete to be able to do that, and that she had such great chemistry with our pitching staff, allowed us to achieve a lot of success," he says, citing the softball team's 24-4 record and No. 2 state ranking last year. And what's Miller's justification for her ability to lead by example and put her personal gain on the backburner in order to achieve greater team success? "I'd say I'm mature for my age, so I don't tend to focus on the little things like, 'I need to score this many points a game,'"she says. "It's not that big of a deal to me." Even two-and-a-half years after he first saw her step onto the field, Jones is still in awe. "I'm sure it wasn't easy for her to come in and play with a close-knit group of seniors that first year," he says. On the contrary, it was probably a piece of cake. Just something those natural born leaders do. And it won't be too long before Miller moves on and Speedway will be waiting for the next one to step out onto the field, the court, and in the community and lead by example. Anglea thinks it could be awhile. "I don't see a player with the kind of heart Lauren has for not only winning, but people," he says. "Just to see somebody who cares about the program and Speedway, who plays for the name on the front of the jersey, she's truly special." GETTING TO KNOW: LAUREN MILLER Favorite food: Chicken Favorite musician: Colbie Caillat Better feeling - a steal, an assist or a basket: Assist Lauren's car: 2004 Mustang Favorite subject: Math Favorite movie: "Save The Last Dance" Favorite TV show: "L.A. Ink" Best basketball moment: Freshmen year, good season as a team. Best soccer moment: Freshmen year, winning conference and beating Greencastle for the first time. Best softball moment: Hasn't happened yet.