Hanging out in the shade after having practice in the blistering October afternoon sun with his cross-country teammates, was senior George Miao.

Miao has been running competitively for five years and has been competing at the Rocklin varsity level since he was a freshman.

“George is so self-driven, so I don’t have to do much motivation,” said Miao’s head coach David Pereira, “ What I love about him the most, though, is that he takes every piece of advice and incorporates it. He is so coachable.”

In his first race as a freshman at the varsity level, he finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the Camp Winthers Rocklin High School Time Trials with a time of 18:58.

“I had every emotion: nervous, anxiety, excitement,” said Miao. “It was very hard and I pushed myself so hard that I passed out from dehydration and not being prepared.”

That first race was a sign of good things to come, however.

Since that first race in 2010, Miao has been setting and breaking records left and right. This year alone, he set records at the Del Oro Invite with a 12:30 in the 4,000 meters and at the Roosevelt Roughriders Invitational with a 15:35 time in the 5,000 meters. His time of 15:46 in the 5,000m was a record at the 40th Stanford Cross-Country Invitational and he is currently ranked 12th in the state.

“I just think positive thoughts, trust in my training and follow the same routine by eating well and maybe get a morning run in.” he said

He carries this mental focus into a race where he practices not focusing on the pain. His thoughts are positive, centered on finishing strong.

But this has taken him years to perfect.

“I’ve gotten smarter with my training,” Miao said, “I used to try to compete with the seniors and older runners and got injured a lot … stress fracture in my left leg, muscle strains … so I started to look up training routines.”

Success has followed Miao into the classroom, as well as on the course.

“George is a one-of-a-kind student-athlete, because he excels at such a high level in both areas,” said Pereira, “In fact; he is the best athlete I’ve coached in both areas.”

Miao is on pace to be valedictorian for his class, coming in with a 4.8 GPA as graduation draws near. He is taking a full load of classes; all seven of which are AP.

After graduation, he plans to attend either Harvard, where he has committed pending a response from admissions, or Columbia to study economics.

“Sports made me more hardworking, and to be dedicated to keep up with the competition,” he said as to being a student-athlete. “It’s tough to try to do it all. Both (sports and academics) help me manage time, which would help me in college and in the future down the road.”

Heading toward the future, both near and far, Miao is hoping to finish in the top five at state. He has also set a goal of running the 5,000 meters in 15 minutes flat and to help his teammates reach state.

He hopes to achieve all this, while looking forward to an Ivy League education.

Source: http://www.placerherald.com/article/running-miles-ahead-planning-future