NJAC NEWS ARCHIVE

 2003-04

March 15, 2004


TCNJ'S MILLER CAPTURES HER 250TH CAREER
SOFTBALL COACHING VICTORY


REACHES MILESTONE WITH WIN OVER COAST GUARD


The College of New Jersey head softball coach Sally Miller Collected her 250th coaching victory on March 11 in Osceola, FL as the Lions topped Coast Guard, 4-0. The victory improved the career record of the ninth-year head coach to 250-88-1. Through the conclusion of the 2003 campaign, she was ranked 12th among winningest active Division III coaches in win percentage.


Miller directed TCNJ to a record sixth NCAA Division III Softball Championship as a rookie coach in 1996. The Lions went 38-3 in 1996 and ended the season with a 20-game win streak. She replaced the late Dr. June Walker, the all-time winningest coach in Division III, in the summer of 1995 and guided the team to the 1996 NJAC Championship as well as the NCAA title with an undefeated mark in the 1996 College World Series.

 

TCNJ revisited the CWS and ended the 2000 campaign tied for fifth in the program’s 17th appearance after falling 4-3 in eight innings to Alma College. The 36-9-1 Lions swept through their regional tournament and won their second NJAC Championship under Miller’s guidance. For her efforts, she was named the 2000 NJAC Coach of the Year as well as the Speedline/NFCA East Regional Coach of the Year.

 

Miller has guided the team to seven NJAC Tournament appearances as well as to the CWS three times, winning the 1996 NCAA crown, taking fourth in 1997 and fifth in 2000. She has produced 13 All-Americans as well as four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, while guiding the Lions to five NCAA Tournament appearances.  In the fall of 1998, Miller was honored by her peers at TCNJ with the Roy Van Ness Award, which is annually given to a coach for outstanding success and leadership as selected by TCNJ's athletic department.

 

A former third baseman at the University of Iowa, she was a member of the Hawkeye softball program from 1986 until 1989, serving as team captain for both the 1988 and 1989 squads. During her senior season, Miller helped Iowa capture the Big Ten Conference Championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Division I Regional.  She was named to the 1987 Big Ten All-Conference and All-Mideast Regional All-America Second Teams, as well as the team’s MVP. During her career, Miller left her mark on the Iowa softball records. Twice, she set the school's single-season assist mark with 170 in both 1987 and 1988.

After graduating from Iowa in December of 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Fitness, Miller served as an assistant softball coach for Princeton University from 1990-1992.  Following her stint at Princeton, she spent one season as an assistant for the Michigan State