University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Cross Country
- Title:
- Associate Director of Cross Country and Track & Field (Pole Vault, Throws, Multi-Events)
- Email:
- richard.s.miller@uconn.edu
Associate Head Coach Rich Miller begins his 30th season at UConn in 2024-2025, named associated head coach 14 seasons ago. Coach Miller has achieved remarkable success with the UConn track & field program through his coaching with the pole vaulters, multi-event student-athletes, and throwers. Under Coach Miller’s leadership, both Josh Mooney and Diarmuid O’Connor received second team All-American honors in the decathlon.  At the 2025 Outdoor BIG EAST Championships, Mooney won most outstanding field athlete of the meet. At the BIG EAST Championships, twelve Huskies medaled in the event areas that Miller coaches.
He previously spent 10 years as a part-time assistant working with the multi-event performers as well as those competing in pole vault and javelin. Coach Miller coached Travis Snyder into a spot in nationals in the pole vault at 5.42 meters. Additionally, Miller lifted Patrick Oatman to his personal best in the pole vault in the 2024 BIG EAST Championships. Additionally, under Miller's leadership, Diarmuid O'Connor and Alyssa Elliot placed first in the decathalon and heptathalon, respectively. O'Connor finished his standout season achieving second-team All American status in the 2024 NCAA National Championships in Eugene, Oregon.Â
Miller focuses on working with mult-event performers as well as athletes competing in throws and pole vault. In 2018, Coach Miller helped guide senior Craig Hunter to the NCAA Championship for the third time where he became a three-time All-American in the pole vault. In 2014, he helped Eric Masington earn All-American honors when he finished seventh at the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore. Masington threw a lifetime-best 59.19m to land on the First Team and establish a UConn outdoor record.
Prior to joining the Huskies full-time, Miller was employed as a physical therapist with Health South/PTSMA in Storrs. While at Health South, Miller provided direct patient care in an outpatient orthopedic and sports medicine clinic while also collaborating with local physicians on implementing treatment plans to rehabilitate patients with a variety of ailments. Miller also served as a member of the BIG EAST Track and Field seeding committee.
Miller, who was a 1995 UConn graduate, enjoyed both academic and athletic success during his undergraduate years. He served as co-captain of UConn's track and field teams in both his junior and senior years, two years in which the Huskies won back-to-back New England Indoor Championships.
He was a four-time All-East performer in the decathlon while also earning All-New England and All-BIG EAST honors in the pentathlon and pole vault events. His academic achievements set a standard of excellence for all student-athletes, as he was a member of the 1994-95 BIG EAST Conference Academic All-Star team and was named a UConn Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete in 1995.
