WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Josh Miller (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) received the news he had been waiting for on Tuesday evening as the junior learned that his 2026 outdoor season would continue at the Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at Emporia State in Emporia, Kansas, in the 10K later this month.
Miller qualified for the National Championships in the 10K with a program-record setting time of 29 minutes and 40.03 seconds at the Bison Outdoor Classic in early April, breaking the record, which had previously been held by Matt Sandercock (29:42.74 at Penn in 1991).
This marks the third time in the last four seasons that West Chester has sent a student-athlete from its men's track and field program to the Division II Outdoor Championships, as the Golden Rams sent Ralph Casper in 2023 to compete in the discus and shot put, placing fifth in the discus and winning the shot put title in an excellent showing at Colorado State-Pueblo. West Chester returned to Pueblo last May when
Derrick Lukomski-Pizzo competed in the discus, placing 17
th to bring the 2025 Outdoor campaign to a close.
Miller is believed to be the Golden Rams' first male track athlete to qualify for the Outdoor National Championships since Jarret Eaton qualified in the 110 hurdles and advanced to the Saturday night finals with a prelim heat victory at the 2008 Outdoor Championships at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California. In the Saturday night finals, Eaton placed this in the 110 hurdles in a time of 13.90, which remains the program record.
This is Miller's second National Championship event appearance of the 2025-26 year, as the junior also advanced to the Division II Cross Country National Championships in Wisconsin in November, becoming the first Golden Ram men's cross country runner to qualify since Josh Coakley competed in back-to-back years (2018 and 2019). Miller finished 62
nd at the Cross Country Championships as he traversed the 10K course in 31:04.
The Championships return to Emporia State for the first time since 2024 and the fifth time in the history of Welch Stadium, which hosted the meet for the first time in 1995 before also hosting in 1999, 2006, and 2024. The Championships will be held over Memorial Day weekend, beginning on Thursday, May 21. Miller will compete on opening night at the Championships in the final men's event of the day, beginning at 9:10 eastern/8:10 local.
Tickets are available for purchase now via this
link. An All-Session pass is available for $40.75 for adults and $30.25 for students and seniors, while a pass for Day One of the Championships, when Miller will compete, is $21.95 for adults and $16.70 for students and seniors. Emporia State has a full Championship Central page available
here.
