Sean Miller paused, and you could almost hear his smile on the other end of the phone conversation.

“I really thought my life would look different,” the Grantham resident said. “I was going to get out of sports.”

Instead, the 2023 Lebanon High graduate and rising Vassar College (N.Y.) junior is all in, to the extent of winning the 800 meters at the recent All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference championships. The NCAA Division III competition included competitors from more than 50 schools.

Miller bested 34 opponents in a time of 1 minute, 51 seconds, less than a second slower than the mark needed to win that distance at the Division I Ivy League’s title meet. Not bad for a walk-on whose most extensive athletic experience at Lebanon was on the JV baseball team.

“I could score from second base on a single,” Miller said. “The problem was getting myself to second base.”

Miller played baseball through his junior year and fondly recalls throwing a “Vulcan changeup” while pitching. Its grip requires placing one’s middle and ring fingers on either side of the ball, similar to the Vulcan salute in “Star Trek.” A sharp, downward movement is supposed to result, and Miller said he had some success with the pitch, although perhaps not for intended reasons.

“I threw so slowly, it caught batters off-guard,” he said with a chuckle.

As a Raider senior, Miller joined outdoor track, in which he’d dabbled as a freshman. Some of his friends were distance runners and he’d begun joining them on training runs, in part for the camaraderie. With graduation approaching, however, he cut his 800 time down to 1:59 and was part of a 4x800 relay team that won a state title and set a school record.

“He went from holding on to trying to win races,” said Lebanon coach Kevin Lozeau, who urged Miller to make a late attempt to run in college. “If you put in the work and stay healthy, sometimes things go the right way.”

Miller, whose parents met as runners at Swarthmore College (Pa.) and who’d earned an early-decision acceptance at academically rigorous Vassar, exchanged emails with Brewers coach James McCowan, who said Miller should walk on to the cross country team and they’d see how things went.

That’s usually where it ends for unrecruited runners, many of whom either aren’t good enough athletes or can’t withstand the physical and psychological demands of the college level.

“It’s a lot of running; he logged 50 to 60 miles a week as a freshman and never missed a (weightlifting session),” McCowan said. “I wasn’t sure how he’d respond with such limited training in the past.”

Miller vigorously followed McCowan’s summer workout instructions in the months leading up to his Vassar matriculation and qualified for NCAA regional cross country competition. At times, he’s startled his coach with his ambitious goals, but has gone on to achieve almost all of them.

“He was definitely a diamond in the rough,” McCowan said. “But he leaned into the whole process. You want the fastest kids, but you also want ones like Sean, who want to be part of something bigger than themselves.”

Miller’s intelligence and warm personality helped get him in the door, and his genetics and work ethic have done the rest. Along with a touch of naïveté.

“A little bit of ignorance helped him, because he didn’t really know it was supposed to be that difficult,” McCowan said. “He hasn’t been intimidated by running in college, which is fun to watch.”

Miller’s on the verge of breaking Vassar’s 800-meter record and wants to qualify for national competition in indoor and outdoor track. And there’s always the lure of running a sub-4-minute mile.

“My mentality is I have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Miller said. “I’m not sure what running will hold, but it’s a huge part of my life.”

Tris Wykes can be reached at ctwykes@aol.com.