By Rich Winter

Miller coach Tom McGough has been coaching for 47 years, most of them at Miller. While the long-time coach has had decades of success in cross country, the closest he's come to a team title was 2002 when the Rustler boys finished second.

Fast forward to 2021 where the Rustlers dominated all season before earning that state title on Saturday, Oct. 23 in Sioux Falls. 

“It was very gratifying,” McGough said. “We've had eleven top-eight finishes and I was happy for the kids but also for the former athletes who reached out to extend congratulations to this year's team.”

The 2020 cross-country season may have foreshadowed exactly what 2021 would bring. The Rustlers finished fifth in the Class A competition last season and used that success to hit the ground running this year.

“Coming in fifth last year in Class A was a huge confidence builder for our kids,” McGough said.

When the announcement came this summer that Miller was moving from Class A to Class B that gave the program another shot in the arm.

“When I heard that we were moving to Class B I thought we might have a shot,” he said. “Pierce Baumberger (Class B, third place) got 300 miles in this summer and we had our other athletes put in some good summer running.”

The Rustlers opened their season at the Mitchell Invitational and McGough says he saw some good things after that meet.

“In Mitchell, Pierce beat Dom Santiago (of Chamberlain) and I felt like we came out of that meet with a certain attitude and aura,” he said.

In late September the Miller boys competed in the Big Dakota Conference/Chamberlain Invitational meet. They won both portions of that meet and McGough said that also gave the team confidence.

“After that win at the Big Dakota, that's when we thought maybe we can do it,” McGough said.

So good was this Rustler team that Miller won every meet this season where team points were kept. Freshman Pierce Baumberger and sophomore Alex Schumacher led the way with third and fourth place finishes at the state meet. McGough said his two young fellas set the tone for the season.

Alex Schumacher and Pierce Baumberger running in Saturday

“Even though they are a freshman and a sophomore they both have been part of this program for a number of years,” McGough said. “They both provided leadership this year and all season long we kept track of the gap between those two and our other runners.”

Miller senior Caden Gortmaker was the Rustlers’ third-place runner. He finished 24th in the Class B competition and drew rave reviews from the Miller coach for his career efforts.

“Caden has come up through the ranks and has been a huge part of getting our team to where it is,” McGough said. “He does all those little things that represent our program like congratulating kids as they come across the line.”

While Gortmaker is graduating the Rustlers have some young talent coming up the ranks.

Freshman Kellen Hurd finished 29th (18:28) while seventh grader Tyson Kindle (18:38) finished in 33rd place.

With such a youthful roster one might pencil in Miller for a few more of these state titles in the next few seasons. McGough himself is cautiously optimistic about next season.

“We have to keep our attitude in check and stay grounded,” he said. “We stayed grounded all season, the kids knew it was possible and they kept working hard all season to achieve this goal.”