Year of Service: 15th
University of Iowa ’89 Hometown: Urbandale, IA
Education: BS, Corporate Fitness
MEd, Athletic Administration – Indiana ‘95
Sally Miller commences her 15th season at the helm of one of Division III’s most successful softball programs. Miller directed TCNJ to a record sixth NCAA Division III 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 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 (CWS).
The following year, Miller once again guided TCNJ back to the CWS and extended the College’s consecutive appearance streak to 16. The Lions finished the year with a record of 35-7, collecting the 1997 NCAA East Regional Championship and settling for a fourth-place finish in Division III. The 1998 season saw TCNJ go 30-9 on the year after losing 4-3 to Rowan University in the NCAA Atlantic Regional. Their perfect attendance streak in the CWS was stopped at 16 as a regional champion was not decided by win-loss record but by seed due to weather. Miller notched her 100th career win with a 5-0 victory over Springfield College in 1998. In 1999, the Lions made it to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship game, but fell 13-8 to Rowan and finished the season, 32-11.
After two disappointing seasons, TCNJ revisited the CWS and ended the 2000 season 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/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) East Regional Coach of the Year.
TCNJ posted a 21-20 overall record during the 2001 season and earned a spot in the NJAC Tournament with a 14-4 mark in league action. The following year, the Lions made it to the conference playoffs for the seventh straight year under Miller’s tutelage and completed the 2002 campaign with a 28-14 log. She recorded her 200th career win with a 5-0 victory over Mary Washington College in 2002. TCNJ posted a 23-11 record and a 10-8 NJAC mark in 2003, narrowly missing a berth in the league tournament. In 2004, the Lions went 22-13-1 overall and 10-8 once again in the conference.
In 2006, the Lions 25-16 and finished conference play with a mark of 8-10 and advanced to the NJAC Tournament.
In the early stages of that season, she reached another milestone as she collected her 300th career victory with a 3-1 extra-inning victory at Muhlenberg College.
A year later, TCNJ posted an even 16-16 mark and remained in the hunt for the conference tournament until the latter stages of the spring.
Miller directed the Lions to another memorable season in 2008 as the team stormed through the NJAC Tournament to come within one victory of returning to the NCAA Championship. That group finished with an overall mark of 27-16, while going 11-7 in the conference. She also collected a pair of milestone wins during the season as she picked up her 350th career victory on April 22, 2008 in a win over Rutgers-Newark and garnered her 100th NJAC win by beating Rutgers-Camden on April 8.
Miller ranks among the winningest active coaches in Division III by percentage. With a career log of 381-176-2, she boasts a win percentage of .689.
Miller has guided the team to eight 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 and six 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 given annually 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 assists in both 1987 and 1988.
After graduating from Iowa in December of 1989, 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 University softball program before her arrival at Indiana University in 1993. Miller came to the College after serving as the assistant softball coach at Indiana in 1994 and 1995.
