Savanna Mills '18 Recruiting Profile

My goal is to run college track and field and cross country at the highest level possible.

Although I have been running for just a little over a year, I am an extremely accomplished athlete. I participated in USAG club gymnastics for 13 years, where I trained and competed for Wright’s Gymnastics Academy, a prestigious and nationally recognized gymnastics club, ultimately advancing to Level 9 competition (with Level 1 being a beginner skillset and Level 10 being a Division 1 College Gymnast skillset). I was a member of numerous Indiana state championship teams and placed very well individually at Indiana state championship meets over the course of my gymnastics career. I was awarded the mental attitude award for my club team three different seasons. In 2015, I advanced to the Level 8 USAG Region 5 Championships, where I competed for "Team Indiana" against “All State” teams from Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio. 

I retired from gymnastics in 2016 to pursue other activities. I became a member of the Varsity Track & Field team for Mooresville High School (Mooresville, Indiana), in the spring of 2016.  My coaches had me compete in a number of events to determine my strengths, where my focus became middle distance events. During the 2016 season, my fastest 400 meter time was 1:05 and my fastest 800 Meter time was 2:37 (at IHSAA sectionals, where I competed in the 800 Meter event for only the third time).

In the fall of 2016, I became a member of the Varsity Cross Country team for Mooresville High School. Our team enjoyed a successful season, advancing to IHSAA Regionals. Over the course of the season, I advanced from the team’s number 5 runner to the number 2 runner after shedding 3 minutes from my 5K time. My fastest 5K time for the season was 21:27 at IHSAA Regionals. I will be the number 1 returning runner on the team for next season and I have no doubt my current 5K time already is much lower at this point. I estimate my current 5K time to be in the upper 19:00s and will continue to improve.

My coaches believe I am only scratching the surface of my running potential given my athletic background and immense improvement since I began running such a short time ago. My goals for my senior year in Cross Country and Track and Field are to lower my times to 19:30 (or less) in the 5K (XC); 2:20 (or less) in the 800M, and 5:20 (or less) in the 1600M. My coaches and I believe these goals are definitely attainable.  I have no doubt that with the right college program fit,  I will continue to improve from there to reach my running potential.