#MizzouMadeMonday: Neville Miller
2/19/2019 8:55:00 AM | General
Former track All-American is now a TV meteorologist in Kansas City
While a passion for forecasting the weather came naturally to TV meteorologist and Mizzou alum Neville Miller, running track and field was something that required a little bit more perseverance and dedication.
"I wasn't exactly the most highly touted athlete coming out of high school, so I really didn't even think I would have an opportunity to do sports in college," Miller said.
Although Miller couldn't earn a track scholarship to Missouri based on his high school production, the team noticed he had some natural talent and offered him a spot as a walk-on. He took that opportunity and ran with it, breaking Mizzou records in the process of earning All-America honors and competing in the qualifying round of the 800-meter run for the Olympics in Eugene, Ore in 2008.
"It was exciting on one hand because you're like, 'Man, this is an opportunity to go to the Olympics and represent the country,' and on one hand you're like, 'Well, if I don't make it, [I] don't know what's next,'" Miller said.
He ran the race in 1:48.52 seconds finishing ahead of 12 qualifiers, but was not one of the top finishers to qualify. Miller called it an opportunity he'll never forget, racing with some of the top athletes in the country.
"It was like a slow-motion race, but it was like the blink of an eye and the race was ending."
Miller's passion for the weather started at a young age, when he was about five or six years old.
"Just growing up in St. Louis, man, we had so many different types of weather. Heat, extreme cold, winter storms, severe weather, so I've always had a fascination in that," he said.
He grew up watching the Weather Channel for fun and dreamed of becoming a weather man on television. Mizzou offered an Atmospheric Science program and had several TV stations for Miller to work, one of the reasons he chose to come to school in Columbia over other locations. He interned at both KOMU, an NBC-affiliate and KMIZ, an ABC-affiliate and eventually worked for KMIZ. Miller began working on his time management skills, which he said was how he learned to handle his large workload.
"It was tough sometimes, you know, the classwork isn't easy and you're trying to keep up grades there, keep ahead with classwork and tests and projects and things like that. Being disciplined in [time management] was big in helping me stay focused in balancing schoolwork, track and field and going in and doing internship work at the TV station."
In his time on campus Miller worked his way from undersized walk-on to a record-breaker for the Tigers. He was part of a 2005 group that broke the Mizzou record for the indoor distance medley relay with a time of 9:35.25 seconds, a feat that Miller didn't think was possible when he first got to school.
"I just never thought I would be a part of something where we get to have our names up on the school record, or we get to be All-Americans. I just never thought that would happen," Miller said. "And it was great being around other people that I shouldn't have even had the opportunity to be on the team with because I wasn't even good enough, and they gave me that chance and helped me develop so that I could contribute and be a part of that."
Miller now works in Kansas City as a meteorologist for KMBC, an ABC-affiliate, where he feels right at home.
"I really like Kansas City. It's just such a fun town. It's got that big-city, small-town feel all at the same time," Miller said. He also mentioned how much he enjoys his coworkers and the respect he has for them. "I love coming into a place where they're professional, they work hard, they're good at their jobs and they give me an opportunity to get better at what I'm doing."
Kansas City is known for hospitality and embracing the concept of community. People are generally friendly, believe that manners are important and they of course love their sports teams. That's another reason why Miller is enjoying where he's at.
"I think I just love the community because sometimes I get to be out doing live weather at [Kansas City] Royals games or talking about the [Kansas City] Chiefs or Sporting KC or just even an event going on, there just is a lot that's going on here," Miller said. "I don't feel like this is a boring area, this is somewhere where my job is fun and there's fun things going on. It just makes my job more enjoyable, interacting with people and the things going on in the community."
Although he loves his job, and couldn't imagine doing anything else, there are still some challenges that Miller and other meteorologists face in today's world of technology. In an era where anybody can check the weather app on their phone, it can be hard to get people to sit down in front of the TV and watch the news. Despite the challenge, Miller takes pride in finding ways to get people to tune in and watch his weather coverage.
"We're in the age of information, so people have so many ways to get weather information. It's always a challenge of, 'Okay, how can I present information in a way that is valuable to the viewer and informative,'" Miller said.
Having grown up in St. Louis and attended school in Columbia, Miller is no stranger to unpredictable weather. Now living in Kansas City, that trend continues and he enjoys the opportunity to prepare his viewers for when the weather takes a dangerous turn.
"Kansas City is an area where we do get severe weather, we get winter weather, we get all sorts of stuff here, so just making sure that I'm getting better and doing the best job I can, make sure that I'm presenting a clear message so that people know what's going on because our weather can be dangerous sometimes," Miller said.
Living in Kansas City gives Miller the benefit of being close to his alma mater, just two hours down the road on I-70. He credits Mizzou as providing him with a platform to be successful, and gives back to the university through the Tiger Scholarship Fund, which secures donations to fund the scholarships of Mizzou student-athletes.
"I think it's important to support Mizzou in any way that we can and help get more students the opportunity to go to Mizzou and see what they may bring to them later in life," Miller said.
As Miller would tell you, it has done wonders for him. At Mizzou, he was able to mature into a record-breaking, All-American athlete, all while gaining real world experience to prepare him for the job he's been dreaming about since he was a kid.
