SARAH GOLNIK/Assistant Sports Editor Senior Coby Miller practices for the SEC Track Championships. Miller is the favorite in the dash events.

He wasn't breaking his own records. He wasn't earning All-American honors.

He was being candid.

"I was fired up," Miller said, referring to the SEC Championships held in Baton Rouge, La., May 11-14.

"I'm ready to go in there like an animal and win this thing," Miller said

The Tiger All-American sprinter won the 100-meter dash in 10.10 and placed second in the 200-meter dash in 20.09 at the SEC Championships last year. He is favored to win these dashes this weekend.

"Those races are coming together and I feel confident about both," Miller said.

Enhancing Miller's chances is his fierce SEC rival, former Florida sprinter John Capal, who left school to concentrate on the 2000 Olympics in Sidney, Australia.

"Anytime me and John (Capal) were on the track, you could always expect something interesting to happen," Miller said. "Even though we raced this year and I beat him.

"My main thing is staying focused, going there to compete and win for Auburn."

Coach Ralph Spry agrees.

"With Capal being gone, I don't think it changes Coby's focus. There's a lot of great sprinters in the SEC and at the national level."

Miller hasn't lost sight of the national scene. "NCAAs for me this year are another walk in the park," Miller said.

NCAAs, a walk in the park?

"It's all about who's going to be on top of their game that day and you can count me in that number," Miller said. Miller added that he's been thinking about Sidney, too. "I look forward to the (Olympics), but right now I am putting that as my next option down the road."

With so many races ‹ in so little time ‹ it's a wonder the 1999 five-time, All-American and NCAA and SEC champion has time to reminisce.

But the senior reflected on his glory days on the Plains.

Miller said his most memorable race was, "Running (a wind-aided) 9.88 (at the April 1, 2000 SEC Quad meet) and realizing the wind wasn't that strong. That was one of my finest moments at Auburn."

But, everyone has their favorites.

"The biggest highlight with Coby came last year when he ran his 10.03," Spry said, referring to the April 10, 1999, San Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

"That was a break-through race. He had run good up to that point, but that race put him on the map," Spry said.

Another of Miller's famous gallops came against Michael Johnson, the world record holder in the 200-meter dash. Miller's 20.13 earned him second place behind Johnson's 20.11 in Europe last summer.

"Anytime you're in a rock-throwing distance of that guy (Michael Johnson), you're doing something right," Spry said.

So, what does Miller mean to the Auburn track and field program?

"You couldn't put a price tag on something like Coby Miller," Spry said. "Not what he brings athletically. But just the fact that he's a hard worker, he's a role model and he's a leader. Those are the guys that you dream about.

Miller first learned of his talent for sprinting in eighth grade, running on his high school 4x100-meter relay team on his old stomping grounds of Louisville, Miss. He also lettered in high school football.

So, how fast is Miller in football terms?

"My fastest forty time was a 4.18 (in the 40-yard dash) in high school," Miller said.

After college, Miller plans to run for Nike or Adidas until he gets his degree in criminal justice, but for now, the SEC Championships loom on the horizon.

Arkansas is the early favorite.

"This week is going to be a war," Spry says. "On paper, we're not the favorite. But the competition isn't held on paper."

It's held on stomping ground and that's where Miller feels at home.