Female Athletes of the Week: Sara Miller & Addi Salus (Winter Wildcards)

Sponsored by Lebanon Federal Credit Union & WiLBuR / Froggy Valley 100.1

If you like this type of coverage, please let us know by Following us on social media: Twitter/X – @lebcosports1 and Facebook.

For any questions, comments, or discrepancies, please reach out to dan@lebcosports.com.

Sara Miller

During the Week of February 5th, Sara Miller was nominated for Athlete of the Week, an honor she received after serving as ELCO Basketball’s floor general throughout the season. In the final game of the season, Miller scored 6 points as ELCO defeated Donegal. However, it’s important to note that Miller’s value transcends the points she scores. Her true strength lies in her selflessness and leadership, always putting her teammates in a position to score their points. The main stat line provided in the nomination highlighted her season averages of 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while turning the ball over less than once per game. While the nomination did not highlight all of her achievements, the LebCoSports.com voters understood her contributions to her team and selected her in the Winter Wildcard.

When asked about her season, Miller lamented on the fact that they narrowly missed Districts, but pointed to the effort of her teammates and the camaraderie they had as a group. When asked about a highlight, she quickly recalled a moment against Donegal when she and Reece Woelfling assisted each other’s baskets on back-to-back plays. Again, neither example given was fully about her own accomplishments.

Coach Karl Keath summed up Miller’s role as the ultimate team player by saying, “The great thing about Sara was she always locked in on defense and rebounding. It was not about how many points she scored and how much she was capable of scoring, but the end result of winning or losing.”

After the season ended, the Lancaster Lebanon League Section 3 coaches selected Miller as a 2nd Team All-Star and also named her to the All-Defense Team.

Miller and Makenna Seifert were the only two seniors to play for the ten-win Raiders this season. Miller’s consistent effort and leadership will have a profound impact on her younger teammates for years to come. This is not something that is quantifiable in any way other than anecdotes, but time will tell how often her teammates reference her effort when they lace up without her on the court beside them.

Seifert & Miller on Senior Night

In terms of not being able to always attach key stats to the intangibles that affect a team, Miller specifically wanted to thank not only her fellow starters and her coaches but also freshman teammate Haydn Boyer for always working to raise the spirits of her fellow players.

When it comes down to it, Miller is an ultimate competitor. In the Fall, she was one of the very few female position players anywhere that you will find on the Football field, serving as a leading wide receiver for the Raider team that went to the second round of Districts. For her efforts, she was selected as a 2nd Team All-Star in Section 3. Her toughness and tenacity are also on display during the Spring, as she is a member of the ELCO Track &Field team.

She is not the only member of the Miller family to be involved in athletics. Her older sister, Emily, is a sophomore at Lebanon Valley, where she is a member of the Soccer and Track & Field teams. It is also well known that her father, Bob, serves as the head coach of ELCO Football and also the Track & Field team. He is also an assistant for the Girls’ Basketball team, getting to watch in awe of his daughter’s successes and sportsmanship throughout her high school years. However, their understanding of their roles at home and at practice is necessary for making it work. Something that does not work as well in the relationship with her father is her love of the Oregon Ducks, as he is a diehard fan of the Florida State Seminoles.

When it comes to college, Miller plans to continue her athletic career. However, she is still making a decision as to where she will end up and which sport she will be playing. She does know that she would like to major in education and would then like to work in law enforcement at some point.

While Miller is already through two seasons of her senior year, you can now look for her to have an impact on the track as she helps the Raiders chase after their 6th straight Section 3 Championship. We wish Sara the best of luck in helping that effort, along with all of her future endeavors!

Addi Salus

When the Winter Wildcard nominations were announced, the name of Palmyra Basketball’s rising star, Addi Salus, was a standout from the week of January 2nd. In a remarkable display of skill, the sophomore led the Lady Cougars to a 2-0 victory, including a stunning 19-point performance against Lower Dauphin. As the driving force behind Palmyra’s offense, she propelled them to a State trip, a remarkable feat just a year after a modest five-game win. Recognizing her exceptional contributions, the LebCoSports.com voters selected her as one of the Winter Wildcards.

For the season, Salus led Palmyra with 12.6 points per game, knocking down 23 three-pointers along the way. For the defensive-minded Cougars, the point totals only tell part of the story as to what Salus brings to the floor. Coach John Polly elaborated on Salus’s contributions, saying, “Addi’s versatility both offensively and defensively was a major asset. She was able to play post players as well as guards on the defensive end, and offensively, she could score at all three levels.”

Other coaches also took note, and on Sunday, it was revealed that Salus was named as a 1st Team Keystone Division All-Star, along with teammate Keely Bowers. Mya Doster was honored as a 2nd Team selection.

When asked to describe herself, Salus used the words “very stubborn .” This was on display during at least two points this basketball season. The first example comes from a game against Milton Hershey on January 23rd, as Palmyra trailed by 9 entering the 4th quarter. Refusing to back down, Salus scored 10 points and had 2 steals in the final quarter as Palmyra earned the 6-point victory. The second example came in the State Playoff game against Armstrong when an elbow to the face in the 2nd quarter caused Salus’s teeth to go through her lip. Bloodied and swollen, Salus refused to quit and reentered the game in the 3rd quarter.

Salus is very thankful that her family is always there to support her. She also sees it as motivation, as her mother scored 964 points in high school. She would like to score 1,000.

While Salus still has two more seasons left, she has already decided that she’d like to play college basketball. She also knows that she has a passion for mathematics and sees that as a possible career path.

If this season was any indication, the next two years will be exciting and Salus will not take “no” for an answer. We wish Addi the best of luck in find the equation that works in reaching her full potential while the rest of us sit back and enjoy seeing what it yields.

LebCo Male Athlete of the Week: Kyle Miller

For a full list of this week’s nominees, check out: Athlete of the Week Voting: Winter Wildcard

Previous Winners

Kenzie Eckhart (Week of 12/4) 

Laci Lesher (Week of 12/4) 

Morgan Kline (Week of 12/11) 

Mya Doster (Week of 12/11) 

Kailah Correa (Holiday Weeks) 

Kylee Trostle (Holiday Weeks)

Olive Brandt (Week of 1/8) 

Kasey Weimer (Week of 1/8) 

Qynne Demler (Week of 1/15)

Morgan Lantz (Week of 1/22)

Maddie Stout (Week of 1/22)

Kendall Cooper (Week of 1/29)

Miracle Hershey (Week of 1/29)

Riley Hatzfeld (Week of 2/5)

Makenna Haas (Week of 2/12)

Kaddel Howard (Week of 2/19)

Hayley Sheroky (Week of 2/19)

Staisy Martinez Severino (Week of 2/26)