CLARION — Nothing beats being at the right place at the right time.

Just ask Bill Miller.

The 1959 Butler High product graduated from Slippery Rock State College in 1964. He had been a swimmer since his high school days under Tornado coach John Mixer and was hoping to stay involved with the sport.

“I was hoping to coach, but at that time, my first concern was finding a (teaching) job,” said Miller, who was hired by the newly-formed Southwest Butler County School District (now Seneca Valley) to teach social studies at the junior high.

“I was very fortunate to get a job at a school that had a pool,” he added. “At the time, it was the only indoor pool in that part of the county.”

By the 1966-67 school year, SV had a varsity boys swimming team, which Miller would coach for the next 10 years, culminating with a WPIAL team title in 1976.

It was the first WPIAL team title in school history.

“Up until that point, the WPIAL title went to schools like Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park,” said Miller. “Then Seneca Valley comes along to win it.

“People at Seneca Valley were proud of it, we were a small school back then,” he added.

Miller is one of seven people included in the SV Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2011, which will be honored at a ceremony Sept. 24 at the high school.

Before the boys swimming team could reach for WPIAL gold, Miller needed to spark interest among the student body.

“My second year (at SV), swimming became an intramural sport,” he said. “Then, after the program really got going, we would bring in elementary kids for six weeks in the winter. We'd teach them the different strokes just to get them interested. It turned out to be a great feeder program.”

After a three-year stint as swimming coach at Norwin High School (1976-79), Miller took over as the men's coach at Clarion State College, a dream job as far as he was concerned.

“Clarion had a very nice facility and they were able to bring in great swimmers on scholarship,” said Miller. “There was a good academic support system in place. I really felt that I could maintain success at Clarion.”

What Miller maintained over the next 22 years was a standard of excellence.

Between his 22 seasons as men's coach and 12 seasons as women's coach, Miller compiled an overall record of 244-58, won 28 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference team titles and managed 23 top-five finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships.

His 1992 men's team finished second in the nation.

Through it all, Miller remained humble.

“I've always said that coaches win for more reasons than just their own abilities,” he said. “At Clarion, we had kids with great skill, but they were also highly motivated.

“The greatest thing about swimming is, no matter where you place, you can improve your time.”

Bill and Judy Miller own a bed and breakfast in Clarion, but the former still finds time to give back to the sport that has given him so much.

Mark VanDyke, one of Miller's former swimmers at both Seneca Valley and Clarion, is now head coach of both swimming teams at Clarion.

“When he needs my help at one of his summer camps, I'll come in and give lectures on stroke technique,” said Miller. “I never saw myself swim, but every one of my swimmers at Clarion had a videotape of themselves, so they could see their technique. The sport has changed a lot over the years.”

Miller was previously inducted into the following halls of fame: Butler County (1988), Slippery Rock University (2005) and Clarion University (2006).

For more details regarding Seneca Valley's 2011 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, call 724-452-6040.