Winter sports: Former Ute ski coach Pat Miller dies

Pat Miller, who led the University of Utah to nine NCAA skiing championships, died Saturday in Casper, Wyo., at age 64, following a recent illness.

A Salt Lake City resident, Miller died while visiting his brother, Jim. The two were inducted together into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Fort Lewis College in Colorado, where they were All-America skiers.

Pat Miller joined the Ute staff in 1974 as an assistant coach. He became the men's head coach in 1976 and added the responsibilities for the women's team two years later. Miller won a national title with the men's team in 1981 and collected eight more championships after the men's and women's competitions were combined. In a six-year stretch in the 1980s, the Utes won five titles and finished second the other year.

During his Utah tenure, which ended in 1999, Miller coached 46 individual NCAA champions, 251 All-Americans and 10 U.S. Olympians.

Miller was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation in 2009. He's also a member of the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame and the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in his home state.

A memorial service for Miller is expected to be held in Salt Lake City in early July.