Amber Riley Biography
Submitted by Mike McMillion
Amber Riley (born January 6, 1989) was a West Virginia high school female middle-distance runner. She was born in Morgantown, but grew up in Bruceton Mills. She is the daughter of Richard and Kimberly Riley who had two children, Cody and Amber. As a youngster she participated on soccer and basketball teams.
Riley went to Preston High from 2003-2005, then her family moved to Morgantown, where she finished out high school at University High, while graduating in 2007. She started running her freshman year of high school at Preston, because her basketball coach wanted her to.
While in high school, Riley was coached by Paul Martin at Preston and Ed Frohnapfel at University. She preferred track more than cross country. This could be because of the rivalry between Amber herself and Kaylyn Christopher, former teammate at Preston High, becoming the first and second high school girls to go sub-5 in the 1600m. The final times were Christopher 4:55.85 and Riley 4:58.01. She was the 2006 West Virginia state cross country champion, and earned all-state honors all four years. She was runner-up in both the 800m and 1600m at the 2007 state meet. She finished eighth in the 2k steeplechase at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. She ran all four years at the Foot Locker South Regional at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, NC, but never qualified for nationals. Riley had personal bests of 2:15 in the 800m, 4:57 in the 1600m, 10:53 in the 3200m and 7:04 in the 2k steeple. She typically ran around 45 miles a week.
After high school, Riley attended Auburn University from 2007-2010 and then transferred back home to run for the Mountaineers. Peter Watson was her coach at Auburn and the infamous Sean Cleary was her coach at WVU.
During 2007 Cross Country, she finished as one of Auburn's top four runners in all six competitions. She was Auburn's No. 2 runner and 47th overall at the NCAA South Regional in 22:33.99 in the 6k race. She also placed 45th at the SEC Championships in 22:22.23, placed 10th overall at the UT-Chattanooga Invite (11:38) and 13th at the Bulldog Stampede (18:35.69), and finished 29th overall at the Tiger Invitational in 17:52.59.
During 2008 Indoor, she placed 17th in the mile and helped the distance medley relay team finish fifth at the SEC Championships. Her season-best time of 5:04.30 in the mile came at the ISU Classic. She was 11th in the 800m at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic.
During 2008 Outdoor, she competed at four meets. She placed third in the 1500m at the LSU Alumni Gold meet with a time of 4:40.82 and placed 20th in the steeplechase at the Penn Relays with a time of 10:56.30.
During 2008 Cross Country, she had four top-40 finishes in her sophomore campaign. She was Auburn's No. 2 runner in two meets. She placed 28th at the NCAA South Regional with a career-best 6K time of 22:02.01. She opened season with a sixth-place finish at Powerade Invitational (two miles).
During 2009 Indoor, she competed in the 3000m (ninth place), 5000m and on the distance medley relay team at the SEC Championships. She won the 3000m at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup with a time of 9:39.59 that ranks seventh in school history. She also won the 3k at the Tyson Invitational in 9:40.80.
During 2009 Outdoor, she competed at the NCAA Mideast Regional in both the 1500m (16th) and 3,000m steeplechase (20th). She qualified in the steeplechase at the Sun Angel Classic, clocking a school-record time of 10:39.83. She qualified for the 1500m at the War Eagle Invitational, finishing fourth in 4:25.73, which ranks sixth in school history. She was fifth in the steeplechase and 11th in the 1500m at the SEC Championships.
During 2009 Cross Country, she did not compete.
Through all of this success Riley had her number one supporters, her family, by her side her whole life. Also, throughout her running career she had the support and guidance of Sean Cleary and Heather Parks, who Riley said taught her so much.
While in college, she studied nutrition and dietetics.
Amber Riley is currently serving in the Army as a military police officer, stationed in Germany.
High School Running
Career:
West Virginia High
School State XC Championships:
• 2003: 5000 meters / 3rd place / 19:47.00 / 11-01-2003 (Mineral Wells, WV)
• 2004: 5000 meters / 4th place / 19:56.00 / 10-30-2004 (Mineral Wells, WV)
• 2005: 5000 meters / 3rd place / 18:46.00 / 10-29-2005 (Mineral Wells, WV)
• 2006: 5000 meters / 1st place/ 19:41.29 / 10-28-2006 (Ona, WV)
Riley was a 4 time all-state cross country runner.
Foot Locker South
Regional Cross Country Championships (McAlpine
Greenway Park in Charlotte, NC):
• 2003: 5000 meters / 21st place / 19:44 / 11-29-2003 (Freshman/Sophomore Girls Race)
• 2004: 5000 meters / 5th place / 19:07 / 11-27-2004 (Freshman/Sophomore Girls Race)
• 2005: 5000 meters / 66th place / 18:43 / 11-26-2005 (Seeded Girls Race)
• 2006: 5000 meters / 48th place/ 18:39 / 11-25-2006 (Seeded Girls Race)
West Virginia High
School State Track Championships:
• 2004: 800 meters / 11th place / 2:29.07; 1,600 meters / 4th place / 5:23.35; 3,200 meters / 3rd place / 12:00.65; 4x800 Relay / 1st place / 9:50.29 (Laidley Field/Charleston, WV)
• 2005: 1,600 meters / 6th place / 5:28.12; 4x400 Relay / 2nd place / 4:07.50 (Laidley Field/Charleston, WV)
• 2006: 1,600 meters / 2nd place / 5:04.55 (Laidley Field/Charleston, WV)
• 2007: 800 meters / 2nd place / 2:15.51; 1,600 meters / 2nd place / 4:58.01 (Laidley Field/Charleston, WV)
Riley was an 8 time all-state track runner and the second West Virginia high school female runner to go sub-5 in the 1600 meter run.