Sprinting across the finish line, Grant Miner (12) congratulates and high fives his cross-country teammates. Giving advice and encouragement along with his coach, Grant stands in a jokingly “father-figure” like position, encouraging the rest of the team with his limitless support.

With their new coach, Mia Purnell, settling into the position, Grant opted to handle some of the smaller tasks such as warm-ups or helping coach freshmen. Though the coach ultimately chose Grant as a captain, he himself made the choice to take that leap into action.

“It was the beginning of the year, and with a new coach, I took it upon myself to take a leadership role and fill in where there was a void because our coach was still getting used to coaching at Harker,” Grant said.

By taking it upon himself to aid a new coach along with his ability to connect the team, Grant was recognized for his efforts by being named captain. While Grant strives for personal achievements and fast run times, he also appreciates the sense of togetherness that a team brings.

“What makes [doing cross-country] worthwhile is when everyone is fresh across the finish line, and we’re all the pure essence of a team; we’re giving each other high fives and supporting each other even though we’re all about to collapse,” Grant said. “Finishing a race … and being able to get over that finish line [feels great], but the rewarding experience is community and team that you get there with.”

Due to Grant’s desire to help and personally care for them, some team members jokingly refer to him as the “team dad.”

“I let them say that about me, I don’t mind the connotations that it brings because it has some sense that I care for everyone and that I like to help others and give advice,” Grant said. “I like it because I’m glad that people find those qualities in me.”

Having run with him in cross-country, one of Grant’s friends, Mihir Sharma (12), describes the way that Grant prefers to lead as a captain.

“The reason that he’s captain is that he’s one of the hardest workers on the team, he’s the one who gives it his all during warm-ups and practices,” Mihir said. “Just by working so hard, he inspires everyone else to also do so and by doing that he leads by example.”

While many may know Grant’s athletic side, he also has an interest in theater and performed in Student Directed Showcase (SDS) in his junior and senior years.

“He’s not afraid to take a risk, to try new things,” Grant’s twin sister Anna Miner (12) said. “He has this charisma that makes him really compelling to watch. He’s not afraid to go out there and audition, which is cool because it’s not like a musical audition, which he is used to.”

In this year’s SDS show, Grant was cast in a larger role compared to his previous year doing SDS where he was a comedy relief character, Dean. Though he was happy with the role of Dean, he was glad that he was able to land the harder one.

“It’s going to stretch my abilities because this character has more stage time [and] depth, and it’s a more complicated part to act,” Grant said.

Because the cross country season overlaps with the fall play, Grant chose to perform in SDS which has a different atmosphere.

“I think there is a difference in how close you’re able to get with the director and [SDS] is a [physically] larger show with more people, whether or not those people are on stage with you because there are three other shows,” Grant said. “That lends itself to a really cool community.”

Just like cross-country, the acting community is part of what makes Grant love and enjoy SDS. Especially at Harker, supportive communities make everyone feel welcome into their programs.

“The [acting community] is really tight-knit, it has such a different outlook. They’re so much more outgoing and expressive, [and] the energy is very inspiring and motivational,” Grant said.

Moreover, Grant’s ability to understand directions and implement them into his performance adds to his many strengths on stage.

“The directors will have a certain vision or they’ll make a request or a potential idea for delivery and Grant can not only hear it but he can also put his own interpretation on it,” Laura Lang-Ree, Director of Performing Arts, said.

Acting allows for students like Grant to display their talents and the effort they put into practicing and performing these characters and shows.

“You get to turn yourself into someone else, you get to experience a different perspective through your character and it changes the way you’re thinking,” Grant said. “It does offer some relief from the outside world and it’s really great to get out there and put something on that you’ve been working on and show it to the world.”