Payton Miller of Prairie is a standout student and softball player who is graduating from Prairie High School, and she will use the money from the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund to help in her academic career at Clark College

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

Payton Miller’s athletic director at Prairie High School made her aware of the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund.

Then Miller herself did some research on the fund and the people who organize the scholarship.

“Their goal is to keep Coach Rego’s memory alive,” Miller said. “He made an incredible impact on young high school athletes in our community. It sounds like he was such a great guy.”

Miller is one of dozens of students who were Rego Scholarship recipients this school year. The scholarship is named in honor of Mark Rego, a passionate coach who dedicated his life to the youth of Clark County.

Rego was an assistant football coach and track and field coach at Evergreen and Union, where he was part of state championship football teams. He also volunteered his time to help any athlete, at any school, improve their skills. Rego passed away after a battle with cancer during the 2018 football season.

Soon after, family and friends started the scholarship. To date, the organization has awarded 233 scholarships.

Miller was a standout softball player for the Prairie Falcons and is a school leader.

“I’m a pretty dedicated student-athlete,” she said, noting she has taken high-level courses and is also a Running Start student at Clark College. She also was a team captain in softball.

“I just try to embody the leadership role that Rego inspired kids to be. I love to be really involved in our athletic body,” Miller said.

Next for Miller is becoming a college student at Clark, with the plan to work the bachelor’s program in dental hygiene. She also might play softball for the Penguins.

“Sports has been basically the biggest part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Miller said. “Junior year, I took a strong academic focus, too.”

(This interview took place before Miller was sure about her sports future. In May, though, Clark College announced on social media that Miller had, indeed, agreed to play for the Penguins. A first-team, all-leaguer from the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League, Miller told Clark College: “I chose Clark because it gave me the opportunity to stay close to my family and pursue my academic goals while also having the entire coaching staff welcome me and make it feel like the right choice.”)

Miller learned about the Rego Scholarship from the athletic director. Everett Klodt, now at Prairie, used to work at Union. Klodt told Miller that she represented the qualities the organization was looking for in seniors preparing for college. The scholarship is open to student-athletes from Evergreen and Battle Ground Public Schools.

While the future is bright, Miller is also fond of her recent past, representing the Falcons.

“It’s been everything. I have just loved my four years at Prairie,” Miller said. “We have had an amazing athletic department. They really support all sports equally. I have had a great academic time at Prairie. We have such a strong school spirit culture. It’s a tight-knit community to go to Prairie.”