UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Jill Millis accomplished the dream of every kid—to hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the final inning. But her home run didn't just win a game. It won a national championship.
Not only did her home run in the bottom of the ninth inning give the Blugolds the 2008 NCAA Division III championship, it came against conference rival UW-Whitewater which had won the WIAC's regular-season softball title earlier in the season. The blast capped an unbeaten run through the NCAA tournament that year in which the Blugolds disposed of top regional seed St. Thomas, WIAC tournament champion UW-Oshkosh twice and No. 1 national seed Louisiana College while going 8-0. The Blugolds were down 3-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before rallying to force extra innings against Whitewater. Millis' long ball gave Whitewater its second loss in the double elimination tournament and sent the Blugolds home with the gold trophy!
Millis was a four-year All-Conference player for coach Leslie Huntington. She set not only a Blugold record but the NCAA record for career putouts with 1,519. She had a career. 991 fielding percentage at first base.
While Millis did not make an All-American team despite having All-American credentials, she was a three-time NFCA All-Region first-team pick and a second-team pick once. She was also the WIAC Scholar-Athlete for softball in 2008 and a Blugold Super Six recipient that year.
Millis made both the Regional and National All-Tournament teams in 2008. She was a career .370 hitter with a .564 slugging percentage and .443 on base percentage. She hit 23 career home runs with 141 RBI, both of which rank third in the Blugold record book. She ranks among the top 20 in at least 21 school or conference single season or career records.
During her career, the Blugolds posted a 47-13 conference record, a 14-5 conference tournament record, an 18-4 NCAA record and a 144-42 overall mark. They won two regular season and two conference tournament titles and finished as the regional runner-up in 2006 and third at nationals in 2007 in addition to the national championship in 2008.
Millis was one of two Blugolds selected to the Midwest All-Stars who played a pre-Olympic exhibition game against the U.S. National Team in 2008.
Millis graduated magna cum laude from UWEC in 2009 with a degree in public relations and history. She got her master's degree in Sport Management & Media from Ithaca College while serving as a graduate assistant for Hall of Fame coach Deb Pallozzi.
Millis has spent her entire career in some aspect of intercollegiate athletics. Besides her experience at Ithaca, she served the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as an intern and was head softball coach at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. She held numerous positions for three years at UW-Stevens Point including head softball coach, compliance officer, game management and sports information. She returned to her alma mater in 2014, spending eight years as Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations and Sports Information. In 2022, she began her role as Communications & Development Coordinator in the UW-Eau Claire Foundation where she was the lead organizer of Blugolds Athletics Week of Giving which raised over $250,000 for the athletic department in 2024.
At the time of her induction, Millis and her husband Nick, who is employed by Tarkett, were parents of three children: Evander (12), Sterling (10) and Arya (3). Millis also served as President of the Eau Claire Youth Hockey Board of Directors and coached Little League and travel baseball.
