Gateway grad Olivia Miller building impressive resume with Pitt gymnastics

Olivia Miller takes nothing for granted as she trains and competes for the Pitt women’s gymnastics team.

The Gateway graduate remembers how quickly a season can be taken away as the Panthers’ 2020 campaign ended prematurely when the coronavirus pandemic started to take hold last March.

The 2021 season has been one of accomplishment for Miller as she builds her collegiate resume.

“All throughout preseason, there was that uncertainty of what the season would look like,” said Miller, a junior.

“We were training with the hope of being able to compete and hoping we could start on time. It was hard, but we were really able to rally as a team, motivate each other, take it one day at a time and do our best. Being able to have this season is a blessing and an honor in itself.”

At a recent East Atlantic Gymnastics League quad meet against North Carolina, Towson and N.C. State, Miller reached the podium on vault with a season-best and team-leading score of 9.800. She tied for third place overall.

“Vault is one of those things where it’s my event and I know I can do it,” she said. “Having that confidence to build from competition to competition is really helpful. It felt great. I was happy to do a great vault for the team.”

She also tied her season-best score of 9.850 on floor exercise to lead the Panthers competitors.

“I have a lot of competition experience under my belt, and I was fortunate enough to pick up where I left off last year. This year, I am back on bars, which feels amazing. I didn’t do last year because of a shoulder surgery I had. That is my favorite event. It feels so good to know that I worked hard for a comeback like that and am able to get back in the lineup.”

Miller hoped for more good things Sunday as Pitt returned to Fitzgerald Fieldhouse for a dual meet against Temple. The meet was to be contested past the deadline for this week’s edition.

“One thing that sticks out for Olivia is that she loves this sport,” Pitt gymnastics coach Samantha Snider said.

“Her passion for gymnastics always shines through every day in the gym. She’s one of the hardest workers we have on this team. That passion really resonates with her teammates, and she leads by example that way. This year, also, she has worked on stepping into more of a vocal leader role as it is important to have those experienced competitors voicing their opinions and helping lead the team through this season. You can see how that leadership role has translated to the competition floor.”

Miller enjoyed a successful sophomore season in 2020 with the Panthers that saw her earn All-EAGL second-team honors for the floor exercise.

She had Pitt’s best score of the season on floor — a career-best 9.900 — in a tri-meet hosted by West Virginia on March 1.

The recognition follows her first-team selection for the all-around as a freshman in 2019.

“It’s always a good feeling to have that kind of recognition at the end of a season for all the hard work you’ve put into your training and performances,” said Miller, who also is a two-time EGAL All-Academic Team honoree with a major in pathokinesiology.

Miller also finished the 2020 campaign with scores of 9.810 on floor and 9.735 on vault.

She said the season was going well for her and her team overall and it was disappointing to see it end as suddenly as it did.

“For the most part, we were ending on such a high note, but it was frustrating because we felt we had so much more good things to accomplish,” Miller said.

“We all came together and were able to put out the gymnastics we knew we were capable of doing. Fortunately, many of us being underclassmen, we knew we had at least another year and had the opportunity to compete again. That was our fuel for doing things over quarantine, building for this season and coming back stronger than ever.”

Miller was away from a gymnastics facility for more than three months, an agonizing time for an athlete who dedicates the amount of time she does mastering her skills.

“It was horrible because I don’t know if I have spent more than a week outside the gym,” said Miller, a longtime member of Gymkhana Gymnastics in Plum.

“I worked really hard being able to do quarantine workouts and other things at my house in order to stay fit, strong and flexible. When the time was right, I was able to get back in the gym and build myself back up. I was fortunate enough to train at my club gym for a couple of weeks before being told to come back to campus in mid July. That felt really good.”