Ligonier Valley grad Olivia Miller has big goals for her final track and field seasons at Carlow

During her senior season in 2021, Olivia Miller earned the designation of “team mom” from the freshmen on the Carlow women’s track and field team.

The moniker was a playful jab at her “old age” as much as it was a nod to her experience and accomplishments. By that point, Miller held school records, had been a conference champion and qualified for NAIA nationals.

Two years, later, Miller, 24, is still a member of the Carlow track and field team, and she has moved from being team mom to team grandma.

“I do feel old,” the Ligonier Valley grad said. “I forget the age difference there. But it’s all in good fun.

“My body feels it sometimes, I won’t lie.”

There’s nothing in her performance to suggest Miller is ready for an AARP membership.

Earlier this winter, she broke her own school mark in the indoor long jump (5.41 meters), and she has set a goal of qualifying for indoor nationals in all three jumping disciplines: high, long and triple.

She holds the school marks in each, part of her eight total indoor/outdoor track and field records.

First, though, here’s how/why she is still competing at her “advanced” age: Like the NCAA, the NAIA awarded an extra year of eligibility to athletes affected by cancellations during the early stages of the covid-19 pandemic. Miller was set to take hers during the 2021-22 academic year while she finished her grad school program at Carlow.

But the program, which was to be new last year, was delayed in getting off the ground and pushed back to this year. So Miller took last season off and returned in 2022 for her final year of eligibility.

The year off was difficult. Though she was able to lift weights and do a lot of running, the techniques that are so important to jumping got a little rusty.

“I think I’m in generally the same shape I was in (a year ago),” Miller said.

“But technique wise, it’s been difficult coming back and trying to get my body to remember what I did and getting in the groove of it. But I think I’m getting back there slowly but surely.”

When she came to Carlow out of Ligonier Valley, she initially planned on running cross country, distance events in track and doing the long and triple jumps. But coach Tony Anderson had a more expansive repertoire in mind for her.

He asked her about adding the high jump and also doing the pentathlon, which consists of 100- or 60-meter hurdles (depending on indoor or outdoor), 800 meters, high jump, long jump and shot put. Anderson thought Miller had the necessary athleticism to pull it off.

“When I originally came to Carlow, she was running cross country, and I looked at her and I told her that I felt that she could be much more of an athlete than a distance runner,” Anderson said.

“A lot of athletes wouldn’t want to just leave something they’re doing and take on something brand new. But she was willing to trust in what I was telling her, and it panned out.”

Added Miller: “I was a bit hesitant because it was a lot of events I hadn’t done before, but it, obviously, all worked out, and I had a lot of fun learning it.”

Miller said the most difficult event for her to pick up was the high jump. Eventually, she grew to enjoy it and started competing in it apart from the pentathlon. In fact, she said it is probably her favorite event because of how much work it took to master.

Her school indoor record for the high jump is 1.66 meters, which also won her the River States Conference title in 2021. She became an indoor All-American in the event in 2021 with a 1.61 effort at nationals. She also earned All-American honors in the outdoor high jump in 2021 (1.67).

Oh, and that pentathlon? She placed sixth at nationals in 2021, earning All-American status.

“I don’t know if anything will replace the feeling I had when I placed in the pentathlon at nationals,” she said. “That was my first time getting All-American, and I came in bottom of the barrel. I came in seeded (last) and ended up placing sixth. … I think that might be the highlight of my career.”

At least for now. As difficult as it might be to replicate the sense of accomplishment she felt at her pentathlon success, her greatest highlights could be ahead.

She already has achieved the national qualifying mark in the indoor triple jump.

Despite her recent school-record performance in the long jump, she has not yet reached the qualifying standard, though she said she is “pretty close.”

She also hasn’t yet reached the mark in the high jump but said it’s just a matter of knocking the last bit of rust off her technique.

And there is still outdoor season to think about before the “team grandma” heads for her rocking chair, though she did say coaching track and field likely will be in her future.

Oddly enough, while many athletes tend not to reflect on their accomplishments until after they are finished competing, Miller said her career has been on her mind lately.

There are a lot of records and awards to consider, and Miller said she relishes each one.

“I’m very proud of all my accomplishments and everything and how hard I’ve worked,” she said. “Honestly, I have to give a lot of it to coach Tony. I put in the work, but he is the one who coached me on how to do everything.

“Without him, I would not have the accolades and accomplishments I have right now.”