Previous

||

This Issue

||

Next

AROUND THE QUADS

Stephanie Miller ’07 Aims for Athens

By Jonathan Lemire ’01

Stephanie Miller ’07 takes aim at the 2004 . Olympic Games

First-years arriving at Columbia inevitably share several experiences during their first day on the Heights: saying goodbye to tearful parents, introducing themselves to excited new floormates, sorting through cardboard boxes and answering the question, “How did you spend your summer?”

Their responses vary wildly, of course: Some worked at grocery stores, some volunteered at soup kitchens, some traveled and some devoted a lot of time to bonding with their PlayStation 2. Stephanie Miller ’07 spent it preparing her attempt to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Miller, of Naperville, Ill., competed in four prestigious senior archery tournaments, the first steps in a process — which includes shooting for the Lions this year — that she hopes will lead her on a path to Athens for next year’s Olympic Games.

“This is my first year competing on the adult archery circuit, and it was a valuable learning experience,” says Miller, 18, who has been shooting since she was 7. “It gave me great insight into what I need to work on to get my game to where I want it to be.”

After years of success in the national junior division, Miller’s summer of adult competition began in May at the International Archery Federation’s World and Pan American Team Trials at the U.S. Olympic training facility in Chula Vista, Calif. There, in her first professional-level competition, she finished fifth, earning a spot on the United States’ women’s world team.

In June, Miller traveled to Turkey for the European Grand Prix Tournament, and her solid performance there (she finished 39th) earned her a berth at the World Championships, which this year were held in her new backyard: Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Miller struggled at the Worlds, however, finishing 90th overall in the women’s recurve bow — the only bow allowed in Olympic competition, as it is more difficult to control — and failing to make the 64-person final bracket, which was predominantly populated by archers who have been shooting for decades. “I was disappointed,” says Miller. “I had hoped to do better, and I vowed to do better next time.”

She bounced back impressively, capturing the bronze medal in August at the Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic. That catapulted her to fourth in the rankings of the nation’s female recurve archers.

“It’s my greatest accomplishment thus far,” notes Miller, who chose Columbia over Texas A&M because of its academics and urban setting. “I hope it gives me momentum going into the year’s competitions.”

Up next for Miller is a combination of the challenges that face any first-year at Columbia — Literature Humanities (“I’m grappling with Herodotus now”), the meal plan (“so far, so good”) and adjusting to life in New York City (“it’s so exciting”) — as well as those unique to an Olympic-caliber athlete. Though Columbia’s archery team couldn’t hold official practices under coach Larry Brown until October 15, Miller spent much of her first two months on campus shooting multiple days a week for several hours at a time at Barnard’s LeFrak Gym with some of her new collegiate teammates. The squad’s first match is on November 9.

“Archery is such an individual sport. It’s an exciting change to be a part of a team that spends so much time together,” Miller says from her dorm room in Hartley Hall. “I can’t wait to compete here.”

When the Lions’ season ends in the spring, however, Miller’s schedule will only intensify. In June, she’ll compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Chula Vista, where she will aim to win one of three female spots on the team that will be heading to Greece.

“I know that I’ll have other chances at the Olympics even if I don’t make it in 2004,” she says, “but that’s not what I’m telling myself now. I’m focusing on making it.”

Jonathan Lemire ’01, a frequent contributor to Columbia College Today, is a staff writer for the New York Daily News.

Previous

||

This Issue

||

Next