Feb. 24, 2011
By: Kaela Sullivan, Media Relations Student Assistant
A Senior at UC Davis from Huntington Beach, Calif., Marcy Miller has been having an unbelievable year on a personal level. By achieving personal bests, becoming an impeccable all-around competitor in the gym, and already winning her fourth Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week Award in five weeks, Miller is holding her own. UCDavisAggies.com's Kaela Sullivan got a chance to sit down and chat with Miller about her season so far and her goals for the rest of the year. Graduating in less than 5 months, Miller shares that this season is her personal best, and hopes to help lead UC Davis to win the MPSF Championships, and potentially all the way to regionals for the first time ever in school history.
So, first off, what were your goals for this season and what have you accomplished or want to accomplish this season? On a personal level.
Personally, it's my senior year and really I wanted it to be one of my best seasons ever. I stayed over summer and trained really hard so that could happen. My goal was to compete all-around, which is what I have been doing, and basically do what I have been doing in the gym at competition and it has been going really well for me. This is the best season of my life and I have no complaints. My hard work is finally paying off. So, finally my goals I would have to say are to compete all-around and be a team leader and stay on all the events and just do my best.
What are your goals for the team this season?
Our goal is always to win our MPSF championship, which we have done two years since I have been here. And we always want to be ranked number one in the conference, which we are! Our goal this year is that we want to make it to regionals, which we have never done before as a team in Davis history while being in Division I, so that's one of the biggest goals we are working toward this year.
Which event would you most like to improve on?
Well, there are always improvements to be made. For me, there's always something to improve on floor and beam. I'm pretty confident in the gym when I practice, so now I want to make that transition into competitions. I want to be just as comfortable there as I am in the gym. Floor leaps have always been kind of my weakness, so now I want to get those stronger
How are the team dynamics this season from your point of view?
We're really strong as a team this year. It's different every year because girls go in and out. This year we have done a really good job with bonding, we're a really close knit group of friends, and I think that really helped. We're still working on being really loud in the gym. We say that you should lose your voice at the meets because you should be yelling so much because it's such a team sport and we want to be supportive. We have been continuously working on that and it's been helping. We have also been doing a lot of team activities in the gym with routines and other events, so that has been really helping a ton and helping us trust each other. We don't have to be individually perfect, because we are a team, and when somebody does make a mistake, we're there for each other. We did a good job about that last week when somebody fell on beam. The rest of the team got back up together and continued.
What are some rituals you ladies perform either in practice or before meets?
It different for every person. But as a team, 95% of the time we're on the road. We go get sandwiches, so I don't know if that has to do with some of my teammates' rituals? I have this thing I do on beam to help me prepare mentally and physically right before I go. I put my arms up, which helps me prepare for the event and stay calm and focused. Before meets we always do our Davis cheer that we have done for years, and that always gets me super ready to go. Right after warm up when we come in to do the cheer, it gets us all ready. The seniors say something, and the rest of the team yells it back, and it always gets us so pumped up. It's one of my favorite parts of the meet by far.
How do you balance your school career with gym and traveling?
It's hard. Every year I have gotten better and better at it, because you definitely find that balance. It's hard during winter, because I mainly focus on gym and school and not much else outside that. We are in the in the gym from 1:30-5 and I'm in class all morning, and then I usually go home right after and eat and study. I don't really have much time especially during the week. It's really rewarding, because I am getting the grades and I'm doing well in the gym. So it's all worth it at the end but it's definitely difficult during the season.
What are some career highlights for you since you have been competing here at Davis?
One moment that stands out a lot is my freshman year at the first meet ever. I won beam with a 9.825, which is still my career high on beam. So that's my number one I would say. It just really sticks out. It was my very first time competing and they didn't know what to expect from me and then I go up and win beam. So that definitely is a career high. And for this year, a highlight for me would be that I have been getting the highest all around scores that I have ever gotten in my life, and that's a huge thing. Freshman year I started out doing one or two events and the same with sophomore year, and then three events my junior year so now finally I have gotten all four together. That is definitely a career high for me.
What will be your fondest memory with the team here after you graduate?
I would say the non-gymnastics part. Like I said, we do a lot of stuff together outside the gym, and then were also just really good friends. All the team meetings we have, and all the cheers we have learned from each other, it forms a bond that we have. We work really hard in the gym together but also play hard together. I would say a fond memory would be having that support for each other, because we are together so much in the gym, that we're completely there for each other.
