ITAA Athlete Spotlight: Stephanie Miller

Welcome to the ITAA Athlete Spotlight!

Every couple months, we will shine the spotlight on a fellow ITAA member.  Whether they have performed well in a competition, supported the organization, or are just really, really good looking, this is a member you should get to know!

This time, we’re featuring one of the top FITA recurve shooters in the nation, an international medalist, and Sr. US Archery Team member:

Stephanie Miller

1) What’s your favorite style of archery to shoot?

Competition Recurve – FITA tournaments

2) How did you get started in the sport?

My parents started shooting archery in high school and traveled to tournaments with many of their friends throughout the years until I was born.  When I was 7, my parents bought me a bow and took me and my brother to Chicago Bow Hunters…at first I didn’t like shooting, but when they let my younger brother, Jonathan, shoot MY bow, I decided to try it again.  At 8 years old, I went to my first nationals and I’ve been shooting competitively for 19 years.

3) What archery accomplishment are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of winning the individual bronze and team gold medals at the 2003 Pan American Games.  It was a great experience to compete at a multi-sport event such as the Pan American Games and I still appreciate the lessons I learned (about life and archery) from my more experienced teammates.

4) What’s your most embarrassing archery moment?

During the Arizona Cup finals in 2004, I served as an archer’s agent for my friend Marie-Pier Beaudet, an Olympic Canadian archer.  As her agent, part of my responsibilities were to run her arrows back from the target to her in between ends…and because it was the finals, everyone on the field was watching.  Apparently everyone thought the way I ran was hilarious and next thing I knew, a Dutch Olympian seated in the crowd calls out, “Run, Forest, Run!”  Everyone got a big kick out of it…I did not.  The next year when I made it to the finals and needed an agent, Marie-Pier was suspiciously nowhere to be found.

5) Any advice for your fellow archers?

The best advice I can give is to stay in touch with archery friends even if you or they no longer shoot – even though we are all at different stages in our lives (and archery careers), my friends and I still love getting together and talking about the good ol’ days.