This week, the Mount Aloysius athletics department celebrates DIII Week, an NCAA initiative focused on the celebration and recognition of Division III student-athletes, their experiences, and their contributions. 

Molly Miller believed she had fired her last shot in competition. A year later, after a conference championship, first-team honors, and a rookie of the year award, Miller prepares to compete at the Junior Olympics, with a shot at representing the United States at the Junior Pan-American games in Paraguay. 

After finishing in 10th in Smallbore and 15th in Air Rifle at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Championships, Miller was convinced her competition days were done. 

"I kind of had my head set on not shooting in college." Miller says as she looks back. Her focus instead rested on caring for premature infants. "I hope to be a neonatologist one day… I would love to go to medical school at UPenn [after undergrad], it's always been my biggest dream since not everybody has neonatology." 

Conversations with coaches about 6am start times, multiple practices a day, and the travel load made this goal seem incompatible with college rifle. "Every coach I ever talked to was like 'you're never going to be able to handle it… Your classes just won't fit.'"

Walking off the range after the high school championships, Miller was still processing what she believed was the end of her career when she saw her mom.

"It hadn't really hit me yet, so I wasn't sad, but my mom was super excited. I was very confused. She looked at me and goes 'The Mount Aloysius coach is here, she wants to talk to you.'" Miller decided to be polite. "I was like, I'll go introduce myself, but I'm not shooting in college."

Still dubious about the student-athlete balance, Miller shared her concerns with Coach Siarra Crum. "[Coach] was like, 'That's not really how I want to run it. I want your studies to come first."

The experience presented by Coach Crum was a new one to Miller. The first-year program was one of just five Division III rifle programs in the nation, with NCAA competition mainly populated by Division I teams and military academies. The balance of competition and working towards medical school appealed to the incoming freshman, and she decided to give college rifle a chance. 

The team's first meet would come a month into the school year, opening in Columbus against Ohio State. Miller, in recovery from a neck injury, would not be able to shoot, but remembers the experience.

"Our first match was against a Big 10 school. That's crazy… Just watching them compete against people I knew were going to the NCAA championships, [shooters that] had a shot at being top ten in the country, even doing that it feels so good."

The Buckeyes would shoot their highest ever opening match score against the Mounties, posting the 7th highest score in the history of their program. Ohio State would be one of six Division I teams the Mounties would shoot against this season, with their schedule including programs such as Army West Point, Virginia Military Institute, and #1 ranked West Virginia. 

Despite the high level of competition and the difference in school sizes, Miller found the environment one of camaraderie rather than rivalry.

"When you go compete against them, it doesn't feel like you are. Everyone can just talk, it's not very head to head, it's not like this is where I go, this is where you go." She attributes this to the nature of the sport itself. "It's so different in rifle…It's kind of an individual thing, it's you against yourself. Everything goes into a team score, but you're the only one out there."

The Mounties would wrap up the season with the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference Championship, with the Mounties taking first not only as a team, but in all three individual categories (aggregate, smallbore, air rifle). Rhode Island and MIT would round out the top three team finishers. 

Winning the air rifle competition for the Mounties, taking second overall in aggregate scoring, and earning the conference Rookie of the Year award, Miller's freshman season seemed to be wrapping up on a high note. But there was one more event still on the docket. 

For women's air rifle, the Junior Olympics draws over 150 competitors from more than 40 states, with participation determined by a set score threshold. 

"You have to shoot in your state [on qualifying days]... I got an automatic invite with my score. I had to have at least a 585 in air, and I shot a 590. I'd qualified before on second round invites, but it was never like this. I knew I definitely wanted to go."

Miller is understandably excited for the experience, a week-long competition beginning April 13, held in Alabama. 

"I'm going to be shooting with people from all over... I know that I made it this far, and I'm going to be competing with people that are competing to be in the 2028 Olympics."

If the Junior Olympics wasn't enough, Miller received news of another opportunity she was in contention for: representing the United States at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games. 

"They took all my information and my passport and all that, and they were like 'you shot this well at the state level, we believe that you could make it'." 

Miller's qualifying score will be combined with a scoring system for final placements at the Junior Olympics to determine PanAm participation. The USA Shooting team for the games will include two women in the rifle category, heading to Paraguay in August to compete against over 40 other countries. 

A year after firing what she believed was her final shot, Miller instead finds herself working towards her dreams without giving up her place in the sport. Regardless of what happens over the weekend, Miller is happy with her results. 

"I know, no matter what, I made it this far."