Rolla's McMillan chasing dream in London:

Published July 22, 2012 in the days leading up to London Summer Olympics.

If in the upcoming days you spot Chantae McMillan, an Olympian from Rolla, you might be surprised about her favorite treat: A heaping portion of pie supplied by a local bakery, A Slice of Pie.

Besides, to get the world-class physique of the 2006 Rolla High School graduate, one probably shouldn’t be spending too much time in the small pastry shop on Kingshighway Street.

However, McMillan had one request for her parents, Badger and Peggy, before they drove to visit her in Ohio ahead of the Olympic Games.

“If my parents know me at all,” McMillan wrote on her Twitter account, “they will bring me a slice of my favorite pie when they come!”

McMillan will be competing in the London Olympics and representing the United States in the heptathlon.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials last month in Eugene, Ore., McMillan qualified as the third of three to make the team in the heptathlon, which combines the 200- and 800-meter runs, 100-meter hurdles, shot put, javelin, high jump and long jump.


Opening ceremonies are Friday, and McMillan will compete Aug. 3-4.

So her friend, Emily Moorkamp, said she’s giving Chantae a free pass for missing her wedding on Saturday.

“I texted her the other day, ‘Now that you’re an Olympic athlete, I guess you’re too good to come to my wedding,’ ” said Moorkamp, who graduated from Rolla High School with McMillan. The pair remained friends during their college years when Moorkamp attended Missouri and McMillan competed at Nebraska.

McMillan’s trip to London is an improbable one, despite a decorated career for the University of Nebraska, from which she graduated last year. For the Huskers, McMillan won four Big 12 Conference championships and earned multiple All-America honors.

Upon graduation, the education major had a chance to move to the Dayton, Ohio, area to train with 2008 Olympian Hyleas Fountain, who won the silver medal in the heptathlon , along with her coach, Lynn Smith.

McMillan suffered a knee injury last summer and underwent surgery. Since then, McMillan has been forced to alter her take-off legs on all her jumps.

It figured to be a greater challenge. The jumps are what she excelled in while growing up in Rolla, where McMillan won state championships in the Class 4 long jump as a sophomore and junior before an injury prevented a three-peat.

“She was certainly talented,” Rolla track and field coach Don Knapp said. “She was the best athlete we had, of course. She could do anything. She was our fastest athlete, our best jumper. She could do many other events.”

A rival competitor, Glendale’s Stephanie Todd, said she remembered the 5-foot-8 standout from Rolla as a tough competitor, but enjoyed passing the time with her at meets.

“She was a really nice girl talking to her, and I’d make the time go by and chit chat with her,” said Todd, who played basketball for three years at Central Methodist in Fayette and then spent a year doing long jump and sprints at Drury University.

“It was always a little nerve-racking going against her because you knew that she was going to bring her best every time.”

Todd finished second to McMillan in many long jumps in Ozark Conference and regional meets. She finished 14th and 10th at the state meet in McMillan’s junior and seniors years, respectively, when the Rolla athlete placed first and then second.

McMillan also was a standout in basketball and an outside hitter in volleyball.

She helped the Lady Bulldogs to a basketball district championship as a junior, as the catalyst for the team’s full-court press, said Moorkamp, her teammate.

“She always worked extremely hard, and it looked effortless to her,” Rolla girls’ basketball coach Bryce Swafford said. “She was very competitive and never liked to lose.”

Knapp attended the trials in Oregon with his wife Joyce, who helped him coach McMillan at Rolla.

McMillan was in fifth place in the trials with two events remaining after taking 17th in the long jump.

She won the javelin to ensure at least a third-place finish, but still needed to earn enough points to gain an A standard to qualify for the Olympics.

In the 800 meters, she needed to run 2:20. She finished 2.3 seconds under that time.

“I can’t remember it all, but people say I dropped down and was slapping the track I was so happy,” McMillan told the Dayton Daily News. “It was all pretty surreal. I mean just a few years ago I was running around the track in my little hometown and now I’m headed to the Olympic Games.”

McMillan’s trip is giving Don and Joyce Knapp a chance to fulfill a life’s dream by traveling to the Olympics and watching one of their former athletes.

The Knapps have attended several Olympic Trials, but are leaving Aug. 1 for their first Olympics.

“We never really had the right reason to go,” said Don Knapp. “She’s a wonderful young lady. She has the character that we enjoy working with as coaches. She’s the complete package.”

McMillan isn’t the only athlete with ties to Rolla competing in London. Missouri S&T graduate Tyrone Smith will represent Bermuda for the second time in the long jump.