Gateway champion swimmer Melanie Morgan Miller set to join Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame

By: Michael Love
Sunday, October 12, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Not many people can say they appeared in Sports Illustrated.

But Melanie Morgan Miller’s photos and her swimming accomplishments at the high school level were featured in the magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” segment in 1988.

But the Gateway graduate was not just any face in the crowd.

She won championships and set records at every level, from youth to high school to college and beyond.

Already an inductee in the Gateway (2000), East Boros (2012) and WPIAL (2017) sports halls of fame, Morgan Miller is set to take her place among the greatest athletic figures ever in the state of Pennsylvania.

She will be enshrined with the Class of 2025 into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel.

Morgan Miller will represent the East Boros Chapter and will share the dais with standout Western Pennsylvania athletes including Steel Valley graduate and former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, Upper St. Clair graduate and Major League Baseball star Sean Casey, McKeesport graduate and former WNBA star Swin Cash, Pitt athletic hall of famer Sam Clancy, and former professional boxer Michael Moorer.

“It is pretty overwhelming when I see the people in this class with me,” Morgan Miller said.

“There are some tremendous athletes and tremendous people. I’ve been to these banquets before, and it is incredible to hear everybody’s story and their accomplishments.”

Miller said she expects more than two dozen friends and family members to be on hand to celebrate her induction.

“There has been so much support from friends, teammates, parents, family and coaches who have helped me along the way,” Morgan Miller said. “I am so grateful.”

Morgan said she wouldn’t have achieved all that she has in swimming without the start she got under the direction of Larry Petrillo.

“He was my very first coach when I was 6 or 7 years old,” said Morgan, who, by age 10, was training with the top teams in Pittsburgh.

“He then was my high school coach. He was the one who introduced me to the sport and taught me how to swim, how to do the strokes, how to race on a team, how to do a start and a flip turn. He’s the one who kind of laid the groundwork for all that I was able to accomplish. He was so much fun to be around.”

At 12, Morgan Miller qualified for Junior Nationals, the top meet in the country for competitive swimmers 18 and younger.

Her experience at the national level served her well when she got to high school swimming.

She won seven individual WPIAL titles, sweeping the 50-yard freestyle all four years and winning the 100 free as a sophomore, junior and senior.

She set WPIAL records in both events.

“WPIALs at Pitt was the one meet that always stood out to me,” Morgan Miller said.

“It was so fun. I swam with so many from throughout the area on my club team, but we all went to different high schools. We all showed up on the (WPIAL) pool deck as opponents. It was so exciting and so loud. The parents were crazy and loud. Now, as a coach, it is still that same atmosphere. It is one of the greatest meets on the planet.”

Morgan Miller also won several medals at states, capturing titles in the 50 and 100 free her sophomore, junior and senior years.

The times from 30 years ago would have placed the 11-time high school All-American second at WPIALs this past March and also fourth at states.

She was the fastest 100 free swimmer in the nation as a junior.

Gateway High School established the “Melanie Morgan Award” which is given each year to one swimmer, male or female, who exemplifies dedication and leadership.

Morgan Miller went on to star for four years at Florida where she helped the Gators win four SEC team titles. The five-time SEC champion showed her versatility with top-five finishes at the SEC Championships in seven different individual events in freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly,

“SEC Championships was like WPIALs,” she said.

“Everyone is there screaming and cheering for each other decked out in their school colors. The races were so intense. Winning championships and setting records there were such great accomplishments. Those team-atmosphere meets will always be the best in my mind.”

Morgan Miller capped her collegiate career with a national championship as part of Florida’s 400 free relay. The relay broke the NCAA, U.S. Open and American records.

She also won gold and silver at the World University Games, and two additional national titles as a member of the post-college Fort Lauderdale Swim Team.

Morgan Miller competed in the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

She now gives back to the sport of swimming as an assistant coach at South Fayette, a position she’s held for close to 15 years.

“I love being able to give back and help the high school swimmers, and I still get to be a part of the WPIAL and state meets,” she said.

“Coaching is so much harder than being an actual athlete because I swim every single race with every single swimmer. You talk up the swimmers before the race, swim the race with them, and then talk to them after the race. It is a lot of emotional investment, but it is so much fun.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway