by Frank Aceto
Associate Sports Editor
Megan Oliver played sports her whole life.
When she graduated from Tallmadge High School in 2007, she knew something was missing.
"I realized I wasn't playing anymore," Megan said. "I needed to do something else."
Megan, 19, continued her education at Kent State University, but she didn't believe she was heading in the right direction.
"I wasn't in the right major, so I decided to work at the gym," Megan said.
Thankfully, Megan had a reliable contact.
Her mother Julie owns Buckeye Gym in Tallmadge.
Megan noticed all the machines and training equipment and decided to see what they could do to help her.
The rest, you could say, is history. Megan earned the overall figure trophy at the National Physique Committee Natural Northern USA Drug-Tested Bodybuilding and Figure Championships Oct. 4 in Lakewood.
She also placed first in a 19-and-under competition in Cincinnati earlier in the year.
Megan, who competed in the high jump for the Tallmadge track and field team and also was a member of the volleyball team, adjusted to weight training very quickly.
"Megan has trained seriously for less than a year," Julie said. "It's a wonderful hobby. She is very gifted as an athlete. We train together all the time."
Julie, 49, started bodybuilding at age 44 when she first began training at Buckeye Gym. Eighteen months later, she bought the gym.
"I haven't gotten a chance to get sick of it yet," Julie said. "I try to make it fun enough so I can keep going."
Julie has participated in eight figure competitions.
"I enjoy it a lot," she said. "Megan and I did a show together during the spring. I plan to compete again. I would like to do a show at age 50."
Julie said her daughter may have felt a little uncomfortable when she did her first figure competition.
"Megan is somewhat of a shy person," Julie said. "She's not a show-off.
"When you work as hard as she did, though, you want to show it off," she added.
Megan felt more at ease when she noticed the other competitors.
"It was awkward at first," she said. "I felt better when I saw the other girls."
Megan also has encouraged her mother, who has a tendency to feel out of place from time to time.
"My mom says she's too old to go against women in their 20s," she said. "She wants to do competitions for women who are 45 and older."
In the long run, though, Julie has been instrumental in her daughter's success.
"She really inspires me," Megan said. "She never pushed me. But when I graduated, she told me I should give this a try."
Since she's 19, Megan has the edge on her mother on some machines. But mom can hold her own on some exercises.
"We're pretty much the same," Megan said. "She is stronger than me on some things."
When Megan gets away from the gym, she works with the jumpers on the Tallmadge Middle School track and field team.
But if you're trying to locate her, your best bet is the gym.
"I work out five times per week," she said. "I have an elliptical machine at home so I do 30 minutes of cardio and then I do the weight training at the gym. At the figure competitions, most of the top women are in their 30s."
Does Megan plan on continuing her intense workouts at that age?
"Absolutely," she said.
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