As she and her father drove down I-376 Eastbound toward Pittsburgh, a magical thing… As she and her father drove down I-376 Eastbound toward Pittsburgh, a magical thing happened.

Pitt gymnastics team freshman Meaghan Biros looked out her window to see something that, in her hometown of Chicago, she rarely encountered: Cars sliding over on to allow she and her father to merge.

“When we came here, there was a whole lot of traffic but people moved over right away instead of cutting us off,” Biros said. “We both said, ‘Whoa, there’s got to be something different here.’”

Biros was a senior in high school then, on the way to visit Pitt for the first time. That trek on the highway and through the Fort Pitt Tunnel was the first sign she knew she’d found the right school.

Pitt soon gained a freshman recruit that paid off almost immediately.

Last week, Biros earned her second East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Rookie of the Week honor for her performance in Pitt’s quad-meet win that previous weekend.

Yet if it weren’t for patience from Pitt’s coaches, Biros might not have ended up at Pitt. Pitt coaches remained committed to her, even when an injury during her sophomore year in high school scared other schools away.

While doing a tumble at a gym back home, on a floor that, according to Biros, “didn’t have that much spring,” she hit a rough patch and felt her lower back cringe.

‘It’s fine,’ she thought, ‘I’ll keep going.’

But later on she had trouble breathing. She knew something was wrong, and decided to go see a doctor.

“I was doing bars, and I stopped and broke down because I couldn’t breathe,” Biros said.

Biros suffered a stress fracture of her L5 disc in her back, one of the most stressed discs of the spinal cord, and couldn’t participate in practices for almost a year.

During that time, she wore a back brace for half a year and went to practice to, “do stretches, but nothing else,” Biros said.

The injury tested her patience while she was sidelined.

“I hated watching people do stuff when I couldn’t do anything,” Biros said, “People helped me through it, but it was really hard.”

But Pitt coaches knew she would contribute right away. Even some teammates take extra motivation from her determination and presence at meets and practices.

“She brings a lot of competition on an individual basis,” sophomore Alicia Talucci said. “The best thing about having her as a teammate is she makes me want to better myself because she’s such a competitor.”

She scored a career high 38.850 in the all-around in the Panthers’ victory over Western Michigan, George Washington and Penn on March 5, good enough for third place overall.

She also scored a career-high 9.650 on the balance beam and finished fourth overall in the vault (9.775), uneven bars (9.70) and floor exercise (9.725).

Then, a week later, Biros had another solid night for Pitt against Arkansas. She beat her career high in the all-around, scoring a 38.875 after hitting all four of her routines. This included notching another career-high score of 9.85 on the vault.

Biros’ score helped lead the Panthers to a 194.525 on the night, their third-highest score of the season.

Biros’ coach, Pitt gymnastics head coach Debbie Yohman, described her as “powerful.”

“The height she gets,” Yohman said, “she makes it look easy.”

The Rookie of the Week honor is the second for Biros this season. Her other recognition came on Feb. 9 after helping to lead Pitt to a quad-meet win over No. 13 Iowa State, Rutgers and Brockport.

When not on the mat, Biros said she likes to draw. Her favorite method, which she says is similar to scratchboarding, requires meticulous tracing and care to produce a good final product.

“I’ve drawn for a long time,” Biros said. “My dad is a really good artist, so he would teach me things. I’m not great at it but I like to do it just to relax.”

Her main subjects, she said, are animals.

“I love animals, I like drawing dogs and cats that are cute,” Biros said. “I’m a visual person, so if I see something, I like to draw it.”

Back home in Chicago, Biros has a dog named Cosmo and a cat named Crede.

The cat’s name, especially, demonstrates her other true love: Chicago sports teams.

Her cat is named after former Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede. While Biros was deciding on a name, and watching the White Sox game, Crede hit a home run and the name stuck.

“Pierzynski is too long,” Biros said of White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski, another one of her favorite players.

Biros admits, being away from Chicago isn’t too tough, but being away from Chicago-style pizza, that’s a different story.

“My family and I would get pizza every Friday. Sorrento’s doesn’t quite stack up,” Biros said.

It’s a minor complaint, but one that Biros said she will endure to have the recognized success she’s had during her freshman year.

Talucci, a standout freshman gymnast herself, is confident Biros’ success will continue after this year.

“She’s really talented,” Talucci said, “I think we should definitely get used to her receiving recognition like this.”