IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
Not many people associated with the long and storied history of IUP athletics can claim that they were part of a national championship team. Gymnast Gina Gover Steve is one of those rare exceptions.
Steve helped lead the Indians to the United States Gymnastics Federation national championship in 1988, an event that combined NCAA Division II and Ill teams, to highlight a career that saw her set several school records and earn a truckload full of honors.
Proving that they could compete with anyone in the nation, the Indians followed up their championship with a trip to Penn State the following week for the NCAA Northeast Regional. As one of only two Division II schools admitted to the five regional meets, IUP set a team record with 182.45 points and were defeated by only the host Nittany Lions and Ohio State.
During her career at IUP, Steve starred in the vault and uneven bars and consistently turned in some of the top performances in those events each year. She broke the school record on the vault with a 9.35 as a freshman in 1985 and again the following year when she turned in a 9.40 at the PSAC meet to set a new conference record. She posted a score of 9.25 on the bars at the 1986 Division II regional meet held at IUP.
Steve won the Southeast Region title in the vault in 1985 and repeated the next year while also adding a region championship in the bar. With Steve playing a leading role, the Indians won the PSAC and Division II Southeast Region crowns all four years.
On the national level, she placed third on the bars in 1986 to earn All-America honors and was ninth in the vault, missing on a second All-America spot by just 0.05 points.
Steve graduated from IUP in 1988 and later earned a secondary mathematics instructional certificate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992 and her master's equivalency in 1999.
She began her professional career as a research specialist at NOVA Pharmaceutical and held the same title while also serving as a lab manager from 1989 to 1994 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. After receiving her teaching credentials, Steve spent seven years as an educator in the Quaker Valley and Mount Lebanon school districts.
Steve has been an active member of the PTA at Streams Elementary School in Upper St. Clair and chaired the Outreach at Streams, helping raise over $25,000 for several charities.
Steve and her husband, Greg, are the parents of Thomas, Ally, Jack and Sara.
