Jillian O'Neal

Update!

2008-06-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally getting a little time after a very hectic couple of weeks. It started with my trip to Region 1 Championships in Long Beach. Not only did I have to compete and worry about qualifying to J.O. Nationals, but I had to get back to Arizona for my prom that night! I started off with a not-so-great vault, but rallied with 3 solid events. I ended on floor and ran right out of the meet to catch a private plane that my unbelievably cool neighbor, "Doctor Dave" sent over from Phoenix to pick me and my family up so I could get to my prom on time! While in the air, I got a text from one of my teammates that I qualified to J.O. Nationals! I also got home in time to make my prom. That was a great day!

I had a couple good weeks of workouts and felt pretty good going into Nationals. I had a slight hamstring pull, but I wasn't too worried about it. When we arrived in Florida, we went to a restaurant where we met with all the other University of Arizona recruits for 08-09 and 09-10 who made it to Nationals, along with their families . There was 9 of us in all. We had a great time!

During the practice session on Saturday, things were going well until I aggravated my hamstring. What made it worse was that my future U of A teammate, Katie Matusik, injured her shoulder and had to withdraw from the meet. I wasn't really sure I could compete, but I decided to see how it felt the next morning. When I got up on Sunday it was sore, but I decided I would give it a try. Warm-ups went pretty well but it was hard to turn on my left leg. Beam was my first event. I actually had a good routine. I hit all my acro skills, but I was a little wobbly on my turns as my leg was giving me some problems. On floor, things were going ok until my last tumbling pass when my leg totally gave out on me. I crashed on my last pass and knew I was probably done for the day. I scratched on vault and iced my leg. I didn't want to finish my J.O. career on the trainer's table so I decided to strap on my grips and give bars a try. I hit a solid routine and ended my career on a good note!

A few weeks ago I graduated from high school, and my parents threw me a big party at my house. It was great to see all my friends and I look forward to spending this summer with them. I am also interning a few hours a week at a veterinary clinic for the 3rd year in a row. Next week I have orientation at U of A, and then I am staying in Tucson for Coach Ryden's gymnastics camp. I'm really looking forward to moving down to Tucson. I am going to Europe for two weeks in July, then I will be moving in with my teammate Dee Graham and working out at her gym in Tucson until we move into the dorms later in August.

Anyway, that's it for now. Please check back from time to time and thanks for visiting my site.

Jillian:)

JO Nationals

2008-05-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Jillian competed this past weekend at JO Nationals in Kissimmee, Florida. She started rough on her first event, floor exercise. She pulled her hamstring on her last pass. She stratched vault and competed on uneven bars and balance beam only. She score 9.4 on bars and 9.1 on beam.

Full results have been posted.

Regionals

2008-04-27T15:25:00.001-07:00

Jillian competed today at the Level 10 Regionals in Long Beach, CA. She did well, placing 6th in the all-around and qualified to Junior Olympic Nationals. She placed 2nd on balance beam and 5th on uneven bars. Full results have been posted. Good job Jillian! Jillian will write more news/notes later.

Hey Everyone!

2008-04-05T19:28:00.001-07:00

I am so excited you have visited my website! I will do my best to keep you all up to date on what I am up to. I just finished my last state meet. It went pretty well. I finished second in the AA, second on Bars, fourth on Vault, fifth on Floor and first on Beam. You can see the videos of my bar and beam routine I posted in the Video section of my website. For the next couple of weeks I will be working very hard to get ready for Regionals in Long Beach, CA later this month. There is lots of strong competition this year for a spot at Nationals, so I will need to perform my best. At the same time I am really looking forward to graduation and prom. My prom is on the same day as Regionals, so I am going to be hurrying back home to Arizona right after my last routine! That's all for today, but please check back from time to time!