Upcoming Event: Gymnastics versus Red Rocks Preview on December 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Gymnastics
vs Red Rocks Preview
The University of Utah Athletics
Call it a Comeback
1/12/2023 12:07 PM | Gymnastics
Excitement is in the air. So is chalk and they're both palpable. The bars are tuned to their perfect tension. The floor is pristine, and the vault runway is long and straight and ready to launch gymnasts into the air. It's opening night at the Huntsman Center and LSU is in town. The crowd is revved and ready to cheer on their 2023 Red Rocks.Â
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It's time for the meet to start and she's up first. This is the moment she's been picturing for most of the past year – 328 days to be exact. She takes a deep breath. Stares down the runway and takes off.
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But let's rewind a little bit. Actually, let's go back three years.
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Winter 2020
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Jillian Hoffman came to the University of Utah as decorated as a club gymnast gets. A Junior Olympic national champion, nine-time regional champion and 15-time SoCal state champion – she was ready to chase her collegiate dreams at the U.
Â
Her freshman season was going well, and her floor routine was becoming a staple in the lineup. And then injury set in.
Â
Unfortunately, gymnasts and injuries can be almost synonymous. Have you ever watched them compete or practice? The amount of stress, pounding and torque their bodies go through on a daily basis is mind-boggling. What's even more boggling is how precise every movement they make is. A misstep here or there and their routine could fall apart. The timing, the speed, the power, the grace. Everything needs to be exact.
Â
Gymnasts are the most mentally tough athletes. You heard that right.
Â
As a freshman, Jillian tore a plantar ligament in her foot that would require surgery and ended her first season prematurely.
Â
"I wasn't expecting to go through that so early in my career, but it happened, and I did have a lot of fun competing that season when I could," she says.
Â
Five months after foot surgery, the Murietta, CA native was prepping for her sophomore campaign. Her foot was in good condition and it was time to pick up where she left off the season before.
Winter 2021
Â
Jillian was set to have a "simple surgery" to clean up her shoulder before the new season was to begin. When doctors began the operation, they discovered her rotator cuff and labrum needed repair – something that didn't show up on her MRI.
Â
When Jill went into anesthesia that day, she thought she'd be sidelined for a few weeks and didn't know that when she woke up, the news that she'd have to miss her entire sophomore season was waiting for her. That's devastating.
Â
"I was definitely struggling mentally," she says. "Why me? This is so frustrating. I haven't had a full season so far and I think getting through the mental aspect of recovery was the hardest part."
Â
The doctors told her it would be a full 12 months before she could get back on the mat again. She beat her shoulder recovery time by two full months.
Â
"I always set goals to beat timelines," she says. "I like to challenge myself. If I can't do gymnastics, then I need to challenge myself in rehab and recovery. It's more fun that way."
Â
Winter 2022
Â
Welcome to junior year.
Â
Feet? Strong. Shoulder? Good to go. Jillian was feeling great and determined to make her third season a great one… and she had done just that. Jill had scored a career-high 9.975 on floor versus ASU for her first ever event title, and was the leadoff on vault every meet of the season.
Â
Seven meets into the season, the Red Rocks were visiting Cal and Jillian was warming up for her leadoff vault. Her calf had been a bit sore the week before but today it was feeling great. Jill led off the vault team with a career high 9.90 and headed to floor the next rotation feeling some momentum.
Â
As she was warming up for floor…"I felt it pop and I knew right away."
Â
Her Achilles tendon had ruptured.
Â
Not again.
Â
"Some days I wanted to give up," she says. "I'm done. How can I go through another year like this? But then I remember, you should never give up on your dreams. I told myself, 'There's better days coming.'"
Â
She had surgery two days after the injury, and it was time to attack a rehab again.
Â
The disappointment wasn't lost on her head coach, Tom Farden, as he watched one of his athletes go through yet another major injury.
"Her mental fortitude is rarely seen in college athletics," Farden says. "It speaks volumes to her persistence. To not let herself get too down and make the best of her situation. It's really her drive that got her back."
Â
The first two weeks are the toughest. You can't walk. You can barely move. You have to wear a special boot with a heel lift that prevents your foot from moving in any way.
Â
"Those first few weeks were really tough. Especially the sleeping," Jillian says with a grimace.
Â
After four weeks she was on crutches – still not putting any weight on her foot but she was mobile again. Every other week she could take the heel lift down a bit more and things were healing. Eventually she was able/allowed to walk on a pool treadmill.
Â
"It was very painful to walk and to try to live a normal life," she said. "But you know, that was expected so I just trusted my doctors and coaches."
Â
The six-month benchmark with this injury is doing a single-leg calf raise. Jillian beat that timeline.
Â
She's mentally tough, I'll tell you what.
Â
"It starts from a young age," she says. "We are trained early on during our club years to be able to deal with things. Deal with injury or deal with a mistake and move on. Don't let things get to us."
Â
December 2022
Â
The Red Rocks are busy practicing for their upcoming season – which is set to begin in two weeks. Snow is peacefully falling outside the Dumke Gymnastics Center covering everything in a nice blanket of white. Inside it's feverish. There's some music playing, sounds like Taylor Swift. Gymnastics lingo is flying around – "pike positions", "start values" and something about a "Yurchenko." Right now, they're practicing vault. They sprint, twist, flip and land in a foam pit -trying to save their bodies from some of that pounding we talked about earlier.
Â
Jillian is looking good. She takes her turns springing and popping into the air a few times and then it's time to work on her Achilles. She moves to the back of the gym and begins a series of stretches, rehab exercises and flexibility techniques. She feels close to 100% but is still getting herself ready for that opening meet against LSU in two weeks.
Â
She wonders, "is her body ready?" "Will her Achilles hold up?"
Â
"Eventually you have to just trust yourself and know, 'I've done this so many times and one unlucky turn doesn't mean it'll happen again. My body is strong and I'm good to go,'" she says confidently.
January 6, 2023
Â
"Before the meet started, I sat in my chair and just closed my eyes to calm my nerves and told myself, 'I am prepared for this moment,'" she says. "I told myself to just go big and to not hold back."
Â
The first event of the night is her event – vault – and she's up first.
Â
She takes a deep breath. Stares down the runway and takes off.
Â
She does her thing and lands confidently. A gorgeous vault – scoring a 9.825 for her team.
Â
Her training had paid off and she was back.
Â
You could see the joy on her face and the joy of her teammates and coaches. They all knew what she had been through the last three years – working to get back to this place.
Â
"My favorite moment was my team's reaction after I landed my vault," she says. "They were so supportive and proud, and it was the best feeling knowing that they have my back no matter what."
Â
Jillian and her team went on to defeat sixth-ranked LSU that night, but the biggest victory felt like it happened on that very first event.
Â
The Red Rocks are chasing NCAA glory and look to add another championship banner to their storied history, but they know that it's a journey and each step along the way is as important as the last.
Â
Utah gymnastics is in action on Friday January 13th at the "Best of Utah" meet at the Maverik Center.
Â
Â
Â
Â
It's time for the meet to start and she's up first. This is the moment she's been picturing for most of the past year – 328 days to be exact. She takes a deep breath. Stares down the runway and takes off.
Â
But let's rewind a little bit. Actually, let's go back three years.
Â
Winter 2020
Â
Jillian Hoffman came to the University of Utah as decorated as a club gymnast gets. A Junior Olympic national champion, nine-time regional champion and 15-time SoCal state champion – she was ready to chase her collegiate dreams at the U.
Â
Her freshman season was going well, and her floor routine was becoming a staple in the lineup. And then injury set in.
Â
Unfortunately, gymnasts and injuries can be almost synonymous. Have you ever watched them compete or practice? The amount of stress, pounding and torque their bodies go through on a daily basis is mind-boggling. What's even more boggling is how precise every movement they make is. A misstep here or there and their routine could fall apart. The timing, the speed, the power, the grace. Everything needs to be exact.
Â
Gymnasts are the most mentally tough athletes. You heard that right.
Â
As a freshman, Jillian tore a plantar ligament in her foot that would require surgery and ended her first season prematurely.
Â
"I wasn't expecting to go through that so early in my career, but it happened, and I did have a lot of fun competing that season when I could," she says.
Â
Five months after foot surgery, the Murietta, CA native was prepping for her sophomore campaign. Her foot was in good condition and it was time to pick up where she left off the season before.
Winter 2021
Â
Jillian was set to have a "simple surgery" to clean up her shoulder before the new season was to begin. When doctors began the operation, they discovered her rotator cuff and labrum needed repair – something that didn't show up on her MRI.
Â
When Jill went into anesthesia that day, she thought she'd be sidelined for a few weeks and didn't know that when she woke up, the news that she'd have to miss her entire sophomore season was waiting for her. That's devastating.
Â
"I was definitely struggling mentally," she says. "Why me? This is so frustrating. I haven't had a full season so far and I think getting through the mental aspect of recovery was the hardest part."
Â
The doctors told her it would be a full 12 months before she could get back on the mat again. She beat her shoulder recovery time by two full months.
Â
"I always set goals to beat timelines," she says. "I like to challenge myself. If I can't do gymnastics, then I need to challenge myself in rehab and recovery. It's more fun that way."
Â
Winter 2022
Â
Welcome to junior year.
Â
Feet? Strong. Shoulder? Good to go. Jillian was feeling great and determined to make her third season a great one… and she had done just that. Jill had scored a career-high 9.975 on floor versus ASU for her first ever event title, and was the leadoff on vault every meet of the season.
Â
Seven meets into the season, the Red Rocks were visiting Cal and Jillian was warming up for her leadoff vault. Her calf had been a bit sore the week before but today it was feeling great. Jill led off the vault team with a career high 9.90 and headed to floor the next rotation feeling some momentum.
Â
As she was warming up for floor…"I felt it pop and I knew right away."
Â
Her Achilles tendon had ruptured.
Â
Not again.
Â
"Some days I wanted to give up," she says. "I'm done. How can I go through another year like this? But then I remember, you should never give up on your dreams. I told myself, 'There's better days coming.'"
Â
She had surgery two days after the injury, and it was time to attack a rehab again.
Â
The disappointment wasn't lost on her head coach, Tom Farden, as he watched one of his athletes go through yet another major injury.
"Her mental fortitude is rarely seen in college athletics," Farden says. "It speaks volumes to her persistence. To not let herself get too down and make the best of her situation. It's really her drive that got her back."
Â
The first two weeks are the toughest. You can't walk. You can barely move. You have to wear a special boot with a heel lift that prevents your foot from moving in any way.
Â
"Those first few weeks were really tough. Especially the sleeping," Jillian says with a grimace.
Â
After four weeks she was on crutches – still not putting any weight on her foot but she was mobile again. Every other week she could take the heel lift down a bit more and things were healing. Eventually she was able/allowed to walk on a pool treadmill.
Â
"It was very painful to walk and to try to live a normal life," she said. "But you know, that was expected so I just trusted my doctors and coaches."
Â
The six-month benchmark with this injury is doing a single-leg calf raise. Jillian beat that timeline.
Â
She's mentally tough, I'll tell you what.
Â
"It starts from a young age," she says. "We are trained early on during our club years to be able to deal with things. Deal with injury or deal with a mistake and move on. Don't let things get to us."
Â
December 2022
Â
The Red Rocks are busy practicing for their upcoming season – which is set to begin in two weeks. Snow is peacefully falling outside the Dumke Gymnastics Center covering everything in a nice blanket of white. Inside it's feverish. There's some music playing, sounds like Taylor Swift. Gymnastics lingo is flying around – "pike positions", "start values" and something about a "Yurchenko." Right now, they're practicing vault. They sprint, twist, flip and land in a foam pit -trying to save their bodies from some of that pounding we talked about earlier.
Â
Jillian is looking good. She takes her turns springing and popping into the air a few times and then it's time to work on her Achilles. She moves to the back of the gym and begins a series of stretches, rehab exercises and flexibility techniques. She feels close to 100% but is still getting herself ready for that opening meet against LSU in two weeks.
Â
She wonders, "is her body ready?" "Will her Achilles hold up?"
Â
"Eventually you have to just trust yourself and know, 'I've done this so many times and one unlucky turn doesn't mean it'll happen again. My body is strong and I'm good to go,'" she says confidently.
January 6, 2023
Â
"Before the meet started, I sat in my chair and just closed my eyes to calm my nerves and told myself, 'I am prepared for this moment,'" she says. "I told myself to just go big and to not hold back."
Â
The first event of the night is her event – vault – and she's up first.
Â
She takes a deep breath. Stares down the runway and takes off.
Â
She does her thing and lands confidently. A gorgeous vault – scoring a 9.825 for her team.
Â
Her training had paid off and she was back.
Â
You could see the joy on her face and the joy of her teammates and coaches. They all knew what she had been through the last three years – working to get back to this place.
Â
"My favorite moment was my team's reaction after I landed my vault," she says. "They were so supportive and proud, and it was the best feeling knowing that they have my back no matter what."
Â
Jillian and her team went on to defeat sixth-ranked LSU that night, but the biggest victory felt like it happened on that very first event.
Â
The Red Rocks are chasing NCAA glory and look to add another championship banner to their storied history, but they know that it's a journey and each step along the way is as important as the last.
Â
Utah gymnastics is in action on Friday January 13th at the "Best of Utah" meet at the Maverik Center.
Â
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