May 5, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -
Former Illinois State gymnastics student-athlete and head coach Jill Hollembeak was honored as one of six inductees that comprise the 2011 class for the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, as announced by USA Gymnastics.
Hollembeak will be officially recognized at the 2011 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame luncheon and induction ceremony scheduled for Friday, Aug. 19, as part of the USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show in Saint Paul, Minn., which is held in conjunction with the 2011 Visa Championships.
Fellow inductees include 1972 Olympian Jim Culhane (men's gymnastics), 1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson (rhythmic gymnastics), 2000 Olympic team bronze-medalists Kristen Maloney and Elise Ray, 1988 Olympian Chelle Stack (women's gymnastics) and Stacy Maloney, who coached 2004 Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm and his twin brother Morgan, both of whom competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
Hollembeak, who trained at the Gymnastics Academy of Rockford (Ill.), had a successful national and international tumbling career before she started her career at Illinois State. She was a three-time world champion in power tumbling (1982, 1984 and 1986), a three-time member of a U.S. Team that won the world team title (1982, 1984 and 1986) and was a five-time national champion (1982-86). She was also a five-time world medalist (1983-87) and U.S. champion (1983-87).
She earned a gymnastics scholarship to Illinois State and started her career off strong by being named the ISU Athletics Newcomer of the Year for the 1986-87 season. Hollembeak later captained the gymnastics team during her final three seasons and capped off her career by being named the Linda Herman ISU Female Athlete of the Year for the 1990-91 school year and was also named to the Scholastic All-America Gymnastics Team by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastic Coaches for Women that same season.
Hollembeak returned to her alma mater in the summer of 1996 to take over as the team's head coach, after serving two years on the national coaching staff of USA Trampoline and Tumbling. During her tenure as the Redbird mentor, helped the program achieve its highest national ranking in school history in 2001 (No. 6) and led the team to just its fourth appearance in the NCAA Regional that same season. That 2001 squad finished the season ranked No. 25 nationally and set five individual and four team records.
She currently works as an assistant director of athletics academic advising at DePaul and is pursuing a doctorate in education. She was also inducted into the World Acrobatics Society Gallery of Legends in 2009.
The USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1959. Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and group gymnastics.
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