Bouncing to victory

Bryce Alderton

The records are stacking up for 21-year-old Jennifer Parilla of

Newport Beach.

The gymnast and Orange Coast College student won the 2002 USA

Gymnastics -- Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships that

ended Aug. 10 in Cleveland, Ohio, claiming the gold medal in the

Senior Elite Competition for the third time in her young career.

In winning the Sr. Elite Trampoline title, Parilla set three

United States national trampoline records -- performing two

triple-somersaults in the same routine, setting the highest degree of

difficulty ever performed (14.7) and the highest score achieved

(105.1) that beat her closest competitor by three points.

“To come back not just a little but make a huge difference, it was

one of the best performances I’ve ever done,” Parilla said. “It puts

me in a good position the next couple of competitions coming up.”

No rest for the weary as Parilla was only home for two days before

leaving Wednesday for Edmonton, Alberta, where she will compete in

the Trampoline World Cup meet Aug. 17 and will then travel to the

Trampoline World Cup meet in Greensboro, N.C., Aug. 24, the first

World Cup meet hosted by the U.S.

She is a 10-time Senior Elite national champion in the Trampoline,

Sychronized Trampoline or Double-Mini Trampoline events and was the

national trampoline champion in 1998 and 2000 and had been named to

the U.S. Sr. National Trampoline team for the ninth consecutive year.

Parilla trains at the National Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso

Viejo with her three-year coach Mihai Bagiu, a U.S. Olympian in men’s

artistic gymnastics in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Bagiu has been

Parilla’s personal trainer for three years.

Four months ago Parilla approached Bagiu and asked him if he

wanted to help her with her trampoline routine and he accepted.

Bagiu has increased the difficulty of Parilla’s routines to help

her compete both on a national and international level and was

pleased with Parilla’s recent win.

“She trained really well for it,” Bagiu said. “It’s great to win

but I try not to put too much emphasis on (the national

championships) to keep the pressure on her down. You want to train

like it’s a competition and compete like you’re training.”

Parilla has placed second, fourth, sixth and seventh at prior

World Cup competitions and is a three-time medalist at the Trampoline

World Championships. She is also the first U.S. athlete in the top 10

at the World Championships in 22 years.

She was the sole U.S. trampolinist at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney,

Australia, where she placed ninth and hopes to return to the Olympic

stage when the Games move to Athens, Greece, in 2004. She has won 144

medals in her competitive career in trampoline -- 102 gold, 27 silver

and 15 bronze.

She first began competing at national trampoline championships for

her age group at age 7 and began competing internationally at age 9.

She loves to fly, which sparked her interest in trampoline at a

young age.

“I was very much into butterflies and felt like (one) flying

through the air,” Parilla said.

“It’s the closest thing to flying with me in control of my body.”

Parilla believes that preparation is the key to her success.

“People say the right things come along at the right time, but I

see that as trying really hard and when something comes up along the

way it happens to be at the right time because you strive for

everything in a positive direction,” Parilla said.