Going into the 2020 ASU gymnastics season, senior Jordyn Jaslow, who was an incoming freshman at the time, was getting ready for her first season as a Gym Devil. After facing a career-altering injury before she could begin, she is back on the mat and ready to compete again in her senior season.
The Parker, Colorado native, has been a gymnast for as long as she can remember. She got the spark for gymnastics from her mom, who also competed.
"My parents were the ones that gave me the idea to try gymnastics," Jaslow said. "My mom used to play, so she loved it, and she always wanted me to give it a try."
Jaslow went to Legend High School and trained with the Colorado Gymnastics Institute in Aurora, Colorado, where she found her love in gymnastics and refined her skills. Going into the recruiting process, ASU stood out to Jaslow because of the Barrett, The Honors College.
"A lot of other schools I went to actually discouraged athletes from going into that direction because there is a lot involved in it," Jaslow said. "ASU really pushes that and encourages athletes to get involved. Not only in the Honors College, but in any aspect of college and being a student-athlete."
Unfortunately for Jaslow, just as she was getting settled here in Tempe, she tore her ACL.
Jaslow was off the mat for her entire freshman season and didn't really get back to where she wanted in her sophomore year, when she only competed on the vault twice in the entire season.
"It was a huge mental battle for me," said Jaslow, who is studying kinesiology. "I've never been away from my sport for that long. During that time, your body is trying to adapt to getting stronger again after surgery and then getting back into shape. So it was a lot."
During this harsh time in her life, Jaslow didn't have to look far for support. Her two roommates were also Gym Devils, seniors Juliette Boyer and Izzy Redmond. They, along with the rest of the team, realized Jaslow wasn't going to let this injury define her time as a Sun Devil.
"An injury like that can be very hard to handle for any athlete," Redmond said. "But Jo (Jaslow) just had the best attitude about it. She was always bringing the energy and made everyone's mood light in practice. Just for her to be able to do that when she couldn't play was really inspiring."
Jaslow used her optimistic attitude to focus on her academics more, which was one of her goals in the first place coming to ASU. She was named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association Scholastic All-American in the 2020 and 2021 seasons while she was injured.
"Jordyn has a really good ability to stay positive no matter the circumstances," Boyer said. "That ability was highlighted in the experience that she went through and the way she came so well to the mat."
When the 2022 season came around, Jaslow was determined to finally be able to show her full capabilities as a gymnast. From the moment the season started, she didn't waste any time.
Jaslow competed in every meet that season, leading off on the floor in every meet and on vault in all but one meet. She scored a 9.800 or better in all but two meets on the floor and also set a personal best on vault scoring a 9.900 against Stanford, winning her first career event title in the process.
"Last year was so rewarding," Jaslow said. "Being able to get out there last year and finally have that success that I've been itching forever since I came in as a freshman was such a cool experience."
Her favorite memory from last season is when the Gym Devils took down UCLA for the first time in 21 years as ASU scored its seventh-best score in program history with a team total of 197.800. Jaslow felt a sense of calm from the entire team that day and that there was a clairvoyant feeling within the team that something good was going to happen, which ended up being the case.
Jaslow is going into her senior season as a Gym Devil, and her main goal is to help the team in any way she can, on and off the mat. She wants to make sure she takes on more of a leadership role before her time comes to an end at ASU.
"She's always kind of bringing that fun and that energy to life, inside and outside of the gym," Redmond said. "She has always been able to just always extend that hand and help you out when you need it most."
With her infectious energy and her ability to always stay positive, it shouldn't be too hard for Jaslow to show she can be a leader on the roster as she sets out to dazzle in her senior season.
Edited by Walker Smith, Piper Hansen and Grace Copperthite.
Reach the reporter at vdeange1@asu.edu and follow @vdeangelis2024 on Twitter.
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Vincent Deangelis is a full-time reporter for the sports department at The State Press. He has previously worked for Arizona PBS and AZPreps365.com.Â
