NMHS Athletic Hall of Fame

A National Honor Society student who later excelled as a student and gymnast at Yale University, Ashley O’Connor made her mark at New Milford High School from 2007 to 2010 as the premier gymnast on a Green Wave gymnastics team replete with talented athletes.

Ashley graduated NMHS as a 1,000-point scorer, an Elite All-American, twice a CIAC Gymnast of the Year, and holder of the Green Wave records for uneven bars in 9.75, floor exercise in 9.7 and all-around at 38.00.

She earned four letters in gymnastics, was twice co-captain, was a three-time all-South-West Conference gymnast while capturing numerous event and all-around league laurels, and helped the Green Wave to the 2010 SWC team championship, its first league title in 16 seasons.

On the state and regional stage, Ashley seemed always to raise her already high standards.

She won the state ‘M’ uneven bars gold medal as a freshman and repeated as a sophomore, in spite of recent knee surgery. Ashley capped her sophomore year with high places at the state open meet and then by winning the uneven bars competition at the New England championship tournament.

As a junior, she won the state ‘M’ uneven bars for a third straight year and then earned state open gold on the balance beam and all-around to be acclaimed the state open MVP. Ashley then won the New England vault, uneven bars and all-around to rank as the region’s best gymnast for 2009.

Her senior campaign was to prove even more memorable, as Ashley won the state ‘L’ balance beam and floor exercise and led the Green Wave to the state open team championship with her MVP performance, featuring gold medals on the balance beam, floor exercise and all-around, the latter with a career-best 38.00.

Ashley climaxed her Green Wave career at the New England championship meet by winning the uneven bars and placing third all-around to spark coach Bethany Mihaly’s Green Wave to the team title.

She complemented her gymnastics exploits by ranking as one of the SWC’s top divers for three seasons, twice earning third in the league meet, and breaking ground as Green Wave girls’ swimming and diving’s first state open qualifier. Ashley holds the school record for total score for an 11-dive championship meet.