To achieve something special, sacrifices always have to be made along the way.
LSU rising junior gymnast Janelle Garcia has sacrificed more than most in pursuit of her dreams.
When Garcia was in eighth grade, she and her mother, Marizel, moved away from her father Miguel, older brother Lester, and sister Yesenia, in Miami to Orlando, Fla., so Janelle could train at Orlando Metro Gymnastics .
But her sacrifice seems miniscule in comparison to what her father did 29 years ago.
A Cuban native, Miguel played professional baseball in the Cuban National League from 1972 to 1976. He spent four seasons with Las Villas and one season for Granjero de Camaguey.
But 29 years ago, Miguel fled Ranchuelo, Cuba, for Miami, leaving behind Marizel and 2-year-old Lester. Soon after Miguel settled in Miami, Marizel and Lester fled to Honduras where they were reunited with Miguel and moved permanently to Miami.
The entire family was athletic, playing either softball or baseball – except Janelle.
“I didn’t have the coordination [to play baseball or softball],” Janelle said. “That’s how I picked up gymnastics. I was their cheerleader on the side doing my own thing, flipping around and playing on the monkey bars.”
Once Janelle reached the age where colleges started to come calling, she was immediately drawn to LSU.
“My first questionnaire I ever got from college was from LSU,” Janelle said. “They were always the first ones that stayed in touch with me.”
LSU’s persistence meant the most to Janelle when she fell victim to injuries during her junior year.
Some schools lost interest in her, but LSU kept pursuing.
“The gym she comes from is very demanding, and the amount of time she was spending in the gym — it was very obvious that this was an overuse injury,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “She was still very highly recruited throughout the process. I think we stayed in the process, and she came where she wanted to go to school.”
Janelle committed to LSU before she even set foot on campus in Baton Rouge.
Since joining the Tigers, Janelle has competed in all four events, posting career highs of 9.75 on the vault, 9.70 on uneven bars, 9.725 on balance beam and 9.80 on the floor exercise.
Now that Janelle is one of the more experienced members of the squad, she will have to help lone senior Ashley Lee carry the load of leading the team.
“D-D gave us the example that there’s one person leading but we’re all behind her, pushing her forward,” Janelle said. “So if she falls back we’re right there to catch her. We’re a team. One person leads and sets an example, but if we don’t follow through and have that team mentality then it’s not going to happen.”
Janelle said she likes to take the approach of taking teammates one-on-one for meetings instead of trying to be overly vocal in front of the whole team.
“With Sarie [Morrison], every time before she’d go on bars, we’d have a one-on-one,” Janelle said. “I won’t lead in front of everyone just to show it, but by really having close ties with the girls.”
But it is Janelle’s flair on the floor that is most attractive to Breaux.
“She looks good out on the floor. She catches your eye,” Breaux said. “She’s got that little sparkle, that little look, that thing that when you see a gymnast out on the floor that you kind of pick her out as the one you like. [Former gymnast] Summer Hubbard had it, and Janelle’s got it.”
 
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