LSU junior Susan Jackson was only 3 years old when her mother started her out in gymnastics as a way to keep the energetic toddler from seriously injuring herself.”I would run on the backs of the couches and … scare my mom,” Jackson said. “Then I would swing from the shower rails and closet rails. My mom thought I was going to kill myself, so she decided to put me somewhere where there were mats around me if I fell.”Jackson hasn’t stopped tumbling since.One of the nation’s top elite level performers in club — the highest level in gymnastics — and a four-time member of the USA National Team, Jackson came to LSU as one of the most highly sought-after recruits in the nation.LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux said she started recruiting the Spring, Texas, native as early as possible.”I recruit Texas a lot,” Breaux said. “I knew her coach real well, and some kids that were previously on my team had their children in the same gym that she trained at. [Former Olympic gold medalist] Mary Lou Retton was at the gym, and I’m friends with Mary Lou, so I was very much in tune with what Susan was doing.”Jackson said she chose LSU over numerous other schools, including nine-time national champion Georgia, because LSU’s coaches were personal in the recruiting process, and it was close to home.”I was getting recruited by everybody, and it was between Georgia and LSU,” she said. “The coaches came to see me so many times, and Georgia’s coaches never came to see me. It was just like they don’t have to recruit people — people just go there.”So far, Jackson has proved to be a valuable asset to the Tigers.She helped lead LSU to the NCAA Super Six last season, with season averages of 9.880 on vault, 9.695 on bars, 9.784 on beam, 9.852 on floor and 39.186 all-around.She concluded the season as an All-American on the beam, floor, vault and all-around, and she captured the national championship on vault with a score of 9.8563.”She’s powerful, she has natural upper body flexibility and she has good kinesthetic understanding,” said LSU vault coach Bob Moore. “She’s like a cat. You turn her upside down, throw her off a five-story building and she would land on her feet. She has things that you just can’t coach.”The junior said her favorite event is beam, despite her vaulting national championship. “I’m terrified of [vault],” Jackson said. “When I was a junior in high school, I was going to do a really big vault . . . and I was going really hard. When I got to the hurdle part, I tripped and went face first into the metal pole that sticks up. So now whenever I go I’m tentative, and it worries me that I will do the same thing.”Jackson said she was fine, but the event still scares her.The 2008 All-Southeastern Conference selection has picked up where she left off last season, winning an all-around title, a floor title and a vault title in four meets this season.She has also helped keep the Tigers on track despite injuries to senior Lauren Klein and sophomore Nicole Lyons.”Susan has a lot of experience,” Breaux said. “She came in as an elite-level gymnast, which puts her a cut above. Susan just has a tremendous amount of competitive spirit and determination. She’s very focused in what she wants to do with her gymnastics. She plays a major role in readiness and pacing herself to be ready.”LSU senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney said the Tigers have much to look forward to with Jackson around for another year after this season.”She’s very valuable,” Clare-Kearney said. “D-D always says we are a great one-two punch because we are the last two on each event, and we are both capable of scoring 9.9s. The team is very lucky that she is still here next year because she is very talented.”——Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]