Janelle Ann Dantzscher was born in Lancaster, Californiaon December 26, 1987. She is the daughter of John and Joyce. Her twin sister, Jalynne, is a former member of the UCLA gymnastics team. Her older sister, Jamie, was a 2000 Olympian and former UCLA Bruin. She has two other sisters, Joanne and Jennifer (coach). Janelle also has two older brothers. She began gymnastics at the age of six. Janelle trained at Charter Oak Gliders for several years. In 2002, she switched to SCEGA. Janelle trained at Champion in Pasadena before heading to UCLA.

In 1997, Janelle competed as a level seven. She competed at the Golden Boot Invitational and Glider Spring Invite. She competed as a level eight in 1998. Janelle competed at the State Championships. She moved up to level nine in 1999. She finished second all-around at the Level 9 State Championships! At Regionals, she finished fourth all-around. Janelle then competed at the Level 9 Western Championships. She placed 20th all-around. She also finished fourth on floor. Janelle qualified to junior national elite in 2000. She finished third all-around at the National Gymnastics Festival. Janelle had some injuries in 2001 and 2002.

She dropped down to level ten in 2003. Janelle won the level ten state all-around title that year. At Regionals, she finished first all-around! Janelle won beam and floor. She was third on vault and second on bars. At the JO National Championships, Janelle was in the lead until she fell on bars. She ended up tenth all-around. She finished fourth on beam and sixth on vault. In 2004, she won the state vault title. At Regionals, she finished third on vault and fifth all-around. Janelle took a season off from competitions to finish high school early. She also took courses at a local community college to graduate.

At UCLA, she competed in the all-around at some meets. She had her best meet against Georgia where she set career highs on all four events and in the all-around. She recorded a new career-high on vault at the NCAA Regional Championships. As a sophomore in 2007, Janelle competed on floor ten times including in the Super Six. Her highest score was a 9.9 against Stanford. She placed in the top three on floor Janelle also competed on beam six times. She also vaulted against Stanford. She missed most of the meets in February because of a stress fracture in her foot. This was her last season on the team.

Fast Facts Name: Janelle Dantzscher Birthday: December 26, 1987 College: UCLA Level: NCAA UCLA

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Full scholarship to UCLA 2004: Level 10 State Vault Champion 2003: JO Nationals- 10th AA 2003: Level 10 Regional Champion 2003: Level 10 State Champion 2000: National Gym Festival- 2nd AA 1999: Level 9 Westerns- 4th FX

Click Here to View Janelle's Videos

Photos © Lloyd Smith