UCLA Newcomer JaNay Honest Channels her Inner Queen Bey
UCLA Newcomer JaNay Honest Channels her Inner Queen Bey
This weekend No. 7 UCLA (17-2) will compete as the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Columbus Regional Championships for one of two berths in the NCAA Championships to be held in Fort Worth, Texas April 17-19. Gymnastike caught up with Bruin newcomer JaNay Honest of Visalia Ca. to find out how she got her start in the gym, challenges as a collegiate athlete and her mindset going into regionals.
Quite often we hear about a kid who demonstrates an excessive amount of energy, jumping off couches, swinging by their feet on the monkey bars, JaNay was that kid. Her parents needed an outlet for her high energy and at the age of five she cartwheeled her way to Central California Gymnastics Institute, Visalia Ca. She fell in love with the sport and a dream became a reality to make the roster and compete for UCLA, the 6-time NCAA Championship team.
Who do you owe your success to becoming a Bruin?
My parents, they supported my decision coming to UCLA. It has always been my dream to come here. They stuck by my side and supported every decision I made. Also my coach, Alan Nevins at CCGI he was my primary coach my senior year. We made a commitment to each other, to get to nationals and get to where I needed to be to have a great senior year.
Image via Alan Nevin's Facebook
“JaNay is an amazing athlete/person and I feel very privileged to have gotten the opportunity to work with her even if it was only for a short period of time. Working with her in her last season in J.O.s will always be a treasured memory of mine,” said Nevins. It is very rare to find an athlete let alone another person who inspires you to reach for something greater. JaNay was and still is that inspiration for me as well as for many other coaches and athletes at CCGI. I learned so much from her and I can't thank her enough for sharing a part of her journey with me. As far as having contributed to her success, I'm truly flattered to be mentioned by her but feel undeserved of it at the same time. It was JaNay's desire to be better that pushed me. We kept each other going,” said Nevins.
What adversities did you face during your journey?
I had a knee injury that set me back one or two years and needed surgery in the eighth grade. I had a relapse on my knee; I wasn’t keeping up with my therapy as much as I should. I didn’t know what was going to happen with my training. However, I did my best to stay positive.
You made your debut on floor at the meet against Arkansas, the b-girl inspired routine seems to really fit your personality. How did you go about choosing the music?
Miss Val picks the music and does the choreography. The routine was originally performed by UCLA Alumna, Ariana Berlin in 2009. I love it, it’s probably my favorite routine I’ve done so far on floor. I definably think I’m able to show my personality and smile and have fun and not have to worry so much about the passes because they come so natural.
Is there someone you channel to get your mind focused and in the zone?
Yes, it’s Beyonce and her hit song “7/11.” I use a technique in which I choose a power a song and think of its words, its energy to take my mind off being so serious.
https://youtu.be/R79tD7w-0KA
Watch JaNay channel her inner Queen Bey to hit those fresh beats
What goals did you have coming into the season?
My preseason goals were to be a consistent and reliable competitor and to make line up. My postseason goals, bigger vaults, focus on cleaning up skills and applying corrections.
What new skills are you setting up for next season?
During the summer I worked on a double layout on floor. I would love to debut my Arabian double front next season on floor.
Tell us your mindset going into regionals, what are your goals?
My mindset is to keep things normal and enjoy the moment. Try not to make it more than it is. That’s definitely something I’ve learned coming in, stay calm, making sure to breathe and keeping things normal and don’t overthink anything. Reminding myself to keep a simple mind. My goal is to hit a solid vault and do what I know what to do. I want to lead off the team strong.
How does your team stay mentally tough in competition?
We’ve been focusing a lot on energy in the gym and keeping the energy up during practice. Positive synergy keeps the team together. We debrief and have team meetings to focus on mental toughness. We discuss as a group what we need as individuals to keep us mentally focused. For me it’s keeping a simple mind, another teammate might need a pep talk from a senior before going out. We all help each other out with mental toughness. We also meet with our sports psychologist.
Is there a ritual you all do together to get fired up for a meet?
We have a cheer/chant right before we go out. It’s great to have the seniors talk and reassure us before each event.
What challenges do you face being a collegiate athlete? Do you get to have a social life?
Being on a quarter system I have learned that time management is very important. This was something I struggled with all of high school. It finally clicked. I’ve found it easier to have a social life in college as opposed to high school. Our team is always together, we do everything together. It’s been easy to bond because we all have something in common.
You're majoring in Broadcast journalism, what are your career aspirations?
Once I’m a sophomore I can then declare Communications as my major and minor in English. I would love to be a TV reporter and interview people, work for ESPN that is my main goal after college.
What do you like to do for fun?
I love to DANCE! My teammate LaNiesha and I are always running dances and having fun dancing. I’m not around my family much right now but love to spend time with family and friends. My hobbies are photography and I enjoy going to movies.
Image Via LaNiesha Facebook
What motivational tips do you have for gymnasts striving to become a collegiate athlete?
To always remain positive and confident even if it’s a bad day. Those bad days will help you learn how to be stronger and to have a strong mindset. Remain positive even if people don’t believe in you or put you down you need to self-talk and keep that positive mindset because if you do have a goal and you strive towards it you will achieve it as long as you believe in yourself and put yourself around the right people to help you towards your goal.
JaNay is set to lead off the Bruins on vault and will be in the mix for bars. Don’t miss all the live action Saturday, April 4 at 6:00 PM ET. A live stream, along with live stats, will be available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com, live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.
Quite often we hear about a kid who demonstrates an excessive amount of energy, jumping off couches, swinging by their feet on the monkey bars, JaNay was that kid. Her parents needed an outlet for her high energy and at the age of five she cartwheeled her way to Central California Gymnastics Institute, Visalia Ca. She fell in love with the sport and a dream became a reality to make the roster and compete for UCLA, the 6-time NCAA Championship team.
Who do you owe your success to becoming a Bruin?
My parents, they supported my decision coming to UCLA. It has always been my dream to come here. They stuck by my side and supported every decision I made. Also my coach, Alan Nevins at CCGI he was my primary coach my senior year. We made a commitment to each other, to get to nationals and get to where I needed to be to have a great senior year.
Image via Alan Nevin's Facebook
“JaNay is an amazing athlete/person and I feel very privileged to have gotten the opportunity to work with her even if it was only for a short period of time. Working with her in her last season in J.O.s will always be a treasured memory of mine,” said Nevins. It is very rare to find an athlete let alone another person who inspires you to reach for something greater. JaNay was and still is that inspiration for me as well as for many other coaches and athletes at CCGI. I learned so much from her and I can't thank her enough for sharing a part of her journey with me. As far as having contributed to her success, I'm truly flattered to be mentioned by her but feel undeserved of it at the same time. It was JaNay's desire to be better that pushed me. We kept each other going,” said Nevins.
What adversities did you face during your journey?
I had a knee injury that set me back one or two years and needed surgery in the eighth grade. I had a relapse on my knee; I wasn’t keeping up with my therapy as much as I should. I didn’t know what was going to happen with my training. However, I did my best to stay positive.
You made your debut on floor at the meet against Arkansas, the b-girl inspired routine seems to really fit your personality. How did you go about choosing the music?
Miss Val picks the music and does the choreography. The routine was originally performed by UCLA Alumna, Ariana Berlin in 2009. I love it, it’s probably my favorite routine I’ve done so far on floor. I definably think I’m able to show my personality and smile and have fun and not have to worry so much about the passes because they come so natural.
Is there someone you channel to get your mind focused and in the zone?
Yes, it’s Beyonce and her hit song “7/11.” I use a technique in which I choose a power a song and think of its words, its energy to take my mind off being so serious.
https://youtu.be/R79tD7w-0KA
Watch JaNay channel her inner Queen Bey to hit those fresh beats
What goals did you have coming into the season?
My preseason goals were to be a consistent and reliable competitor and to make line up. My postseason goals, bigger vaults, focus on cleaning up skills and applying corrections.
What new skills are you setting up for next season?
During the summer I worked on a double layout on floor. I would love to debut my Arabian double front next season on floor.
Tell us your mindset going into regionals, what are your goals?
My mindset is to keep things normal and enjoy the moment. Try not to make it more than it is. That’s definitely something I’ve learned coming in, stay calm, making sure to breathe and keeping things normal and don’t overthink anything. Reminding myself to keep a simple mind. My goal is to hit a solid vault and do what I know what to do. I want to lead off the team strong.
How does your team stay mentally tough in competition?
We’ve been focusing a lot on energy in the gym and keeping the energy up during practice. Positive synergy keeps the team together. We debrief and have team meetings to focus on mental toughness. We discuss as a group what we need as individuals to keep us mentally focused. For me it’s keeping a simple mind, another teammate might need a pep talk from a senior before going out. We all help each other out with mental toughness. We also meet with our sports psychologist.
Is there a ritual you all do together to get fired up for a meet?
We have a cheer/chant right before we go out. It’s great to have the seniors talk and reassure us before each event.
What challenges do you face being a collegiate athlete? Do you get to have a social life?
Being on a quarter system I have learned that time management is very important. This was something I struggled with all of high school. It finally clicked. I’ve found it easier to have a social life in college as opposed to high school. Our team is always together, we do everything together. It’s been easy to bond because we all have something in common.
You're majoring in Broadcast journalism, what are your career aspirations?
Once I’m a sophomore I can then declare Communications as my major and minor in English. I would love to be a TV reporter and interview people, work for ESPN that is my main goal after college.
What do you like to do for fun?
I love to DANCE! My teammate LaNiesha and I are always running dances and having fun dancing. I’m not around my family much right now but love to spend time with family and friends. My hobbies are photography and I enjoy going to movies.
Image Via LaNiesha Facebook
What motivational tips do you have for gymnasts striving to become a collegiate athlete?
To always remain positive and confident even if it’s a bad day. Those bad days will help you learn how to be stronger and to have a strong mindset. Remain positive even if people don’t believe in you or put you down you need to self-talk and keep that positive mindset because if you do have a goal and you strive towards it you will achieve it as long as you believe in yourself and put yourself around the right people to help you towards your goal.
JaNay is set to lead off the Bruins on vault and will be in the mix for bars. Don’t miss all the live action Saturday, April 4 at 6:00 PM ET. A live stream, along with live stats, will be available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com, live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.