GOOD SPORTS: Visalia gymnasts Logan Clagg & Destiny Watley

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- To excel in gymnastics, you need to start young. Visalia's Logan Clagg did just that starting at the age of two. "I came to the realization that I could go to college for this," Clagg said. "I was seeing all the older girls going."

Logan is now one of those older girls. Last fall, with a number of offers on the table, she committed to UC Davis.

In the same gym, named the Central California Gymnastics Institute, there's another college commit but one who took a different path to get there. "I started pretty late," said Destiny Watley. "Usually people start when they're younger, I started when I was 8-years-old and then I took time off, came back and now I'm here."

Watley just committed to Sacramento State, and it's the end of a long road taken by her and her single mom. "It was every day, day-to-day we were going to make it happen for our children, we just didn't know how," said her mom Mashika Bowen.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it took a gym to help destiny reach her potential. Coach Donna Scheu helped with entry fees, parents helped carpool to and from Hanford, and her mom even worked two jobs in construction to get it done. "I don't mind doing it, if that's what it takes to get my kids to be successful and go where they're going, I will do it all over again," Bowen said.

But as hard as it is to get a scholarship, it's even harder to make it to Nationals. "It's like the Super Bowl of gymnastics," Clagg said.

Logan is going to Nationals for the second straight year, but a short time ago it seemed impossible. "You don't know what to do because you see your daughter hurt out there at the sport that she loves and then you think its over. She's never going to be able to do it again," said her mom Darlene Clagg.

Four years ago Logan dislocated her elbow during a competition and was rushed to Valley Children's Hospital. "I definitely had to get more time in the gym and work harder than I have been because I grew a lot and so getting from where I was to where I am is a huge accomplishment," Logan said.

Now, having overcome an injury that could have derailed her college career, she's ready for the national spotlight and looking to improve on her 12th place finish from the previous year.

Logan is one of nearly 700 gymnasts competing at Junior Nationals in Cincinnati this weekend, and she is the only one from the Central Valley.