March 18, 2008
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, "It is not so important who starts the game, but who finishes it." Mizzou senior gymnast Lisa Puccio is the type of person Coach Wooden was referring to. A senior on the MU gymnastics team, Puccio has battled her body and the odds to return to the gym for her last season and continue the elite athletic lifestyle that has shaped her so significantly.
Puccio is back in the bar lineup in 2008, despite tearing her ACL at last season's Black and Gold meet. Usually considered a career ending injury in gymnastics, Puccio is competing this season with a renewed sense of focus and purpose.
"I really had to reevaluate whether I wanted to do gymnastics or not because it is such a big injury," Puccio remembered. "I knew that it would be hard and I might not be as good as I was. I had to make sure that I was prepared for that, if that was the case. I decided with only one year left I didn't want to leave with any regrets, or leave on a bad note."
Her decision to remain dedicated to the sport was made easier by the support of her MU teammates.
"My teammates helped me. It made me a better person and a stronger gymnast," she said.
Elite gymnastics is Puccio's passion and is a lifestyle she has committed to for the past four years. A 20-hour a week obligation, that pushes the body and mind to limits regular MU students can not fathom, is something that has transformed Puccio's mindset since she came to MU from Gym Quarters in Kirkwood.
"Gymnastics has taught me to be a hard worker. I've learned to become a better person," she said.
This lifestyle is one that only Puccio's teammates can truly understand. They supported her through her injury and continue to look to her to lead them through her final season.
"We hang out a lot outside of the gym. We had an Austin Powers movie marathon on New Years Eve one year - it's kind of lame. But it's the type of thing you can share with athletes because no one else understands that you can't go out."
Puccio feels that she returns her teammates support with her positivity and leadership by example.
"I add variety to practice," Puccio said with a smile. "A sense of humor and a bit of spunk. I might not be the best gymnast on the team, but I help motivate everybody and keep things lighthearted."
Because this is her last season, Puccio is especially focused on making sure MU's team is left in positive, cohesive hands.
"We are doing a good job helping the juniors figure out where this team needs to go, what to expect as seniors and how to mold a team," Puccio said. "We are doing a pretty good job just putting everybody on the same page.
Outside of the gym, Puccio is also the team hairstylist. She began this tradition, her freshman year styling classmate Nikki Bowman's hair before competitions. Soon the whole team noticed her eye for flair.
After this year, Puccio plans to pursue a career that will keep her in athletics. She wants to stay around the sport that has given her lifelong friends, great memories and has made her the strong young woman she is today.
"I do want to stay in athletics and be an athletic director, or something. Because physically my body is ready to be done with gymnastics, but mentally and emotionally I'm not ready to give up the sport or the atmosphere of college athletics. It will be a nice change because I won't have to deal with the pressures of everyday practice, but I will still get that team camaraderie."
Story by Media Relations Student Assistant Julius Kerschinske
