Hittner shines at Regionals

On Saturday, Penn sophomore Lauren Hittner became the eighth gymnast in Quakers history to compete in the NCAA Regional Championship, hosted by Penn State. And perhaps the scariest part for her Ivy and ECAC rivals is the fact that she's been here at Penn for just a single season. After spending the majority of her freshman year battling mononucleosis at William and Mary and then transferring to Penn last semester, Hittner has seen her share of obstacles. In her first full season, however, she has made a name for herself not only in Penn gymnastics, but in the Northeast region as well. "Lauren did a great job," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "The fact that she was not only representing Penn but the Ivy League, as well as the ECAC, is certainly an honor." For Hittner, the competition provided a chance to compete with the top gymnasts in the country, including rotating with Florida's Chrissy Van Fleet, who captured first place in the all-around competition. "I could say it was a great experience just based on the outstanding gymnastics there," Hittner said. Also qualifying for the Quakers as an alternate both in the all-around and balance beam competitions was junior Jenn Capasso. "[By qualifying two gymnasts to regionals] it states that as a team, we're advancing to the next level. It's the best showing in the history of the program," Kovic said. Hittner started strongly by taking first place in the vault among individual all-arounders with a score of 9.625. From there, she faltered a bit, scoring a 9.000 on uneven bars and then rebounding to finish solidly with a 9.600 on beam and 9.425 on the floor exercise. "I have no regrets about the competition, but it definitely proved that there's room for improvement," Hittner said. In practice, Kovic noticed that Hittner wasn't entirely comfortable on bars, which may have affected her performance in competition. "It's difficult to compete as an individual without your teammates with you on the floor to cheer you on," Kovic said. "Her performance wasn't the best of the season, but she took away something more important -- the realization that she can compete with the best in the region as well as the country." In retrospect, Hittner's most important memories stem from her experiences with the team. "I'll definitely remember the team we had this season," Hittner said. "They came out and supported me [at Penn State], which definitely provided a boost. It was nice to have my own cheering spot in the crowd." Both athlete and coach are now looking forward to next season to continue building on the success of the team and the strength of the program. "The biggest goal right now is to keep Lauren, and the team as a whole, healthy," Kovic said. Hittner is anticipating the new challenges that lay before her. "I'm looking forward to improving next season and learning new skills and going back to Regionals," she said. The memory of competing at regionals won't fade any time soon, however. "Just being there is something I'll never forget," Hittner said. And unfortunately for Ivy and ECAC competitors, Hittner is here at Penn for another two seasons, and she looks to only get better.