University Park, Pa.- Kristen Politz held hands and walked with young gymnasts from Harrisburg Gymnastics as she took the floor for player introductions and prepared for Penn State's meet last weekend against Michigan.
Politz, who was wearing a navy blue sweat suit with FTK (For The Kids) written on the back of the sweatshirt in support of THON, stood with the Harrisburg gymnasts in preparation for the meet. Coming into the meet, she had competed in front of about 13,000 fans at Utah in Penn State's season opener, where she helped the Nittany Lions post their best beam performance in a season opener since 2004 and performed well on beam against Illinois to help the team earn its first Big Ten win this season.
However, this meet was different.
Making her season debut on the uneven bars, Politz scored a 9.775 and added to the success she's had on beam this season.
"This season has been full of excitement and notable experiences," Politz said. "As an upperclassman on the team this year, I feel as if I am more comfortable competing in the collegiate landscape."
Although Politz has become more comfortable competing in college, she has had to adjust along the way.
As a freshman, she competed in the all-around for Penn State, earning an All-Big Ten Second Team honor and competing at the NCAA Regional. But when she returned for her sophomore year, Politz was battling an injury, which she had to work hard to recover from.
While she continued to battle and push through her injury, she competed on bars, beam and floor for Penn State, setting career-bests on bars (9.925) and beam (9.850). However, even though Politz had success competing, she had to make changes to her routines, specifically her floor routine.
She was used to doing difficult skills on floor but after she got injured that became more difficult. She worked with the Penn State coaching staff regularly to change the number of tumbling passes she did on floor to make it easier on her body. Not only did her coaches provide her with support while she made these adjustments, but her teammates and family did as well.
"In a sport like gymnastics, there are always ups and downs," Politz said. "My teammates, family and overall support system are the main reasons why I have been able to push through the tough times."
Politz, now a junior, has also found comfort and healing in her Catholic faith while continuing to persevere.
As Politz continued competing for the gymnastics team, she also served as one of two team representatives on Penn State's SAAB (Student Athlete Advisory Board). As a team representative on SAAB, she has gotten the opportunity to voice her opinion, organize events and improve the lives of student-athletes at Penn State. Within SAAB, she is a member of the Special Events committee, where she stays engaged by organizing community service and team bonding events.
Penn State head coach Sarah Brown noted that Politz is a well-rounded student athlete, as she was named to the Academic All-Big Ten last year.
"She's taking on a ton outside of athletics and academics to make sure she is not only getting a great experience here, but she's helping out her teammates as well," Brown said.
The junior spent last summer completing a marketing internship at home in New Jersey, which was her first real work experience. She has been applying to marketing and supply chain internships for this upcoming summer and her dream internship would be working on the business side at a sports brand company.
Brown is confident Politz will land one of the incredible internships she is applying for and is excited for her future.
"She is going to have an amazing life beyond athletics so I feel like she's doing a great job right now in her current role, but what's most exciting for me is what her future's going to look like," Brown said.
One of the most important things to Politz outside gymnastics is her family.
Growing up both of Politz's brothers, Michael and Kevin, played soccer. Kevin went on to play soccer collegiately at Wake Forest and his success as a student-athlete inspired her to excel at Penn State. Kevin now plays soccer professionally for Greenville Triumph in the USL (United Soccer League), but sporting events are still enjoyable bonding activities for the Politz family.
"My parents are beyond supportive and attend just about all of my gymnastics competitions as well as Kevin's soccer games," Politz said.
This season Politz has competed primarily on beam for Penn State, but with her successful performance on bars versus Michigan, she is set to also compete on bars again this week at the Big Five Meet in Toledo, Ohio.
As the season winds down, Politz is focused on staying aggressive and confident in practice and at meets.
"As always, consistency is key, and so my goal is to continue hitting routines both in the gym and at competitions," Politz said.
