What the girl really loved about her sport were the summers. Those carefree days when she could go to the gym and flip around with her friends. But then, the lords of junior high gymnastics wanted more. They wanted her to perform new, dangerous feats.

To use her own words, she "dreaded" the new moves. They scared her. She lost total confidence in herself as a gymnast. Her life had become a paradox -- she loved gymnastics, but she feared it. How could she continue in a sport she dreaded?

The girl's struggles were obvious to those around her -- her coach at the time, Frank Klein, said she "had no confidence, she was fearful." Even her always-supportive mother threatened to pull her from the sport if she could not reconcile her fears. April Polito was 13 years old and at a crossroads.

Fast forward eight years to early 1994 and Polito is putting the final touches on one of the most successful Penn State sports careers of the 1990s. In her three-plus years in Happy Valley, Polito has been an All-American, a team captain and a record setter. So the question must be asked: what happened to that scared little girl?

The beginning of Polito's metamorphosis from fearful adolescent to confident college gymnast can be traced to her 10th-grade year at North Hills high school in suburban Pittsburgh. It was then that Polito qualified, albeit barely, for her first-ever national gymnastics competition. And while her performance at nationals was nothing to write home about -- she finished near last out of 50 -- the lessons she learned there were. Because it was there, in the midst of great gymnasts, that April Polito realized she belonged with the best. She realized that with enough work she could master the moves which once terrified her and conquer the gymnasts who once defeated her.

And work she did, until Polito, as a determined 11th-grader, finished 10th at nationals. It was more than just a high finish -- it signalled her victory over the fears and self-doubt that once plagued her. Polito had beaten some of the best high school gymnasts in the nation, and from that point on, there was no looking back.

The new, confident Polito set a goal to win nationals as a senior. And after a great regular season, including high finishes at states and regionals, she was on pace to meet it -- until fate intervened. The day before the meet, Polito dislocated her elbow, forcing her out of competiton.

Maybe the 13-year-old Polito would have let the adversity affect her, but the 18-year old Polito would not. The next year, Penn State freshman April Polito would become the first Lady Lion All-American in five years.

Polito suffered another injury setback in October of her sophomore year -- this time a broken leg. But when the redhead returned in February, she returned like a ball of fire, her season culminating with a Penn State record-tying 9.9 in the floor exercise. Not coincidentally, the team finished No. 4 in the nation.

The following year, Polito's season was a mirror of the team's --in a phrase, injury-riddled. Polito suffered an ankle injury in February and battled it the rest of the season, as the team valiantly finshed No. 11 nationally.

Although Polito, an exercise and sport science major who will not graduate until December, is in the midst of the final season of a gymnastics career she began two-thirds of a lifetime ago, she said she does not dwell on its finality.

"I live for the moment," she said, adding that she won't really be away from the team because she and current teammates Bridget Foley and Michelle Manzolillo will live together next year.

After graduation, Polito said she is thinking of pursuing an associate degree as a physician's assistant, or coaching gymnastics. Coaching appeals to her, she said, because she still loves her sport.

"Some (college gymnasts), never want to see the gym (after college) -- not me," Polito said.

Yes, April Polito could look back on 14 years of gymnastics and reflect, talk about past glory if she wanted to, but that's not her style. Because in life, there are always new routines to be learned, new competition to be defeated, new fears to overcome.