Mary Lou Retton may have an Olympic gold medal, but at the height of her success she wasn't old enough to drive a car.

Junior Tracy Kerner said her gymnastics is the best it has ever been, and she has a driver's license and is en route to a bachelor's degree.

As a member of the women's gymnastics team, Kerner has the best of both worlds. She can participate in high-level gymnastics competition and not make the sacrifices of a world-class athlete.

"Competing in the Olympics," the Lady Lion gymnast said, "you give up a lot of your life."

When Kerner was nine, she had aspirations of standing on an Olympic podium with a gold medal around her neck, but her gymnastics career was geared toward competing in college.

"A lot of girls are starting when they are pretty young and being pushed to be better," Kerner said.

The last three Olympic gold medalists in women's gymnastics all around,

Tatiana Gutsu (Unified Team, 1992), Yelena Shushunova (USSR, 1988) and Mary Lou Retton (USA, 1984), were under 16 years old.

The movement toward younger gymnasts has a lot to do with their smaller size. They have less body weight, which works in their favor.

"It think prepubescent women have an advantage physically," Women's Gymnastics Coach Steve Shephard said. "They are built a lot differently than mature women."

Although women's collegiate gymnasts are "over the hill" according to international standards, the intensity of NCAA competition makes it just as exciting for the gymnasts.

Also, Olympic gymnasts must compete in every event, whereas collegiate gymnasts may compete in any combination of the four events. Because of the different format, "the emphasis in college is on the team," Shephard said. "In collegiate gymanstics, you can specialize."

As young girls have filed into gymnastics clubs all over the country, young boys with the same Olympic aspirations followed them. But men's gymnastics takes a different direction.

Because some events in men's gymnastics require greater strength, the apparatuses pose more difficulty for younger men because they are not as strong as more mature gymnasts. Male gymnasts peak around the time they are sophomores or juniors in college, so they can compete on a national and collegiate level at the same time. Although it is difficult, many gymnasts on the U.S. national team compete on a collegiate level.

"Every top gymnast in the country comes from collegiate programs," Michigan gymnast Bob Young said. "Collegiate gymnastics is the grass roots of national gymnastics."

Young's statement is backed by the fact that four -- John Roethlisberger (Minnesota), Scott Keswick (UCLA), Chainey Umphrey (UCLA) and Blaine Wilson (Ohio State) -- of the top five finishers in the 1994 Winter Nationals were from collegiate programs.

The high number of national gymnasts from collegiate programs may attract men to NCAA competition. Freshman Lion gymnast J.M. Michel said competing in college was something he always wanted, even when he was with a private gymnastics club.

"After high school, you do want to go to college," he said. "Penn State is a good place for that."

Mark Cooper, who competed in the junior Olympics from ages 15-18, said he always wanted to be an NCAA gymnast.

"I'm not sure why," the junior said. "(The Olympics) is such a long shot to give up an opportunity to go to college."

It is also more difficult for collegiate gymnasts to simultaneously prepare for national meets. Since the team only competes optional routines, the gymnasts have less time to perfect compulsories, which are necessary to be competitive on a national level.