Whether it is flipping and twisting on a mat, or into the water, he is unstoppable.

Penn State senior Adam Pierce is considered a rarity in collegiate athletics, as he has had the opportunity to participate in two different sports.

When Pierce was in high school, he was a stellar athlete in gymnastics -- he was a four-time national gymnastics championship qualifier and finished 23rd in the nation his senior year.

Pierce wanted to pursue men's gymnastics in college but there were not many schools in his native Texas offering the sport. Pierce began searching for schools in the North to pursue his dream. Penn State recruited him to do just that.

"When I left high school, I thought I wanted to do gymnastics all throughout college," Pierce said. "I really liked Penn State because of its pride, tradition and, when I came for a visit, I fell in love with the campus. The balance that it provided with academics and athletics was really appealing to me."

Pierce started his freshman year strong in gymnastics, where he excelled at the sport he had been a part of for 12 years. However, something surprising changed for Pierce in the first year of competition. He simply lost his desire and passion for gymnastics.

"There was nothing that really stopped me from doing the sport," Pierce said. "I just didn't have that passion that I did when I was a little kid. I did well when I competed for Penn State, and I had a great time with the team. I just kind of fell out of love with the sport."

After the sudden change of heart, Pierce was left with a decision to make: what now? After some thought, Pierce decided that the best thing for him was to dive for the Nittany Lions.

Pierce became familiar with the sport since his high school acted as the Olympic training center for the U.S. diving team and his younger sister was also a competitive diver. Pierce remembered the sport being a nice fit for him in the past.

"I felt like I had more natural talent with that sport," Pierce said. "It felt easier for me to do. When I got to the point that I didn't want to do gymnastics anymore, it just made sense to try diving.

"I did gymnastics for 12 years, and diving seemed like a comfortable transition. It had some of the same fundamentals as gymnastics. I liked gymnastics because of the flipping and twisting, and diving obviously has those elements."

It did not take long for Pierce to successfully adjust to the new sport. In just his second year of diving, Pierce finished in fifth place on the 1-meter board at the Big Ten Championships. Pierce quickly drew attention as a collegiate diver.

"To make that leap from gymnastics to diving, people think it's easy," Penn State diving coach Craig Brown said. "We do things biomechanically, completely different. It's like learning a whole new sport, and to do it and learn to be as successful as he is in such a short amount of time is really sending a message to everybody else."

One Penn State athlete that has received that message is junior diver Kimberlee Peifer. Similar to Pierce, Peifer began her college career competing in another sport -- she was a pole-vaulter on the Penn State track and field team -- before joining the diving squad. Peifer quickly found a connection with Pierce and began learning as much as she could.

"He'll see when I have something wrong, and he'll correct me," Peifer said. "Not just vocally, but just watching him I can pick up on things that he does. He's just a good motivator, too, so that has helped me."

Pierce has proven to be a qualified leader for the entire team. Coaches and athletes alike have praised his qualities. His work ethic, intensity, desire, and passion have made him into a fantastic athlete and teammate.

"That's what he brings to the program, a lot of intensity," Brown said. "His desire to do really, really well all the time, every day. Every day does-

n't count to some of the folks, and every day really makes a difference. For Adam, every day is an opportunity to get better."

Seeing every day as an opportunity is a quality Pierce has also used in his life outside of athletics. For an athlete, Pierce has given a tremendous amount back to the Penn State campus and community.

Pierce has acted as a Lion Ambassador, an entertainment captain for the 2005 Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, an Entertainment Captain at the Centennial Ceremony last year and has been involved in other community-related projects.

"He's just an amazing person," Peifer said. "He's done so much for the Penn State campus and the sport of diving. He's worked hard, and he's just a fun guy to be around and just very well rounded."

The hard work has definitely paid off for Pierce this season. He has competed in both the 1- and 3-meter board dive and has taken first in the majority of this year's meets. Pierce has also been honored with the Big Ten Diver of the Week title five times this season.

Pierce and the rest of the Nittany Lions will travel to Indiana University for the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships starting on Thursday. Other upcoming meets for Pierce include the NCAA Diving Zone and the NCAA championships. As always, Pierce has his goals set high for the rest of the season.

"My main goal is to be in the top three at Big Tens on both boards," Pierce said. "At the NCAA championships, my goal is to be in the top eight on both boards, which would give me All-American status."

If Pierce comes away with a victory at the Zone meet, he would then automatically qualify for nationals. Last year, Pierce was ranked 19th, which made him miss the Olympic trials by just two meets.

The possibility of Olympic competition is tempting, but for right now, Pierce is not sure about his diving future. Whether he is capable of being a contender is not as much of an issue.

"I think he's got some left in him to pursue it for another year or two," Brown said. "I think he can be a contender at least in the springboard event. He's already done so much in such a short amount of time that I think he's pretty satisfied with what he's gotten accomplished."

Olympics may not be at the forefront of his mind, but Pierce is thinking about his future after graduation. He plans on taking his flips and turns to an audition for Cirque de Soleil, a group of acrobatic entertainers. He also plans on attending nursing school to pursue his career in the health-care field. Wherever Pierce's plans will take him, he is very grateful for his four years here at Penn State.

"It has been phenomenal," Pierce said. "I have made my best friends here at Penn State. I definitely feel that my experience here has prepared me for the real world, which I'm excited to enter. I think Penn State has prepared me to go on to bigger and better things."