May 23, 2008

Auburn, Ala. - Kurt Hettinger has been named assistant gymnastics coach at Auburn University, Auburn gymnastics head coach Jeff Thompson announced Friday. Hettinger comes to Auburn after serving as an assistant at Kent State for the previous five years.

"I am extremely excited about this opportunity," Hettinger said. "I am so glad that Jeff and Rachelle (Thompson, associate head coach) offered this to me. I can't wait to get to Auburn and start working with the team and helping the program reach the top of the Southeastern Conference and get back to the NCAA Championship."

Hettinger brings six years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently at Kent State from 2003-08, where he helped the Golden Flashes to the 2008 Mid-American Conference Championship.

A native of Tuscola, Ill., Hettinger oversaw the uneven bars for the Golden Flashes, leading the squad to a top 25 ranking in 2007, and coaching former Kent State gymnast Kristin Peters to the 2007 MAC uneven bars title. Hettinger helped direct the program to a pair of MAC Championships (2005, 2008) and three consecutive MAC Regular season titles (2006, `07, `08).

"We are very excited that we were able to attract such a great young college coach to Auburn," said Thompson. "Kurt was praised for his contagious enthusiasm from everyone we contacted and will be the perfect fit for our position. He is ready to help us clear the final barriers to becoming a perennial top 10 team while continuing to advance toward his own personal goal of one day becoming a head gymnastics coach."

In addition to his coaching duties at Kent State, the 30-year-old managed summer camps and served as the recruiting coordinator for Kent State.

Prior to his stint at Kent State, Hettinger served as a part-time assistant for the University of Illinois men's gymnastics program from 2002-2003. Hettinger also coached on the club level, working as optional team coach for Flytz Gymnastics in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and as head coach of Champaign County YMCA Boy's Gymnastics in Champaign, Ill.

Hettinger was a four-year letterwinner on the University of Illinois men's gymnastics team from 1996-99. He graduated from Illinois in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in history and earned a master's in Education from Kent State in 2005. He and his wife, Katherine, were married on July 29, 2006.