Adversity causes some people to break but drives others to achieve new heights.
LSU redshirt freshman gymnast Kaleigh Dickson would be placed in the latter group.
Dickson was primed to contribute as an all-arounder during her true freshman season in 2010, but less than a month before the season started, that plan came to a crashing halt — literally.
During Christmas break, the Oldsmar, Fla., native was practicing her floor exercise routine at her home gym when she landed on a dead spot on the floor.
The rough landing resulted in a compression fracture in Dickson’s right tibial plateau. The leg required surgery to insert a screw.
Dickson’s season was lost.
“I had worked through the preseason, which is the toughest part because of the 6 a.m. workouts and getting my routine together,” Dickson said. “And I was finally ready. I was going to be in the all-around. I was finally getting my bar routine [worked out]. I was devastated.”
Her road to recovery came full circle two weeks ago when she tallied a 39.075 score at the NCAA Regional meet and qualified for the NCAA Championships on Friday.
She would redshirt in 2010 and spent the year doing rehab on her leg by working out as much as she could and doing range-of-motion exercises to prevent herself from losing flexibility.
Dickson followed her rehab regiment religiously.
“She was spending equal time [in the training room] to what we were spending training,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux.
“She was working out and doing range of motion.”
By the middle of the summer Dickson was back in the gym doing work on the uneven bars and running her tumble tracks on the floor but not doing any work on her tumbling.
That didn’t come until October, when she finally felt confident in the strength of her leg.
As the season came and went, Dickson competed in the all-around in all but one meet — the season opener at Oregon State.
Though she was just a year off the injury, Breaux was not satisfied with Dickson simply being in the lineup.
“I did a lot of cajoling and motivating and challenging this year for her to step up and be the best all-arounder,” Breaux said. “There were other kids doing the all-around, like Sarie Morrison, who did a great job for us cranking out 39s in the middle of the season, and Kaleigh seemed to be OK with being the second all-arounder on the team.”
Breaux’s words had a strong effect on Dickson down the stretch of the season. She scored higher than 39.000 at the both the Southeastern Conference Championship and the NCAA Regional meets.
“She didn’t make [the Regional] bigger in her mind than it was,” Breaux said. “And now she’s going to the national championships.”
Dickson credits her injury as the driving force behind her stellar season.
“After I had that setback last year, I was extra eager to come out and get better and do what I wanted to do last year,” Dickson said.
Breaux hasn’t set expectations this weekend other than hoping Dickson displays the consistency she has shown week-in and week-out this season.
But most of all, Breaux is glad she has gotten the opportunity to work with someone as special as Dickson.
“She’s just one of those kids that tries to do everything right,” Breaux said. “She tries to please everybody, but it’s not a conscious effort. She just does the right thing. She says the right things, and she’s a giver. You just enjoy giving to the kids that are givers.”
 
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]