Standing at the chalk box next to the uneven bars, Katherine Hilton stands out as she is almost a head taller than the other gymnasts. Yet, it was not long ago Hilton did not stand out in the eyes of the coaches.
In her first collegiate competition, Jan. 31, 2003, Hilton performed a near-flawless bar routine that earned her a 9.925 and first place on the event. However, as late as December, she did not even know if she was officially on the team.
“When I competed my first routine, it was official,” Hilton said. “It was a great feeling.”
Hilton came to LSU in the fall of 2001. After a few practices, the coaching staff decided she was not what they needed.
“Her skill level was low,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. Breaux said last year’s team had a lot of depth, and it would have taken a lot of time to get Hilton where she needed to be.
The coaches felt it was not beneficial for Hilton to workout with the team at that point. They decided to allow her to train in the evenings where assistant coaches Bob Moore and Phillip Ogletree would sometimes be available, but she was mostly on her own.
“It’s hard to workout by yourself,” Hilton said.
Eventually during the spring semester of 2002, the coaches began allowing Hilton to come in half way through the team’s workout to practice.
“She kept getting better and better,” Breaux said.
Then Hilton was faced with another set of obstacles.
“They told me if I wanted a chance to be on the team, I would have to stay here over the summer and practice,” Hilton said.
Hilton knew staying over the summer would mean she’d have to pay to live in an apartment those extra months since she is from New Orleans. Financially, she was concerned about how to pay for it but ended up working out at LSU during the summer.
In the fall Hilton said she began receiving all the letters and information that the other team members received. She was technically on the team but did not feel part of it.
“She didn’t have a star on her locker,” said teammate Rachel Franzella.
Franzella said that all the team members have stars with their names on it hanging above their lockers, but Hilton did not.
Hilton said in practice she would see the coaches talking to each other, and it was hard to focus.
“I was thinking about what they were thinking about,” Hilton said.
Each individual athlete had a meeting with the coaches. Hilton said she was thinking that this was when they were going to tell her it was over. Instead she found that they really tried to find the best use of her talent. At that point, they decided to have Hilton concentrate solely on the uneven bars.
“One success led to another,” Breaux said. “She began hitting her routines when the other kids didn’t.”
Franzella said the other girls on the team began wondering when Hilton would get a chance to compete.
“She’s probably one of the most consistent ones in practice,” Franzella said.
Franzella said she was very excited when she found out Breaux had decided to put Hilton in the bar lineup and was confident Hilton could complete a good routine.
Hilton has competed in three meets so far for the Tigers and has been one of their top scorers on bars in two of them.
“I really am blessed to be an athlete at LSU,” Hilton said. ” Not being on the team before has made me appreciate it now.”
Hilton said she feels she has to work even harder now that people have higher expectations of her.
“I’ve watched other people who have reached a goal and just stopped there,” she said. “You can’t do that because people are going to have expectations.”
Hilton said she wants to continue improving while still enjoying the sport. She also said she now feels as though she can be a testament to God.
“Through my success I can give all my credit to God,” Hilton said.