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Alone on the board
Written By: Anderson Herald Bulletin
MIDDLETOWN — Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman certainly doesn’t feel like a girl without a country or a stranger in a strange land.
Hillman, who placed seventh in the IHSAA state diving competition a season ago as a sophomore, is without a team of Raiders to support her effort. But she is undaunted by that fact.
She practices mostly with the Pendleton Heights swim team and will compete only at the Arabians’ home meets.
“It’s not a problem at all,†Hillman said. “I have a lot of friends on that team. They have welcomed me. (The PH pool) is my home away from home. I’m there three, four or five hours a day.â€
She is coached by Kevin Rockhill, who is part of the Pendleton Stars Diving Club. He also believes that not having a team won’t affect her season and preparation for the state meet.
“It is a matter of repetition and practice,†Rockhill said. “We could go on the road to every Pendleton Heights meet, but we choose not to. The team there and the coaches have been very good at accepting her. You don’t want to feel like an outsider where you go to train.â€
Rockhill is also quick to point out that the sport is one for individuals and there is a sorority of sorts among the state’s top divers anyway.
“The ones you compete against in the state meet are the same ones you dive against all summer,†Rockhill said. “The top 20 divers all know each other. They are all really competitive to beat each other. They focus for two seconds every 20 minutes or so and then they are back together.â€
The synergy between coach and student is a key element.
“We are really close,†Hillman said. “The girls tease me that he’s like my second father. When I do something wrong he really doesn’t even have to tell me. I know what it is.â€
She is in her fourth year as a diver. She had played some volleyball in the past. Now, diving is her focus.
Last August, she won the age group nationals on the 10-meter tower. “My real love is platform diving,†Hillman said.
Another successful platform diver, Elwood’s Mary Beth Dunnichay, has also provided some inspiration.
“Her success on the Olympic team has made me strive to be a better diver,†Hillman said. “It’s made me want to work harder.â€
To put in the time in the pool plus the hours on the road to and from Pendleton, some priorities must be sorted and aligned.
“I think I live in my car,†Hillman said. “Sometimes it gets a little hectic. But my homework comes first no matter what. It isn’t unusual to find me doing my studying while using the trampoline.â€
So her goal this season is to improve upon her seventh-place finish from 2008.
“I’m not always that convinced I’m a good diver,†Hillman said. “You’d have to talk to my coach about that.â€
He apparently believes she is.
“Last year didn’t surprise me at all,†Rockhill said. “We were pointing for a top eight finish. She has very good body awareness and is technically strong.â€
Posted 11-19-08 |
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