Larry Hibler describes his daughter, Courtney, as the “Comeback Kid.” Courtney Hibler, a senior on the Sacramento State gymnastics team, has gone through ups and downs in her 17-year gymnastics career, hitting a massive low point last March in San Jose.

Hibler was first up on the floor rotation for the Hornets on March 10, 2006, in the Spartan Gym. She finished her second tumble pass and felt a pop in her right knee.

“I felt the biggest pop I have ever felt in my body,” she said.

Hibler missed the final four meets of her junior year, but knew she didn’t want to end her career being carried off the floor by coach Kim Hughes.

Hibler has gone through a year of recovery in order to complete a goal she made after her knee injury last March.

Hibler’s personal goal was to be able to perform in the senior meet, held in March.”If that meant doing a cartwheel on the high beam on senior night, then so be it,” she said.

The senior meet is the final home meet, Sunday in the Hornets Nest.

“We wanted to set a realistic goal,” Hughes said.

The five-foot gymnast said she wasn’t about to take the easy road and just quit, seeing as she had only one more year of eligibility since she was going to graduate in the spring of 2007.

“She couldn’t bear the thought of not donning the leotard again,” junior Nicole Giao said. “She’s been determined to get back.”

Hibler said she wasn’t going to give up 17 years of work and wasn’t ready to let gymnastics go.

Hibler tottered with baby steps, working her way back to the sport she loved and was excited when she was able to walk across the beam for the first time in September.

“The little things were exciting,” she said.

Hughes said she has been training hard and doing a bit of every event.

Throughout her recovery time, she has had the support of her coaches, teammates, family and boyfriend, Nick Gaines, a senior at Sac State.

“God couldn’t keep her from doing something she loves,” Gaines said. “Gymnastics is more than a hobby (for her), it’s a lifestyle.”

Assistant coach Randy Solorio said that senior night is when he gets “gooey.”

“When you see the athletes work so hard – you see their highs and their lows – you know them,” he said.

She said her time away from competition has been an emotional roller coaster, but she’s ready to put all of her training out there for everyone to see during the senior meet. Her family and friends will be in attendance to support and cheer her on.

“I remember trying to decide whether or not to take off my competition leotard because, ultimately, I didn’t know if it would be the last time I would ever have it on,” Hibler said.

She will get that chance again on Sunday as she performs an exhibition routine on the beam.

“It’s 100 percent for her. A closure on her gymnastics career,” Assistant coach Tami Ross said.

Hibler said she has been hitting her beam routine and will only be performing in the exhibition on Sunday. “I think [senior night] is going to be more exciting to put the competition leotard back on,” she said.

Although she was handed a longer recovery time, she was determined to come back and finish her gymnastics career on a high note.

Ross heads the beam rotation and said once she felt Hibler was physically able then she assigned her the same work as the other gymnasts, but was surprised at her quick recovery.

“She’s doing very well. I did not anticipate she’d be this far along this soon,” she said.

During the summer break, Hibler would train for nine hours each week and was the only person in her hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., lifting weights with crutches in the 24-Hour Fitness gym. Her father or younger sister Erin often assisted with the grueling training.

“A lot of people told her to give up,” Erin said. “She wasn’t going to accept that. She would work on arm machines and then crutch over to the weight benches and she would (tell me), ‘I need a 15-pounder.'”

Hughes said Hibler chose to be a part of the team for four years and wanted to stay with the team.

The next step was to schedule surgery. At that point, Hibler thought she only had an ligament tear.

She thought she would only be out for four to six months with the ACL tear, but woke up to a full leg brace. Larry was by her side and said, “They found a meniscus tear.”

Hibler said all she could do was cry. She knew her four to six month recovery would be increased to eight months to a year.

After returning to Sacramento and the Hornets in late August, Hibler continued to train and moved into a house with teammate,Amber Basgall, and fourth-year student assistant Jamie Donkin who were also going through the recovery of knee injuries.

Hibler said Basgall and she talked about their injuries and worked together throughout the recovery. Basgall only had an ACL tear.

Floor is Hibler’s preferred event, but she said due to the hard impact from three tumble passes, it would be too much on the knee too soon.

“I get to dance (on the floor) at practice. What made my routines unique were the dances,” she said.

Hibler knows the senior meet will be the final notch in her gymnastics career, but thinks about coaching in the future.

“I want to know that I can look back and say I did everything I could,” she said.

During her stay in Scottsdale over the summer, she coached teams at Sunrays Gymnastics, under her former coach Dan Witenstien.

Coaching would be a hobby on the side of her career in physical therapy. Hibler is set to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. Her injury was the result of a competition against the San Jose Spartans in San Jose. Hibler hopped three times, grabbed her knee, and fell to the ground.

“The minute she hit the ground (my wife and I) were stunned,” Larry said.

He said she was injured in high school, but came back to claim the Western National All-Around Gymnastics Champ in level 9 competition.

“She’s like a comeback kid,” he said. Hibler said “Cuz you had a bad day,” lyrics from Daniel Powder’s “Bad Day” could be heard throughout the Spartan Gym after technicians turned her floor music off and all she could think was, ‘that was ironic.’

Hughes was first to run to her side, Hibler said. Assistant coaches Ross and Solorio came to her side and did their best to calm her.

“I remember Randy saying, ‘I need you to breathe for me, sweetie,'” she said. The team pulled together and held hands while Hibler tested positive for an ACL tear.

“It was the ultimate display of teamwork,” Hibler said. Karyn Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]