Live Hilton: A Foreign Phenomenon

By Mark Brown
Assistant Sports Director

Live Hilton, pronounced LEEV-UH, has been a major asset for the Texas State track and field team these past three months. The true freshman standout reigns from Norway and is already putting up numbers for Bobcat Head Coach Jody Stewart’s roster. Not only is she a sprinter, but also competes in both field and relay events. Hilton has already participated at the infamous Texas Relays this season and many other major meets for Texas State. At this point, fans are probably wondering not only how she landed here in San Marcos, but how she found out about the school itself.

“It’s pretty special,” Hilton said. “There’s not a lot of Norwegian people here so I had to adjust to speaking English and not specifically Norwegian all the time. I talked with a Norwegian company because I wanted to get help with my paperwork in order for American schools to discover me.”

Hilton was a major standout at her high school in Norway, which propelled her recruiting database. Once her paperwork and accolades were officially listed in her database, schools swiftly began to contact her with the hopes of landing her at their institutions. Once the Texas State coaching staff discovered Hilton, she immediately became interested in what they had to offer with her.

“The Norwegian company helped me send emails to the Texas State coaching staff and once I received their feedback, I got a chance to FaceTime them,” Hilton said. “So that’s how I got to know about Texas State. I got a chance to travel to Texas and visit the school prior to signing with them as well.”

With being nearly five thousand miles away from home, Hilton does indeed miss her family. The last time she physically saw them was during Christmas time, but she keeps in touch with them on a regular basis. With the beauty of today’s technology, she has unlimited chances of FaceTiming them similar to what she did with the Texas State coaching staff.

“It was kind of weird for my mother to process the fact that I was halfway across the world initially,” Hilton said. “Both my brother and I moved out so she’s home alone. FaceTime helps a lot and although it’s pretty hard since I miss them, I’m excited to go home and see them beginning in June.”

With that being said, Live Hilton will compete back home in Norway this summer while spending time with her family. Moving forward, Hilton says she enjoys hanging out with her teammates and adjusting to American pop culture. She’s traveled to several major cities and states in the US and enjoys every bit of it. Texas has been quite of a culture shock to her compared to New York City and other northern states.

“When I first heard of Texas State, I expected the terrain to be desert-like, along with people being extremely country,” Hilton said. “Instead, San Marcos, Austin and San Antonio blew my mind with the diversity and hospitality. Everyone either likes rap music or they’re very friendly.”

Texas State head coach Jody Stewart was interviewed on Bobcat Radio, KTSW’s radio sports talk show that takes place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The Monday crew discussed his biggest takeaways from the season so far and what his expectations are in the next coming meets on schedule. Live Hilton was mentioned by him in regards to helping the team score some points in the upcoming meets.

“We’ve had many new guys that have scored and placed for us,” Stewart said. “From Myles Anders, Nick Watts to Live Hilton on the women’s side, I’m so far satisfied with our performance. Live has done many great things for us so far and I can’t wait to see her prosper in these next coming meets.”

Featured photo by Texas State Athletics.