The first test Kathryn Sloan ever took when she arrived to play soccer at Louisiana Tech was the annual preseason fitness test given by head coach Kevin Sherry.

To pass you have to complete the following:

Run 115 yards in 20 seconds and back 115 yards in 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds, run 6x40 yard shuttles in 60 seconds, rest 75 seconds and repeat five times.

Sloan did not pass that test, but the senior has yet to fail another one since her freshman season.

"I worked really hard the summer after my freshman year," Sloan remembered. "My dad took me out to the field and we ran every week. So when I came down here my sophomore year, I passed it. I knew what it took and was never going to fail it again and I haven't.

"You have to push yourself. You always think you are not going to make it because you are hurting. You just have to push through it and keep going."

There certainly hasn't been any failing on the pitch during the season for Sloan. Ever since the Kansas City, Missouri native came to Ruston in 2013, she has led the Lady Techsters in points and goals each season.

The striker with deceptive speed is a two-time All-Conference USA honoree, a two-time All-Louisiana selection and was named Louisiana Player of the Year as a sophomore.

She is currently on pace to break career program records for most points and goals. Of her 27 career goals, her most memorable one may have been missed by a lot of people since it happened so quickly.

"Kathryn is the player who leads the line upfront," Sherry said. "Her goals have turned games and I have lost count of how many times she has come up with a goal to win a game when the final outcome could have gone either way. My favorite goal of hers was the one that she scored in just 11 seconds at the start of the game two seasons ago versus Southern Miss."

As if her soccer accomplishments were not enough, there are plenty of other exams of an academic variety that she has passed with flying colors. Better yet, she delivers aces on a regular basis in the classroom in the form of a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in Communication Arts and Design.

Sloan quickly attributes her academic success to two things ... preparation and time management.

"I went to a private school which is called a college prep school," Sloan said in referring to The Barstow School. "It really helped prepare me. I felt ahead of the game. I knew how to study. Then there is time management. If you can do something and finish it early and get it out of the way, do it because sooner or later something is going to come up and create overload. You have to know yourself. Me, if I have to study for a test, I am studying three days in advance."

Getting a B has never been good enough for Sloan. She simply works harder, studies more and admittedly annoys her teachers to help out if she doesn't understand something (however there was that last B that showed up on her report card senior year in probability and statistics).

As amazing as some of the goals she has scored with her feet, even more amazing are the things she paints and draws with her hands.

"I have always loved art," Sloan said. "I love being creative. Drawing, painting, whatever comes to my head. It has always been something that I've loved. I always have art pens and X-Acto knives and rulers with me. I love the graphic design program."

To no surprise, the awards have piled in when it comes to academics as well. Sloan has been chosen to the Conference USA All-Academic First Team for the past two years and is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.

The most treasured individual honor of them all though came at the end of last season when she became the first Lady Techster in the soccer program's 12-year history to be named an Academic All-American.

"It made me feel really good," Sloan said about receiving the award. "It made me feel like all of my hard work has really paid off. It is the most special one. Off the field is really important to me."

Her parents Gerald and Kimberly Sloan were super excited about it as well and are much more willing to brag about it than Kathryn herself.

"I am very proud of her," Mrs. Sloan said. "She has accomplished a lot. When you look at her, you don't see how driven she really is. She is so calm and has been that way her whole life. She is very considerate of other people. She wants other people to do well. I think that is why she is so humble. I'll tell her I'm proud of her and she is like, `I know mom.' I don't even know if she knows how well she has done."

Some of Sloan's artwork was accepted into the student show for graphic design last year, an annual event the school of design holds showcasing the best works submitted by photography, graphic design and studio majors.

One of them was of a deer that began as a doodle and turned into an illustration, focusing on small details and line work. Another was an exploration of angles contrasted with the organic form of flowers.

In other words, they were pieces so amazing that the first reactions when seeing them are typically `wow' and `I can't do that.' It is a natural gift that many don't have.

"I don't know where she gets that from because I can't do that," Mrs. Sloan admitted. "You put an empty canvas in front of me and it scares me to death. I can maybe draw a stick figure. That is something she was meant to do. She can sit down and look at a canvas and she has something in her mind and she paints or draws it. She's awesome."

Sloan confessed that she does not know exactly what she wants to do once college is over. She does know that the goal is to finish college with a 4.0 GPA. On the field, she wants nothing more than to help the team make the conference tournament as the preseason underdogs once again for a third straight season.

It still has not hit her that she is a senior. That she will be doing many things for the last time, both on the pitch and in the classroom.

There was one recent moment when she realized this was the final time ... when she had to take the preseason fitness test, which she aced of course.