Coming from an athletic family, which included two older sisters, Carson High School sophomore Kayla Sanchez always had positive role models to look up to.
Her father, Louie Sanchez, a 1968 CHS graduate, played football, basketball and baseball before volunteering for and heading off to Vietnam, where he served in the 25th Infantry Division of the United States Army.
Shortly after serving as a "tunnel rat" in Cu Chi, Louie lost a leg while fighting for his country. But his athletic genes - as well as those of his wife, former Battle Mountain softball player Delaney Chiara ("She was extremely fast,") Louie said) - were passed on to their daughters Leah and Amy Sanchez, who grew up to be standout athletes at Carson High as well.
Both sisters - Leah was a year older than Amy - played softball for the Senators and Amy went on to set several school records as a member of its track team. And their accomplishments didn't go unnoticed by Kayla.
"I was always at their track meets or softball games," Kayla said on Saturday at Reno High School, where she defended her state championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 300-meter hurdles.
OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Leah, now 26 and living in Fernley, graduated in 1998 and went on to play softball for Long Island University as a pitcher, outfielder and designated hitter, said she and Amy weren't the only ones to make early impressions on family members.
"When Kayla was 5 or 6 years old, she competed in the Silver State Games," Leah said. "There was a track and field event - the 100-meter dash - for 5-and under, boys and girls combined. She ran that and won it. All of us went, 'Whoa.' That little kid was running. She was quick. (Amy) and I were fast, but we were thinking, maybe we have something here."
Now 16, Kayla is slight of stature and - standing 5-foot-3 - can't be described as large by any stretch of the imagination.
"In sixth grade I was really little - I was tiny," she said with emphasis. "In the seventh grade I started to grow. I started to realize I was fast. It ended up really well for me."
Undersized and understated she may be, but Sanchez's track accomplishments at Carson Middle School were bold-type, capital-lettered eye-grabbing. She set school records in the 100, 200 and 400, as well as in the 75- and 200-hurdles, all of which still stand.
"God gave her a little bit of a gift, that's for sure," said Carson track coach Todd Ackerman, who also coached Amy. "In middle school she had some speed. Her family's competitive. She's a competitive athlete. She explodes out of the blocks.
"She just has another gear that most girls don't have. Because she explodes out of the blocks she can make up a stagger in the 200 so quickly. She's a tough one to run down. In the 100 other girls tighten up a little trying to catch her."
SECOND GEAR
But it was Sanchez who said it was she who had a small case of the butterflies as she made the transition to high school track and competing against older and larger athletes.
"I thought I was really in trouble in high school," she said. "Paige and Megan Olivetti (of Wooster), I heard how fast they were. I didn't know how fast I could be. I knew I had a chance. I just thought, I'll work hard and see what I can do."
The early competition against the Olivettis encouraged Sanchez.
"In the 300-hurdles I beat one of them," Sanchez said. "It was a total upset. I thought, 'Oh I just got lucky. She wasn't in shape.' In state, Olivetti was ahead and fell. That's how I won. It was the first time she was going to beat me. She was flying. She was way ahead at the last hurdle."
Part of that may be true. But three state titles as a freshman imply it was more than a little luck or somebody else's fault. In fact, on the way to winning the 100, Sanchez had to prove it again, having to re-run the race after a starter-system error.
"I don't think she was too happy about it," Ackerman said. "But she said, 'This is what I need to do.' She repeated her performance. She stepped up. She didn't have to do it. We needed places. We took her out of the 4 x 400 to run it. From then on I think she realized she could handle anything when it comes her way. There's not a lot on the racetrack that bothers her."
In fact, you might say she takes it all in stride, so to speak.
"She's kinda humble when it comes to track stuff," Leah Sanchez said. "She has intense focus. She doesn't let her nervous energy out to anyone else. She stays composed for the most part."
THIRD GEAR
If her fellow competitors were left dazed and confused after her breakout freshman year, Sanchez took the attitude that this year they'd come out and do something about it.
The outgoing 16-year-old, who wears eye shadow and glitter when she competes, may as well have painted a bull's-eye on her back for all of the chatter she heard about herself following her state championships.
"I think I do have a target and I'm hoping to do really well," she said. "I heard a lot of, 'Who is she? Where'd she come from?' They were all out to get me. I heard some girls talking - 'There's that girl, Sanchez. I hope I beat her.' Tia Hatcher was never beaten before this week. She was really fast, really good."
But Western High's Hatcher wasn't unbeaten after facing Sanchez on Friday. Sanchez ran the 200 in 24.62 seconds, while Hatcher was runner-up with a 25.04.
Hatcher fared no better in Saturday's 100, as Sanchez cruised to a 12.16, while Hatcher came in second at 12.27.
And if anyone thinks Sanchez will be content to rest on her laurels, it's time for a reality check.
"I always know I have more left," Sanchez said. "I know I can do things to get better - especially in the hurdle event. I want to keep running faster and win some more state titles eventually."
Ackerman said Sanchez is relentlessly self-improving.
"She's always trying to get better," Ackerman said. "She's never satisfied. With her hurdles today (Saturday, when she won the 300-hurdles with a 44.44), she wasn't happy with her race. She wants to run a perfect race, which will never happen. But as long as she has that attitude, she'll continue to get better."
OVERDRIVE
While not committing herself to any predictions, Sanchez said she's "thought about" winning four consecutive state championships. And she's already halfway there.
"It would be so amazing to do," she said. "But if I'm going to keep winning state each year, everyone else will be working harder and harder."
Sanchez is quick to credit all of her track coaches for helping her. She also likes straight teeth and hopes her running will someday pay her way through orthodontics school.
Leah Sanchez not only thinks that goal is within her little sister's reach, but that she's just beginning to tap into her potential.
"Our family talks about how amazing it is to see raw talent like she has," Leah said. "She hasn't yet trained like many other athletes. She has so much talent. In the 300-hurdles, she'll be stutter-stepping and she's still able to come out with a win. The 100-meter doesn't do her justice. She keeps accelerating - even in the 200.
"Once she's dialed in, lifting weights and getting muscle memory as far as hurdling goes, her speed will be phenomenal. Right now she's winning with raw talent for the most part. Imagine when it all comes together. She can make a really big name in the field."
Sanchez, who also plays on the Senators' varsity soccer team as a forward, said she likes to hang out with her friends on Saturday nights, but studying and training consume most of her time.
"My goal is to keep winning state and get faster and more mature each year," she said. "" want to see how far I can take it."
Ackerman said Sanchez is smooth, but she's not a finished product yet and he will continue to fine-tune her, most notably in the hurdles.
"She's a great kid," Ackerman said. "She's very gracious, works hard and wants to do well. She puts in her time. She runs the indoor season and outdoor season. She's a good kid in the classroom - a good person and an athlete."
Leah said she had an interesting revelation in a Bully's in Reno not long ago. Especially in an athletic family, a younger sibling will grow up and proudly declare that's she's the older girl's sister. But Leah found the inverse to also be true.
"I ran into a Galena coach and heard them talking about Kayla," Leah said. "I got to say I was Kayla Sanchez's sister. I was a somebody now. I was her sister."
Being a role model in the Sanchez family has now come full circle.