To say that Jenny Mital sets high standards for herself is an understatement. Take her evaluation of how she did in the writing portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
"I can't write well in 20 minutes," she said. "I'm better at writing when I have a long time."
This after scoring 9 out of a possible 12 on the essay portion of the test. And this after scoring 760 out of a possible 800 on the writing portion of the test.
Mital also scored a perfect 800 on the reading portion and missed one math question, giving a score of 770 out of a possible 800. Overall, Mital scored 2,330 out of a possible 2,400 on her SAT.
It took two attempts for Mital to achieve the 2,330 score. But Mital also has perspective and isn't obsessed with acheiving a perfect score.
When asked if she would take the test again to try to achieve a perfect score, Mital said, "No. I believe it's good enough."
She said the main reason why she took the test again was to achieve a high enough score to earn a National Merit Scholarship. Mital has been named as a National Merit semifinalist and before the end of the year, 15,000 students from across the country will be named as National Merit finalists. Eventually 8,200 National Merit Scholars who will earn $2,500 scholarships, will be named.
No matter if its academics or athletics " the senior is a member of Carson High's girls cross country team " it's all about doing her best, Mital said.
"I want to do my beste in things and I want to get a good scholarship," she said. "I'm kind of competitive, too."
In the classroom, Mital carries a 4.7 grade point average when including college prep and honors courses. She has also improved greatly this season in cross country, enough where a top 10 finish at the Northern 4A Championships could be a possibility.
But Mital is more realistic and said a top 15 finish is more likely. "It's possible," said Mital about finishing in the top 15.
Mital realized an unexpected thrill last year when she and the CHS girls cross country team rallied after a third place finish at zone to win the NIAA 4A State title at Rancho San Rafael Park. It was Carson's first team state title in any sport in six years since 2001 when Carson won state in girls cross country. "We were just really surprised, too," Mital said. "We were all really happy, too."
But a third place finish this year won't be good enough to qualify for state as only the North's top two teams will advance. Carson will be hard pressed to defend its state title as South Tahoe looks to be the favorite.
It looks like second place could be coming down to the Senators and Galena and Reno High also can't be counted out.
"I'm optimistic that we'll be able to go to state but it's going to be really, really close," Mital said.
"If we really work hard and do our best then hopefully we'll be able to beat them (Galena) and be No. 2 and go to state. Everyone is running really well so I think we'll be able to do it."
Mital also runs track for CHS, running the 1,600 and 3,200 last year. She said it's likely she'll just run the 1,600 and maybe in the 4x800 relay this year.
She admitted, "I like cross country better." In Mital's eyes, the 1,600 is a short race compared to 3.1 miles.
"I'm not as good as the short, speedy things as I am at the tougher races," said Mital when commenting on how she feels about the 1,600.
Mital could be considered as a darkhorse to finish in the top three and qualify for state in the 1,600, but again she's realistic.
"That would be very tough," she said. "It wold be nice but I'm not expecting to qualify for state."
Mital plans to attend the University of Nevada where she plans to manor in environmental science.
"The environment's real important to me and I'm leaning to something in that field," she said.
Mital admitted that she doesn't want to put in the time that it would take to run in college, so she doesn't plan to run cross country at Nevada. "I don't want to run in college, not on the team at least," she said.