She is a defending state champion with a target on her back, following in the footsteps of a talented older sibling. All the while she is dealing with that in a world where student-athletes are pressured at an early age to focus solely on their best sport for the entire year.

High pressure for a 16-year-old? Not for The Classical Academy's Kaitlin Hanenburg.

She says she has no pressure - instead, she thrives on being the front-runner. She, too, is proud of her sister Emily's accomplishments but knows she has achieved plenty of her own. Hanenburg also is stubborn enough to not be swayed to give up her love and dedication to basketball to run the entire year.

"I don't feel any pressure from anybody to do anything," said Hanenburg, who will attempt to defend her Class 3A title. "I have no pressure from my family, or my coaches. It's great to have an older sister who had a lot of success, who I can look up to, but they don't put pressure on me. I am my own harshest critic."

Coach Alan Versaw said Hanenburg is one of those rare talents coaches dream of.

"She is naturally a great athlete, and she is one of those kids who knows how to push through pain, and you just can't teach that," he said. "She can't help but understand where she ranks as a runner in Colorado, but she is very quiet. Unless you ask her directly, she doesn't live in a world where she has to tell you."

Hanenburg, who might be the top girls distance runner in the state, regardless of classification, didn't start running until junior high school but has played basketball since she was 5 years old.

Older sister, Emily, also played basketball through high school in addition to racking up multiple track titles before graduating in 2006. Emily holds a spot on the cross country and track teams at the University of Colorado.

Kaitlin knows they are in the minority when it comes to top runners having other athletic interests, but she said spending her winters and summers on the court and off the track could be a reason she enjoys running and has had so much success.

"I really love running, but I really love basketball, too, and I really like having that break," said Hanenburg, who collected two state track titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters last spring. "I may be better if I ran throughout the year, I guess that could happen. But maybe it would break my body down. You never know. I just know I'm not willing to give either up right now."

That also can be said about her individual and team titles for The Classical Academy, which will be going for its sixth consecutive 3A championship.

"It's so much better to win as a team," Hanenburg said. "Running has always been about what you have done by yourself. But it's so much better when you get to share success with other people."