When Kyla Carte returns to Bull Run Middle School next week, she'll have a summer experience a little more unique than camp to share with classmates.

Carte came in second place at the Hershey's Track and Field 2010 girls 800 meter run on August 7 after sweeping the 11-12-year-old regional, state, district and local titles throughout the summer.

The 12-year-old from Haymarket was one of the North American competitors from the southeast region of the U.S. at the annual Hershey's event, something she just missed qualifying for in 2009. She clocked in at 2:28.24, placing her a little under five seconds behind Region 7 champ Natasha Fedkina of State College, Penn.

Though she received some training with the TRS Youth Running Club, which is sponsored by The Running Store in Gainesville, her coach said she's natural.

"When you're in the sport, you see athletes that are special," said Alisa Harvey, a nine-time all-American runner that won the 1986 NCAA 1,500 meter championship during her time at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). Harvey, a Pan-American Games gold medalist and U.S. Masters Outdoor Track and Field champion, recognized Carte as someone who's as "fast as some of the high school girls" while still having an uncoordinated stride regarding how she moves her arms.

"And she was so fast that I had actually to pace her," Harvey said, referring to her club training with Carte.

Harvey competed in the same Hershey's event in 1977 and explained that Carte did not need perform form in order to be successful at her age given her talent. Instead, she needed to have a strong worth ethic and genuine enjoyment for the sport, which Carte showed easily.

"She listens incredibly well," said Harvey, mentioning that Carte did everything during their day of training prior to Hershey's. "She's very much a kid and innocent but she's very coachable," added Harvey. "(She has) fun with it."

According to Carte's mother Kera, the budding track starlit did not even sleep great the two nights before the big race as she was stuck next to an air conditioning vent at their hotel. Kera said she did not want to impose running on Kyla even after her second-place finish, preferring instead to just let her meet with the club runners a couple times a week.

"I guess if she was really serious about it, she could go and win the junior Olympics," said Kera. "But we don't want to press it too hard."

And that's the type of attitude that works best, according to Harvey.

"The thing with her: she doesn't know how good she is," said the coach. "And that only comes once every few years. She'll find her niche into high school cross country or track and go from there."