JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

Pulaski County High School's Amber Church finished first in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles during the River Ridge District track meet last weekend. Church said she is looking forward to the Group AA Region IV gathering Saturday in Martinsville.

DUBLIN -- When in need of strength, inspiration and uplift, Pulaski County High School track team members know just what to do.

They go to Church.

Glory be to the Cougars after multi-talented 10th-grader Amber Church rolled through the River Ridge District meet last week to collect 50 of her team's 68 third-place points.

Talk about being moved: She recorded two blue ribbons, two personal bests, three seconds and a third.

It was the transcendent performance on the girls side of the meet, but Church was hardly overwhelmed with the volume of her own heroics.

"I do this every meet," she said.

A convenient meet in which to continue that positive trend fast approaches. The Group AA Region IV gathering is coming up Saturday at Laurel Park Middle School in Martinsville.

Church said she is looking forward to it.

"I don't get nervous," she said, "except a little at state."

Young as she is, she's already a veteran competitor at that level. At the state AA indoor championship in winter, she did just fine in both the 55-meter hurdles and the 55 sprint.

Being the points factory she is in outdoor meets illuminates her versatility as a hurdler, sprinter and jumper.

She's best of all as a hurdler, booking a personal best 47.3 in the 300 hurdles on a windy day for districts at Salem High School. She also took the top prize in the 100 hurdles with a 15.7 clocking.

Add to that runner-up finishes in the high jump (her best jumping event), triple jump and long jump. Before the day was through, she'd also legged out a third-place result in the 200.

"We're thinking she's probably not going to do the 200 this week," said her coach, Jamie McCarty.

The reasoning is the coaches want her to have all the energy reserves she'll need for her major events. The coaches would also like to see what she can do if just once she turns in flawless triple jump.

"Last weekend, her best triple jump, she took off a foot short of the board," said Jon Cochran, who coaches the Cougars hurdlers and jumpers.

Added McCarty, a twinkle in his eye: "I think she has a board phobia."

A blithe spirit. Church seems willing to go along with whatever plans her coaches have for her. Indeed, she looks like an athlete who's scared of nothing.

Part of the reason she learned to control her nerves a long time ago must have something to do with her long experience as a performer. In addition to track, she's a varsity cheerleader and spends time working out as a gymnast.

"I'm a tumbler, and I think that helps me in the hurdles because it's given me flexibility," she said.

Cheerleading and tumbling have kept her onstage and in front of crowds. She's also a veteran of school beauty pageants. All that, and she's been running track for several years now.

She said she'd never even thought about track until her favorite teacher at Dublin Middle School, Buddy Farris, noted her athletic ability in physical education class and persuaded her to come out for the track team. In no time, he had her hurdling, running and jumping.

"Then I found out I was good at it," Church said.

She arrived for her freshman year in high school with a sore knee, which hurt all year. That limited her to just the hurdles and high jump.

"We didn't want to push her," McCarty said.

The coaches did want her to take advantage of being teammates with then-senior Nikki Roseberry, the best high jumper in the program.

"Amber absorbed a lot from Nikki, and I think that helped her," McCarty said.

McCarty is careful what he says when assessing Church's future. He still said plenty.

"She's the closest thing we've seen to Leslie Anderson," he said.

Anderson, a multi-talented performer on a grand scale, can be regarded as one of the best female athletes ever at the high school.

To those kinds of comparisons, there is only one thing to say:

Praise be.