Palm Harbor senior ranked as one of the best track and field athletes in the country

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Rachael Uvieghara has speed. 

It's a speed the Palm Harbor University High senior didn't know she possessed until she walked onto a track for the first time five years ago.

"I loved basketball, but I had terrible endurance, so my mom wanted me to do track," Rachael remembers.

Once she started competing on the track, Rachael noticed something in herself and her coaches saw it too. 

"I was watching her run the 200 meters and I saw this runner come around the curve that was leading everybody and thought, 'Man, who is that?' It was Rachael," said Charles Lewis, the head track and field coach at Palm Harbor. 

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What Rachael and her coaches saw was untapped potential. 

"Then I took it seriously and I was happy to see how much progress could happen in just a few months," said Rachael. 

Finally deciding to trade in her basketball shoes for track spikes full-time during her sophomore season, Rachael would win gold in the 100 and 200-meter races at the FHSAA track meet last spring and repeat the feat at the AAU Junior Olympics in July. 

"I was so happy. We saw it coming years ago," said Lewis. 

Now ranked as one of the country's 10 best track & field athletes by Nike, Rachael is receiving college offers from around the nation. 

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However, the senior is focused on adding a few more medals to her collection before leaving for college. 

"I was contemplating graduating early, but my mom said 'No. You have to defend, defend, defend.' So I decided to stay," Rachael said with a laugh. 

So, the work for Rachael continues because her dreams don't stop at any finish line. 

"I think she has the potential to go to the Olympics. I think she has the potential to be one of the best in the sport," said Jamar Parker, Rachael's AAU coach. 

Rachael's dreams go far beyond.