Ask a high school student what her favorite sport is, and she might say soccer, basketball, softball or any of the other mainstream activities available to teenagers.

Talk to Kendall Achen, a sophomore at Manheim Central High School, however, and you'll get a different answer. Kendall, the daughter of Stacy and Mike Achen of Manheim, loves the sport of luge.

What does she love about it? "Everything - the speed, the training, my teammates," Kendall said.

And she has high hopes for her participation in the sport, setting her sights on competing in the Olympics.

"I am hoping to go to the 2030 Olympics, but I'm even more excited about the 2034 Olympics being in Salt Lake City, where I've trained multiple times already," she shared.

Kendall was introduced to luge through her cousin, Erin Hamlin, a four-time Olympian who won a bronze medal in the sport in Sochi in 2014.

"She was the first American singles slider, male or female, to win an Olympic medal in the sport of luge," Kendall said.

Kendall started on her Olympic path after competing in 2019 in a "slider search," where Team USA looks for potential lugers.

From there, she was selected to attend a screening camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., in January of 2020 before learning in May of that year that she'd been selected to Team USA's Development Team, the starting rung on the ladder of teams to progress to the Olympic Team.

Currently, Kendall is a member of the Candidate Team.

"The Candidate Team is the team an athlete is promoted to based on their performance on the Development Team, and it's the level between the Development Team and the Junior National Team," Kendall explained. "Athletes are promoted to the Candidate Team at the age of 14, or earlier if the coaches decide they are ready to move up because of their ability. I was promoted to the Candidate Team when I was 13."

Kendall trains mainly in Lake Placid, but she's also been traveling to Park City, Utah, to practice.

"I have training camps that are typically two to three weeks long nearly every month during the winter season," she said. "Training camps include conditioning, starts practices and weight training, in addition to sliding on the track."

In the summer months, she trains on wheeled sleds on pavement at the Lake Placid facility.

Kendall acknowledges that the specifics of a sport like luge are not common knowledge for many Americans.

"You're not just lying on the sled," she stated. "You use the kufens (runners) at the end of the sled, your shoulders, and your head to steer. It requires very precise movements in order to be successful and make it safely down to the bottom of the track."

Kendall's mom noted that Kendall tried the sport after watching her brothers participate in slider searches and screening camp, although they did not progress as far as she has.

"It's so much fun to watch Kendall do her thing when she's on the track," Stacy said. "It is very nerve-wracking, but more so when I'm watching her race versus when she's just practicing. She has had a couple of crashes, one a bit more significant, and I'm thankful that I wasn't there to witness it in person, and of course, I'm thankful that she's been OK and that she is so resilient and can't wait to get back up to the top of the track and do it again."

Because their family has been involved with luge for longer than many people, they are acutely aware of the potential dangers of the sport, she said, and they've witnessed some terrible crashes through the years.

"There is always that little bit of breath holding when any of the athletes crash, waiting to make sure they are OK," Stacy remarked. "I'm thankful every time Kendall reaches the finish unscathed, and no matter what has happened during practice runs, it's always exciting to watch her pull it all together and stay laser focused in a race."

As she stays on target to her Olympic goal, Kendall hopes other kids will consider the sport of luge.

"Give it a shot, because you'll never know how much it could mean to you until you put time and effort into it," she said. "I don't know that five years ago, when I went to my screening camp, that I ever thought I'd be where I am, but I'm so glad I gave it a shot."