PLAYA DEL REY : Freshman’s Career Is on Right Track : High schools: St. Bernard’s Mayberry, who finished second in the 800-meter run at the state championships, has her eye on the Olympics.

Kamara Mayberry of St. Bernard High was the runner-up in the 800-meter run and anchored the school’s 1,600-meter relay team to a second-place finish at the recent state prep track and field championships.

But she doesn’t have to fret about being an also-ran for the rest of her life.

Mayberry will have three more chances at state titles; she was only a freshman last season.

And her coaches, Aladrian Lewis of St. Bernard and Booker Woods of the Los Angeles Jets track club, wouldn’t be surprised if she won three consecutive state championships in the 800. In fact, they wouldn’t be surprised by anything that Mayberry achieves as a runner.

“She can do anything she wants to do,” Lewis said.

Lewis said Mayberry is dedicated to running.

“She doesn’t have that many distractions,” she said. “She’s focused, and it’s good to be that young and to know exactly what she wants to do.”

Woods, who has coached Mayberry in age-group running since she was 8, said there are no limits to what the 15-year-old from Inglewood can do.

Woods said Mayberry ran the 800 in 2 minutes 35 seconds and finished third in the event at the junior national meet of The Athletics Congress when she was 9. Her time at the state meet this year was 2:08.91. Senior Nicole Teter of Cottonwood West Valley High won the 800 with 2:08.14.

Woods said Mayberry was one of the nation’s best at 9, despite having missed a month of the season. In last year’s junior nationals, she won not only the 800 and the 400 but also ran on the winning 1,600 relay team.

“I think she will probably be the state (high school) champion in the 800 for the next three years,” Woods said. “She’s almost as good in the quarter-mile; she ran a 56.07 in the 400 when she won the nationals last year, her personal record.

“I think she can make the 1996 Olympics. I don’t think there are any limits on her. She hasn’t set any limits, and I think she can go as far as she wants to go.”

Mayberry will compete next in the Junior Olympics from July 24 through 28 at Chapel Hill, N.C. She will run the 800 and the 400 and run on two relay teams, the 4x400 and the 4x800. Woods said she will be trying to set a national record for the 800 in the age 15-16 division.

Mayberry has received a great deal of attention for her exploits, but she takes all the hoopla in stride.

Her goals are ambitious since her goal is competing in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. But the most that she will say about her future in high school track is that she wants to win the state title in the 800 next year and that the St. Bernard 1,600 relay team also wins at state.

Although she has been running for seven years, Mayberry does not grow tired of it.

“I guess it’s in my genes,” she said. “It’s fun for me; it’s a challenge.”

It is not unadulterated fun, however.

“Running is lots of hard work,” she said. “In fact, without hard work, I couldn’t have gotten this far.”

Running also can be stressful. “I always get nervous before a race, especially in an important race. That helps me to concentrate.”

Woods said Mayberry is a smart runner.

“She doesn’t get in trouble too much,” he said. “She very seldom gets boxed in, and she knows when to go outside and when to make her move.

“The first time I saw her I could tell she would be a good middle-distance runner because she has a natural, long stride.”

Mayberry said that she was introduced to running and the L.A. Jets and Woods by her uncle, George Cohen.

She said Cohen used to run for the prestigious Santa Monica Track Club and once held the Masters world record in the 800. Mayberry also said her mother was “very athletic” in high school in Stockton, where she was a hurdler, swam and played tennis.

“But my uncle was my inspiration,” she said.

Woods believes Mayberry will have a long and prosperous career in track.

“The only kids who get burned out are those who do it for their parents’ sake or who don’t like to do it,” he said. “She runs because she likes to, and she’ll run till she’s at least 50.”