Originally aired on Spectrum News 1 - September 22, 2021
Quad racing is typically a sport we don’t see many young girls competing in. But one 15-year-old Ohio girl is making a splash in the sport.
What You Need To Know
- Mikina Maynard is just 15 years old and is already a quad racing champion
- She took up the sport a few years ago and now has her sights set on becoming a pro in a few years
- Mikina is also battling type 1 diabetes, something she has to manage at all times
- Mikina said she never lets the disease stop her from getting to the top of the podium
Mikina Maynard got into quad racing a few years ago and hasn’t stopped since.
“Whenever it’s race day, I’m ready to go," Mikina said. "And I’m just excited. But if I’m just riding, I just love it. I love the feeling of it.”
She trains just about every day in order to make it to the top of the podium
“Definitely, the first one this year whenever I got first," she said. "I was so excited because I really didn’t think I would start the season off getting a first but I did.”
But there's more to Mikina than meets the eye. She’s batting a disease most can’t see.
“My blood sugar will sometimes go low during the race or something like that will happen and it kind of sucks," Mikina said.
The teen found out she had type 1 diabetes when she was just eight years old and has since managed her blood sugar with insulin injections.
“Pretty much every time I eat I have to take it," she said.
Her diagnosis was a big reason she decided to switch to an online school with Ohio Virtual Academy.
“I was having a lot of problems in school with people making fun of me and the nurse wasn’t taking care of me," Mikina said. "So we finally just decided that it was time to get homeschooled.”
But now that she spends so much time training to hopefully go pro in the coming years, online schooling allows her to train more.
“It usually takes me anywhere from an hour to two hours and then usually the rest of the day I’ll try to train," she said.
To learn more about Ohio Virtual Academy, visit ohva.k12.com
