Kaira and Taira Saunders, 19, are Bakersfield College’s track and field talented twin dynamic duo.
“You get deceased playing with a beast,” said Kaira warning her competitors about how rough it will be to compete against her and her sister.
Both Kaira and Taira are freshman at BC and they both run in the 100 and 200-meter dash. Kaira’s personal record in the 100-meter dash is 12.1 seconds, and in the 400-meter dash her personal record is 25.11. Taira’s personal record in the 11 is 12.45, and in the 400 her personal record is 26.08.
Kaira is a criminal justice major, and Taira’s major is currently undeclared. Kaira is hoping to get a scholarship to go run at Washington State University, and Taira looks to move up as well, but she is not sure what college she wants to go to quite yet.
Kaira and Taira both started running cross-country in the second grade, but did not start running track until the seventh grade.
Kaira knew in the eighth grade that she wanted to run competitively but didn’t consider herself a competitive runner until her freshman year of high school. It took Taira a little longer to consider herself a competitive runner; she finally considered herself one when she was in her sophomore year of high school.
Kaira’s inspiration to run isn’t what most people use as inspiration; she inspires herself as she says she is good at running and that is why she likes doing it.
Taira said, “My inspiration is her [Kaira] because I want to be her. So I have to run.”
When it comes to being twins, Kaira thinks it is great at times, but then it can also be annoying because they share clothes and follow each other around all the time. Taira came back with first saying that she does not follow her sister around, and that she likes it because there is two of her.
They both agreed that they were close to each other, but Taira seems to be a stronger believer in how close they are than Kaira. “I think we’re like two peas in a pod,” said Taira.
When it comes to competing they both give each other support. Before their events, they both encourage each other to do well, and they cheer for each other when they are in separate events.
When asked if they enjoy competing against each other, Kaira said, “No, because she can never beat me.” Taira said, “She’s a liar. I think that it is totes [totally] fun.”
Being that twin dynamic duo, the sisters believe that it does intimidate some competitors. “I think it’s cool because sometimes people don’t know and will say ‘Didn’t you just run?’ and it’s funny. It’s especially cool when we’re running in the same event right next to each other,” said Kaira.
Both of them agreed that it is very difficult to manage school and track. “Half of the time you’re at school and half of the time you’re at track and sometimes they just collide with each other,” said Taira.
These twins’ futures in the world of track and field seem to be bright, and they are doing all that they can to keep it that way.