Even in a sport built on individual success and that breeds unique personalities, K.K. McCarley stands out among her peers.

While most of her Warren Central teammates were relaxing together under a canopy Friday at the Pearl Track and Field Invitational, she was passing the time in her father’s truck playing guitar.

When it came time to warm up for her only event, the 800 meter run, she did it to the soundtrack of the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”

“The first act is it,” she said with a grin.

And the hair.

Goodness, the hair.

It’s a two-toned mohawk, with pink on the top and blue on the sides. The colors and style might change next month.

“I just kind of like doing whatever with the colors. I enjoy having a mohawk. It’s kind of fun,” McCarley said with a laugh. “I go to get my hair cut and decide what color I’m going to do, like, five minutes before the hairdresser puts it in my hair. This is the color of the month. I enjoy this color.”

McCarley has plenty of quirks, but she also has plenty of speed. Already this spring the senior has broken Warren Central’s school records in the 3,200 and 1,600 meter runs. She’s closing in on the record in the 800 meters as well. Her time of 2 minutes, 28.51 seconds on Friday was about two seconds short.

McCarley will get a few more shots at it, beginning Tuesday with the Division 4-6A meet at Pearl High School.

“The 800 record is definitely difficult for me. When I get below a 1,600, you’ve just got to go really fast and I’m used to longer stuff. But I’m trying to get the 800,” she said.

McCarley has long been one of the area’s top young distance runners.

In 2012, she finished seventh at the MHSAA Class 6A state cross country meet, and she reached the state track and field meet in the 3,200 meters the following spring. Later in 2013, she won the Over the River Run women’s championship at the age of 16.

This, though, has been a comeback year.

She suffered a stress fracture in her foot that sidelined or limited her for most of the 2014-15 school year and threatened to derail her running career.

“So I just took a solid year off. It wasn’t really a year off, because I still raced, but I didn’t heavily compete,” McCarley said. “I guess it was needed, in a way. But this year I’ve been back at it hard, and it’s been fun to be back. I missed it.”

Beginning last fall, McCarley returned at full strength — and with a vengeance.

She finished 19th at the Class 6A state cross country meet, just missing all-state honors in the process. Once track season began, she started mowing down Warren Central’s distance running records.

She got the 3,200 record as a freshman and broke it again early this season. The 1,600 record fell in March. She’s yet to get the 800 record, but has it in her sights.

McCarley said the 1,600 is her best event, and was happiest to get that record. She ran a 5:31 to break the old mark by about three seconds.

“I had been trying to get that one for a long time. It had been there for maybe eight years. I think I ran a 5:38 twice in the two weeks before I broke it, and I was like, ‘I have to break this.’ I finally did and I was happy,” McCarley said. “I dropped seven seconds that week in my 1,600, and that was great.”

McCarley will compete in all three events during track’s postseason, which begins with Tuesday’s division meet.

It’ll be a unique challenge. Although all three events are considered distance races, they require vastly different skillsets. The 800 requires more speed, the 3,200 a slower pace. The 1,600 combines the two.

“I haven’t done all three at a meet this year. I usually just do two,” McCarley said. “I just always want to get that first race out of the way, and then when the next race comes I’m a lot more comfortable.”

McCarley figures to easily advance through the division meet. The top four finishers in each event move on to the regional round. She’s WC’s top distance runner, and two of the four teams in the meet, Greenville and Murrah, don’t have strong distance programs.

Beyond that, however, her competition increases greatly. Several of the state’s top distance runners are also in Class 6A and are much faster than McCarley.

Pearl’s Hannah Pinter has clocked a time of 5:10 in the 1,600 this season and Madison Central’s Rebecca Buteau is right behind her at 5:11. Madison Central’s Kate Mattox has run the 3,200 in 11:10, about 50 seconds ahead of McCarley’s best time.

With a state championship unlikely, doing well and setting records are her primary goals, she said. She’s also looking for momentum heading into next year. After her high school career ends, McCarley will head to LSU where she’s been offered a spot as a preferred walk-on with the track and cross country teams.

“I’m not ready for the season to end, but I’m ready to go at it for the last four races,” McCarley said. “When I’m done, I’m going to keep training because in the fall I’m headed straight to LSU.”