Despite being one of the area's top performers in her sport, few people, even in her own school and community, are familiar with the name Elizabeth Kline.

Kline, a junior at Upper St. Clair, is seldom referred to as "Elizabeth." She doesn't go by "Liz," either. Instead, Kline is simply known as E.B., which is short for "Eliza-Beth."

"My family started it," Kline said. "I've been called that since I was little."

Today, though, when the WPIAL Class AAA individual track championships take place at Baldwin High School Stadium, Kline would readily accept being mentioned under a different moniker -- WPIAL champion.

While just about every athlete who makes the trip down Route 51 to participate in the most important local meet of the season will do so with golden dreams, only a select contingent -- Kline included -- has a realistic chance of making those dreams become reality.

Kline is one of the favorites in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Consistently exceptional in each event this season, she is seeded third in the 100 hurdles and second in the 300 intermediates.

"I would expect her to be in the top one or two in each event, but there are a couple girls in both of those races who are very good," Upper St. Clair coach Terry Tressler said. "If she has a clean race, she can win them both, and if she doesn't, she might not. Nothing is a given."

Since taking up the sport in eighth grade, Kline has hurdled her way to plenty of success.

As a freshman two years ago, she finished fourth in the 100 hurdles at the WPIAL championships, and was also a part of a 1,600-meter relay team that placed second.

Last season, Kline took third in the 100 hurdles and 300 intermediates at the WPIAL meet, and in her second appearance at the PIAA championships, finished eighth and seventh in those events, respectively.

"She's been good since day one," Tressler said. "Every year she's gotten a little bit better.

She's gone from being good at the beginning to the point now where, frankly, she is one of the best hurdlers in the state."

Kline's times have improved across the board this year, with her most impressive showing coming at the Butler Invitational last month. On that day, Kline not only ran her way to first-place finishes in the 100 hurdles and 300 intermediates, but also set personal records (14.85 and 44.71 seconds) in both.

A solid indoor season helped pave the way for what she has done outdoors. Kline said she spent a good amount of time working on her form during the winter months, and Tressler said her overall speed also improved.

Add some extra motivation into that mix, too. Kline participated in the Nike Indoor Nationals, and despite not doing as well as she had hoped, she said she learned a lot from facing some of the elite runners in the country.

"When I saw the competition out there, it made me want to work harder," she said.

At today's WPIAL championships, Kline will also run a third event. She will anchor the Panthers' 1,600-meter relay team, which includes junior Nina Camacho and sophomores Emily Coughlin and Alex Koller.

Already a veteran of WPIAL and PIAA championships meets, the surroundings won't look very much different to Kline. And that includes the talented fields she will square off against in her main events.

Each race includes plenty of familiar faces -- Moon's Layne Baggett, McKeesport's Thomika Acie and West Allegheny's Kristen Lang, just to name a few -- and the rivalry Kline has developed against many of them will further drive her title hopes.

"You know who the girls are and you know you want to beat them," Kline said. "Everybody's goal is to go and win, but I know the competition is going to be good.

"Every tenth and hundredth [of a second] will make a difference."Today's meet

The WPIAL Class AAA track championships will take place today at Baldwin High School Stadium.

The meet gets under way at 2 p.m. with field events. Track events are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

The top four individuals or relay teams in each event qualify for the PIAA championships May 23-24 at Shippensburg University. Individuals or relays that finish fifth through eighth and reach the PIAA standards also advance to Shippensburg.