'THROW LIKE A GIRL': CAPE TEEN CONTRIBUTES TO GIRLS SPORTS BOOK

Fourteen-year-old Cassie Kipper runs for the Central High School cross country team, just won a district contest for pianists, made the district honor orchestra as a violinist, makes straight A's, rappels off mountains with her siblings and competes in triathlons.

She doesn't claim to be the world's greatest athlete or musician.

"I love entering contests," she says.

A year ago, Cassie entered a contest sponsored by Girls Life magazine. The publication was seeking submissions for a book that has now been published. Titled "Throw Like a Girl," the book provides advice, quizzes and exercise and eating tips for sports-minded girls.

Cassie is quoted twice in the book. Under the headline "Greatness Isn't a Birthright," she says: "Great athletes aren't born great, they have to work, too. They aren't any more special than you. They just wanted something, tried and succeeded."

Elsewhere in a section about goals she says, "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. Can't isn't in my vocabulary. I try everything. You don't have to be the best athlete to participate in sports. You just need to want to do it. It may not seem fun to wake up at 4 a.m. to go out running in the middle of the summer (because it's too hot to run any later) but once you get going it's all worth it."

Cassie will autograph copies of the book today at 6 p.m. at Barnes and Noble.

A freshman at Central Junior High School, Cassie is the third of four children of Bonnie and Paul Kipper of Cape Girardeau. Her older brother, Rory, now attending the U.S. Naval Academy, was a top runner in high school.

Cassie's goal as a freshman was to win more medals than Rory did, her mother says. Cassie succeeded. "She's really good at setting a goal and going for it."

Not that she always succeeds. She points out that none of the sports she competes in requires hitting or catching balls. "There's no hand-eye coordination," she says.