BUTLER TWP — One could call them the Special Ks.

New Kensington residents Kelsie, Kylie and Keaghan Schafer are all making their marks in sports. Kelsie, 19, is a freshman pole vaulter at Slippery Rock University. Kylie, 17, is a Level 10 gymnast at the Butler Gymnastics Club.

Keaghan, the youngest, is reaching new heights.

The 15-year-old Kiski Area freshman recently qualified for Junior Olympic Nationals as a Level 10 gymnast. She became only the third Level 10 competitor in the 42-year history of the Butler Gymnastics Club to reach that level.

Sibling rivalry, perhaps?

“There used to be ... But she’s really good,” Kylie said of her younger sister. “It’s awesome, what she’s doing. She’s earned it. She works hard.”

Keaghan placed sixth in all-around with a score of 36.525 at the regional competition recently in Hampton, Va. She was fifth in floor exercise with a 9.45.

She placed 12th at regionals last year, her first season at Level 10. The top seven advance to nationals.

“The floor and beam are Keaghan’s best events,” coach Michelle Heasley Elliott said. “We were thrilled she got to regionals last year and figured, if she hits all four events well, she could get to nationals.

“That’s exactly what she did.”

Keaghan scored a 9.125 on beam, 9.0 on vault and 8.95 on bars at the regional. The nationals are May 6-8 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The only other two Butler Gymnastics Club athlete to ever qualify for nationals were Knoch graduate Natalie Beilstein, who did so twice, and Seneca Valley graduate Jen Suder. The latter qualified as an alternate, wound up competing and placed fifth nationally on the beam.

Beilstein was a two-time national champion in floor exercise — last doing so in 2007 — and went on to a solid career at the University of Michigan.

“She was fantastic,” Keaghan said of Beilstein. “I’ve been to her camp and she’s stopped in here to work with me on things.

“I’m hoping to go to college and compete in gymnastics, too.”

She’s already attracting interest. Penn State and West Virginia have Keaghan on their radar.

“She’s only a freshman, so the schools don’t deal with her directly,” Heasley Elliott said. “They’ve inquired to me about her. They’re keeping tabs on her.

“Keaghan comes in here every day and is 100 percent full-go all of the time. I’ve been here 21 years and she’s the most dedicated gymnast I’ve ever worked with.”

A gymnast since age 2, she has been coming to the Butler Gymnastics Club for five years. She trains five days a week, three hours at a time.

“If I can score a few tenths of a point more in each event, I could do well (at nationals),” Keaghan said. “That’s what I love about gymnastics. It gives me motivation because there’s always room to get better and improve your score.

“Sticking landings, keeping my feet pointed straight ... The little things like that add up.”

Also the No. 1 student academically in her freshman class of approximately 300, Keaghan gets her studying and homework done every day.

In the car.

“I do it on the drive here (to gymnastics) and on the drive back,” she said, smiling. “It’s a 45-minute ride each way.”

Her ride to success in her sport may just be beginning.

“For anyone to reach nationals in Level 10 at 15 years old is very impressive — and Keaghan is very driven,” Heasley Elliott said.

Keaghan Schafer proudly looked at the medals hanging around her neck, holding them in her hand.

She shrugged rather sheepishly when asked about her long-term prognosis as a gymnast.

“I just want to work as hard as I can to be as good as I can,” she said.