Sibling rivalry is a thing for some students on campus but not for juniors Gaby Leyva-Montiel and her freshman sister Andrea. Sharing the same interests, they play the same sports as well.

“We use each other to progress and motivate each other,” Gaby said. “It’s never really the bad competitive, but we always push each other to be better.”

The sisters, though two years apart, share a close bond with each other.

“I think most people would expect us to make it a conflict, because not all siblings get along but I really like having my sister there,” Andrea said. “We both support each other and we both are on the same team so we just work well together.”

While it’s typical for some siblings to not get along, the Leyva-Monticello’s sisters are connected at the hip.

“Locker room, meets, everything, they are always together,” junior Peyton Groves said. “You see them together all the time and if you’re with one of them, you’re usually with both. They’re best friends and sisters.”

Running for the cross country team in the fall, the two sisters are competing for the track team now and for Andrea, it’s a step up from 8th grade.

“Track season this year has been very different from middle school because it’s way harder and there’s actually a schedule for workouts that we have to do,” freshman Andrea said. “The coaches are very critical on what you have to do right and wrong”.

On and off the track, coaches and teammates notice the friendship between the girls as they work together to make each other, and their team, better.

“I think they’re good about holding each other accountable and working well together,” girls track coach Amanda Byers said. “They definitely have a great bond and they get along well, you can tell they are each other’s biggest supporters.”

Doing the same things as an older sister could cause problems for some siblings, but not for Andrea.

“In all of the things that we do she’s on varsity and in the highest orchestra and I’m in the second highest,” Andrea said. “I think I can really learn from her those things and I want to be like that too.”

Spending as much time together as they do makes things even better for the Leyva-Montiel sisters.

“It just makes the whole experience way more fun,” Gaby said. “I have a great relationship with her and we make jokes all the time and we get to go on the orchestra trip and meets together, and she’s my best friend so it’s just like having your best friend with you all the time.”