when you walk into lauren's home at her home in pullman, washington, instantly, you see all the things she loved and the kind of girl she was, a star athlete whose talents were already being recognized even before her 10th birthday. look at these medals. quite a few. >> so she started competing nationally, as an 9-year-old. >> reporter: coming in here is still hard. >> it's nice to hook at tlook a things. lauren didn't care what you looked like. she didn't care where you came from. sort of fearless. every parent says this, but she was a very kind, very kind person. >> reporter: i noticed that she was very athletic from when she was an infant. it was on the track where lauren really shined, where she and her good friend regina snider first became close. >> we really bonded through our workouts, and then we became really great friends. one of my best friends. >> reporter: colleen first met lauren over 15 years ago. >> my dad wanted me to babysit for them. she was spunki, she had a lot of energy. as she got older, she really blossomed. >> reporter: they all watched as she grew up and deci