When Sara Blackamore was at Paloma Valley High School, she was a pretty good athlete, so she knew all about movement and spacing and competition. But put a camera in her face and -- well, it's a different story.

"I wasn't scared at all when I was on the runway, but when they started taking pictures, then I got nervous," Blackamore said. "It was like all eyes were on me."

That wasn't Sara, the 5-foot-10 high school basketball player talking. It was Sara, the budding 21-year-old model.

She knows she'll have to overcome that shyness if she wants to continue her career in front of a camera. And thanks to a television reality show series, that career may be about to explode.

Blackamore, now a mother and a student at Mt. San Jacinto College, was chosen from among thousands of young women to make the final 14 on the television show "America's Next Top Model."

With its 15th cycle premiering on Wednesday, the show features modeling hopefuls from across the country competing in a series of photo shoots, runway shows and various other skills. The top prize is a contract with an international modeling management company, photo spreads in Vogue Italia and Beauty in Vogue magazines, and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics.

Those aren't bad stakes for a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl from Menifee who feels more comfortable in flip-flops, a tank top and shorts than she does in high fashion.

"I've always wanted to be a model," Blackamore said in a recent telephone interview. "And in this case, everything just fell into place."

Blackamore got into the competition by sending an e-mail with a variety of photos. From the thousands of responses, the field was cut to 200 women, including Blackamore. At an open-call audition in Los Angeles, each girl was given 30 to 60 seconds to pitch herself and Blackamore responded with a little biographic rap song. It was her second attempt to make the show and she thinks the rap, plus interviews with representatives of supermodel Tyra Banks, helped put her over the top.

"This is actually the first modeling I've ever done and I love it," said Blackamore, who graduated from Paloma Valley in 2007. She was a waitress for a while and then gave birth to her now 14-month-old son, Kaiden. She said he and the boy's father, Garret Caldwell, are "the two real loves of her life."

Of course, there may also be a case made for Diet Coke. Blackamore said she can easily put down a 12 pack in a single day.

"Something's going to kill me eventually, so it may as well be something I really like," she said.

Blackamore certainly has the look of a model ---- a long, lean build, high cheekbones and eyes that stand out. When she's made up, her friends may not even recognize her.

And even though she's 5-feet-10, she'll still be looking up at some of her competitors. The show will feature a girl from San Diego who's 6-feet, 1 1/2-inches tall and another from Dallas, who's 6-feet-2.

The show was taped in Los Angeles earlier this summer. Blackamore already knows the outcome, but she's sworn to secrecy about that and anything even remotely connected to each week's airing. She said she'll probably watch the first of the 12 episodes with her family, including her parents, Cerine and Bob Blackamore of Menifee, and her twin sister, Katie, who encouraged her to compete.

Whatever happens, Blackamore knows she's hooked on modeling. If she loses, she said, she'll still seek out an agency. During the taping, she was judged by a handful of people well-known in the fashion world, including Diane Von Furstenberg and super-model Karolina Kurkova.

"This whole thing has been amazing," Blackamore said. "Something that happens only once in a lifetime. And it hasn't turned me off to modeling ---- not at all."

Call staff writer Jim Rothgeb at 951-676-4315, ext. 2621.