SCRANTON, Pa. — Bella Noreika is the sensational sophomore cross country runner for the Scranton Knights. As a freshman she raced to the top in District II "AAA".
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March Noreika has been training putting in the miles to get better than her 61st place finish at states.
"I really didn't have much to do so I ran a lot. So then over the summer I got a lot of miles in with Amelia like she is on our team and stuff," said Bella.
Now that the Knights have an individual "AAA" champion they are building towards a team title. That is the goal among all of these Scranton runners.
"What was it like to obviously win the district championship in "AAA" last year as a freshman? It was exciting. I was happy for her, her family and the whole team. She is such a young runner and a talented runner that we are just looking forward to bringing all the other girls that are right behind her closer to her, and hopefully for a good season this season," said Jim.
Fellow sophomore Amelia King and Noreika train together and compete step-for-step with junior Knight runner Emily Hopkins. There is a mad scramble for everyone on the team to move up and improve.
"Last year we got 2nd at districts as a team and that is the best that our team has done for girl's in a really long time, so hopefully this year we are going to the championship and go to states together that is our goal," said Amelia.
"It is going to take a lot. We are going to push each other even harder. This is something that we wanted because this team hasn't really gotten that in a long time, and this is the first time that we are really being seen. And just to bring that to the school would be really great," said Emily.
"I won districts last year and I would like to win again this year. And I also want our team to win this year. We got 2nd last year but hopefully we can win again," added Bella.
The clock is ticking districts are in October and time to peak to do your best.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Lackawanna County.