WINTER PARK, Fla. — You could say that Emma Noel is going places.  

“I love the adrenaline rush after you run,” the Winter Park senior says.  “After you run you feel so good.”

Noel is a senior track and cross country runner.  As a freshman her cross country team won states.  This fall she was the metro, district and region champion.  When the races stop she’s just getting started.

“I fit it all in there somehow,” she says.

Noel is also in the school’s top orchestra and has played the Viola for nine years.  She also does volunteer coaching with a youth run group and volunteers at a charter school for students with special needs.

“I’ve never seen such an accepting community of both disabled and abled people together,” Noel says.

Her work in the classroom is just as impressive.  She has an unweighted GPA of 4.0 with a course load full of AP classes.

“Emma is the epitome of a student athlete,” Winter Park Cross Country Head Coach and Girls Track Head Coach Kristin McWilliams says.  “She is balanced in everything.

McWilliams was so impressed with Noel that she nominated her for the Spectrum News Scholar Athlete of the Month Award.  Noel is the 2021 February winner.

“Not only is she an amazing athlete, student, community member, and artist,” McWilliams says.  “She’s just an amazing person."

“It’s nice to get recognized for all the hard work,” Noel says about receiving the award.

She says she wants to attend med school, but right now she’s enjoying her final laps at Winter Park.

“I’ll remember running the most,” Noel says.  “Each year is so different with the team, it’s different vibes, but I’ve loved every year.”