Hometown : Weymouth

Sport: Indoor & Outdoor track and field

Puja: What is your pre-race routine?

Bella: “I go to Dunkin Donuts before every race and get an egg sandwich and a small ice tea. From there I arrive on the track that I’m about to perform on and immediately place my headphones in my ears.  I then walk around the track a couple times trying to visualize the race in my head. I try to visualize the details of my performance, like driving my arms and legs as fast as I can and pushing through the finish line. After all this is a warm up for my race and I  normally set aside about an hour to do so.”

Puja: Do you have any embarrassing moments?

Bella:  “I normally don’t get embarrassed that easily. However, I can recall a time where I did get embarrassed was when I first started running track and had no experience. I was in 7th grade and my coach signed me up for my first big track meet. Once I was there I noticed that the kids on the other teams all looked so fast and strong. The official lined me up with the rest of the kids to run the 1500 meter dash. I asked my opponents if they had ever done this before? They looked at me, laughed and said “yes” amusingly. Then when we got on the track and the gun went off, I saw my opponents take right off before my eyes, they left me in the dust to say the least. This was one of my most embarrassing moments.”  

Puja:  If you could change one rule about the sport what would it be?

Bella:  “If there was one rule about the sport that I would change then it would be to have really loud music playing while you run in competitions. They don’t like to do this because some coaches say that athletes will try to pace themselves to the music.”

Puja:  What is most satisfying about your sport?

Bella:  “Knowing that all my hard work and sacrifice is pushing me each and every day towards becoming a more determined athlete closer to reaching my goal.”