Sarasota Athlete of the Week: Noelle Tenaglia

Only one Riverview High relay team — boys or girls — claimed gold at this year's regional track and field meet. That would be senior Noelle Tenaglia, sophomore Ella Dabringhaus, sophomore Kenna Borras and sophomore Madison Muller. At the FHSAA Class 4A-Region 3 championship, they crossed the finish line at 9:42.90 in the 3,200-meter relay, beating out second-place Sarasota High by nearly 10 seconds May 2 in Punta Gorda. Tenaglia, who is the "leader of the group" per coach David Catalfino, is the Sarasota Athlete of the Week.

What does it mean to be a regional champion?

It means a lot. This is something I've been a part of for a while now — this relay team, specifically. This has been a grand year, honestly. We have Kenna, who's new, she just moved here from Winter Haven. Ella, who I've been working with for two years now, and Maddie, who's obviously renowned for all she does. It's just really nice to see how all our disciplines came together.

From your perspective, what makes a great relay team?

There's a lot of things, but definitely trusting one another. If you don't have that trust in your teammates and you don't have that trust in what each person's leg is doing, then you'll fall apart. A lot of different relays that I've worked with, we've tried people in different positions, and really, it's just about trusting yourself and trusting your teammates that they'll get their jobs done.

When and why did you start running?

I used to play basketball, so I played basketball freshman year, and then I joined track just to condition for basketball. My sprint coach (David Catalfino) was like, "You need to join cross-country." So I started cross-country that fall, fell in love with it immediately, stopped doing basketball and went full-time running.

After all these years, why have you stuck with this sport?

Staying in shape. I like that feeling of knowing your times, knowing your specific stats and knowing, "This is what I can do, this is what I want to do, this is what I need to do." I'm a very numbers-driven person, and I like that running is a lot about that, because numbers don't lie. It's really a sport where the work you put in matches the reward. You can see the progress.

What's a fun fact about you not many people know?

I can somewhat juggle. My brother is a much better juggler, but my family does a lot of juggling. My aunt was a pro juggler, so she taught us.

Who is your favorite professional athlete and why?

Parker Valby, because she's super ironic. Every time she's interviewed, you never know what to expect from her. She's always got this thing where she's like, "I don't drink water, I only drink kombucha." Like why do you do that? She's very unique and unexpected, and I think that's funny.

If you could go anywhere for a dream vacation, where would you go and why?

The Swiss Alps. I've always been a big Roger Federer fan — he's from Switzerland — I like Swiss chocolate and the mountains are obviously beautiful.

Finish this sentence. Noelle Tenaglia is...

Motivated.