Angelina Klein knew it would be hard to outdo the highlight of her running career, which came during her freshman season.

While the lasting memory of her first District 11 team title will always be Klein’s favorite, the Northwestern Lehigh senior nearly recreated it this fall.

For the second time in her career Klein led the Tigers to a District 11 Class 2A title and helped them earn a trip to the state championships.

The Tigers entered districts after a third-place finish in the Colonial League championships this fall. But the team had been improving all season and preparing for that district race.

“I remember the same thing freshman year,” she said. “We were the underdogs, but we all knew we could get it and worked really hard.

“Building up to my senior year, I felt like this is the team; this is the year. In the beginning of the season we weren’t quite as motivated. Not everyone had confidence yet. When we started to get to postseason I could see all of my teammates, including myself, we were all ready for that race. I could tell we were all confident when we got on that line.”

Klein had extra motivation at districts. After qualifying for states in her first two varsity seasons, she came up one place short of qualifying with a 17th-place finish in 2021. She found out a few days later she had COVID.

That was the only time she finished outside the top six at districts and one of only two times she ran a league or district championship race and didn’t medal individually.

She finished sixth at districts in each of her first two seasons and took fifth place in her final district race. Klein finished top five (fourth place twice, fifth once) in her first three league championship races and took 11th as a senior.

The individual accomplishments are something she works hard for, but Klein enjoys the team triumphs a lot more.

“When I see us succeed as a group, that’s way more rewarding,” she said, “especially when it comes to winning districts and going to states because a lot of my teammates had never gone before except me and our other senior captain Maci Fisher.

“I went as an individual my sophomore year, which was not nearly as fun. That state experience was completely different because the whole team wasn’t there.”

Klein’s first team success came in her rookie season when she was the team’s top runner and led it to a district title.

“That was the coolest feeling I ever had in my life,” she said of the 2019 district team title. “I think that was actually my favorite race. I remember completely collapsing and knowing there was nothing else I could have done.”

That highlight was part of a running career that started when she was three years old. Her parents, Chris and Amy, took her on runs long before scholastic running was an option.

Klein participated in Lehigh Valley Road Runner events from the time she was old enough to run, but also played soccer and basketball before high school.

When she joined her first school team, it was an eye-opening experience.

“I got to seventh grade, first season of cross country and I loved it,” said Klein. “That’s when I was like ‘Oh wow, running can be a sport. It’s not just something you do for the other sports.’”

After eighth grade she made the difficult decision to give up soccer and basketball to focus on running. Klein joined a Northwestern varsity team with an established winning tradition. She helped continue that legacy as the top runner on two district championship teams.

This year she changed her offseason training. She joined K17Sport, a running and fitness team founded by local triathlete Kenrick Smith.

Klein put in more speed work and less mileage in the offseason. She also competed in AAU Nationals in North Carolina.

“I needed more work with pacing and speed work,” said Klein. “I feel like I was more prepared because once I got my endurance back up it felt like all the pieces were fitting together. Doing that versus the longer training I usually do over the summer ended up being a good thing for me even though I had to work harder during the season.”

Klein has one track and field season left in her high school career before moving on. She’s hoping to hear back from her first choice, DeSales University, soon and plans to run in college either in Center Valley or another Division III school with an established physicians assistant program and cross country team like Moravian, Lebanon Valley or Arcadia. She’s looking for a smaller college with a close-knit team, much like she’s enjoyed the past four years.

“I’m really sad to be a senior already,” she said. “These past four years have gone so fast. I’m so sad to leave this team because I love them.

“I love Northwestern. I see other schools like Parkland or Emmaus and there’s so many people. I love that our school is smaller. You really get to know everyone. ”