She began running in the sixth grade because she had tried other sports growing up and nothing really sparked her fancy. Since her friends were running and she was looking for something to do, Sutton’s Annabelle Lamoreaux decided to give the sport a shot. Little did she know she was in the process of striking gold in terms of sports.

“I wanted something to do, and this was basically my only option in middle school, so I tried it out,” she said. “I loved the pace of running cross country while competing against other runners.”

Lamoreaux found that she had a good group of girls who pushed her to ger better and she really enjoyed being part of a team that wanted to be there. As a sixth grader she found herself hovering as the team’s number three runner that year and eventually would move up to become the second-best runner on the team. The young runner also found herself crossing the finish line first on a couple of occasions, but her main goal was just to try and stay with the older girls while they were running.

The following year Lamoreaux would not only participate in cross country, but she would also take on the challenge of running outdoor track during the spring season. Having run 3.1 miles during the cross-country season she felt that the 800 and mile would best suit her and while in middle school she had built herself up to be that middle-distance runner. As she entered her final middle school season she decided to participate in indoor track but found it was something that she was totally not expecting.

“The first year in which I ran indoor track was very overwhelming as we were in the same room as all the high school girls and there were a lot of people there,” Lamoreaux recalls. “That day I finished in the top five of the mile, which made me proud and at that moment I knew that I could be successful.”

As a high school freshman, she tried to emulate the older runners and their routines in preparing for races. She was hoping to duplicate their experiences and have success in doing so. Her main goal throughout her high school career would be to break as many of the school records as she could. She currently holds the 800 record with a time of 2:18 and has personal best times of 5:11 in the mile, 3:06 in the 1000 and 14.3 in the 600 and event that she just started to take part in recently. 

Now as she enters her senior season, she participated in her 7th year on the cross-country course and will find herself running in her sixth year for outdoor track and fifth during the indoor season. Lamoreaux also hooked up with the Emerging Elites running team to keep her prepared while consistently running during the off season. 

Coming into her final season she would like to take home a few more records, but if it doesn’t happen, she’ll be fine with it.

“Overall, I just want to continue to get better and improve while enjoying my final year with everyone,” she said. “If it comes with a school record then that’ll make it even better.”

Leaving her running friends in Sutton will be bittersweet. She will miss everything that they have done over the last seven years, but she is also looking to her future that will also include running all three seasons for Sacred Heart University in Fairfield Connecticut. She had spoken with a couple of coaches regarding her coming to their schools to run cross country and track, but she was unsure where she wanted to go.

“I had visited colleges but was keeping my eyes open on where I wanted to go,” Lamoreaux said. “Then I went to Sacred Heart for my official visit, and it sealed the deal. The school not only wanted me to run for them, but they also had my major (nursing), so everything was coming together for me.”

Originally as someone who wanted to major in nursing she was concerned about taking on not one, but three seasons of athletics while working on her degree. However, after speaking with a bunch of girls in the nursing program they were able to assure her that running would be obtainable while she studied to become a nurse. It was a reality that she would be able to participate in both worlds with hard work and being one who likes to stay busy, Lamoreaux is ready for her future when it gets here.

“In college I am hoping that I will be able to compete on a higher level while exposing myself to a new environment,” she said. “I’ve spent all my life in the small town of Sutton and to go to a college with bigger things I’ll be able to branch out.”

Although Lamoreaux is looking forward to spreading her wings on the next level she still has two seasons of running track for the Suzies where she is looking to run into the future with a handful of school records.