JACKSON TWP — Angela Mignanelli gears up for a race by listening to Joni Mitchell.

Sometimes as she is stretching, she hums a few notes of a raspy Bob Dylan tune.

“My friends make fun of me,” said Mignanelli, a senior on the Seneca Valley girls track and field team. “But it makes me happy.”

As she is running the long an arduous 3,200 meters, her mind constructs lines of poetry — future lyrics for the budding singer and songwriter.

“After a meet, I rush home, grab my guitar and try to get it all down,” Mignanelli said, laughing.

Perhaps that is why she has finished the two-mile event so quickly this season.

Mignanelli broke the school record in the event twice within a week — her only two times running the 3,200 so far this spring.

In her first record-breaking run, Mignanelli finished in 11 minutes, 30.30 seconds. She shattered her own mark at the Butler Invitational, crossing the finish line in 11:25.81.

That time is the best in the event in Butler County this season.

“The second time, the invite atmosphere helped me get it even lower,” Mignanelli said. “The first time, it felt kind of easy at first. It was the first time I had run it this year and I was just listening to the coaches yelling. My split was 5:48. I was like, ‘OK. I’m doing well.’”

Then, Mignanelli used a late push to break the record.

The previous mark of 11:33.17 was set by Emily Wolfarth in 2006.

Running and music go hand in hand for Mignanelli. They are two of her biggest loves.

She got her first guitar when she was 10 and took lessons until she was 14. In her spare time, she performs live and records covers of folk and bluegrass songs that she posts on various websites, including YouTube.

“I sing and play all the time,” she said. “It’s a big thing in my life.”

Music calms and soothes her off the track. Running does the same when she is on it.

Mignanelli has long been an avid runner, but has only been a member of the Raiders’ track and field team for two years. She also runs cross country for the school.

“I run so I can lead a positive life,” Mignanelli said. “It keeps me from being negative. It helps me get better grades. Everything is easier when I am running.”

Mignanelli has been mostly running the 800 and 1,600 this season. The 3,200 is her strongest event.

But there has been a method to Seneca Valley track and field coach Ray Peaco’s madness when it comes to Mignanelli.

“We don’t want her to go out too hard, too many times in the 3,200; That event is hard on a runner,” Peaco said. “I think she’s smart about that. She’s sticking to the training plan. There’s still another month before things get too crazy.”

Peaco thinks Mignanelli can cut even more time off her school record.

Mignanelli is hoping for the same, as well.

“It was a good sign,” Mignanelli said. “I hope I can drop it even more.”

Mignanelli, who will attend Duquesne University next fall, plans on joining the track and field team for the Dukes as a walk-on.

For now, she is focusing on her two loves. And who knows? Someday a song she composes in her head while running the 3,200 may be playing on the radio.

“I can’t imagine my life without running or music,” she said.