Bridget Neslund likes to keep busy.

"I feel the need to be doing something all the time," the Manheim Township High School senior said.

"I would get bored and lazy if I weren't. It just keeps me going. I just like being involved with everything."

The well-rounded 17-year-old is class secretary, an accomplished dancer and a track and field champion.

"It's hard balancing schoolwork, dance and track, but it's manageable and fun. It's all fun," she said.

Bridget is the daughter of David and Mary Ellen Neslund, of Lititz, and sister of Phillip, 20, and Patrick, 14.

An honor student, she will graduate with three Advanced Placement courses. This year, her favorite subject is biology.

Bridget plans to study exercise science, occupational therapy or physical therapy, perhaps at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

"That's probably my No. 1 right now," she said. "I like a city atmosphere. St. Joseph's is very community oriented, and I can definitely do track there."

She hopes to study abroad in college — "I definitely want to travel" — and then settle down "wherever the wind blows me."

Bridget has studied dance — including ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and modern — since the fourth grade at the Lititz Academy of Dance and is a member of its dance company, CoJoMotion.

The company's annual Christmas show, "A Season for Wishes," benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Susquehanna Valley.

"We work really hard, but it's completely worth it because it's an awesome show for an awesome cause."

The company won the foundation's "Benefactor of the Year" award last year, raising $20,000 at the show. Since Bridget joined the company in eighth grade, it has raised a total of $70,000 for Make-A-Wish.

"It's my favorite thing that we do all year. This year we raised more than ever before. Everyone was so happy about that."

Bridget said she definitely intends to continue dance classes in college.

"I don't think I can ever give it up. I just love dancing. It relaxes me after school. I don't have to think about anything, just let my body do the work. It's such a stress-free environment."

The company also has performed at Manheim Township Community Days and this year in the Lititz Halloween Parade, winning "Best Performance Float."

"We danced to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' dressed like zombies, in all white with crazy makeup."

She's looking forward to the studio's spring recital.

"That's what we work for the whole year," she said.

And she will stay in shape over the summer at the studio with "just-for-fun" classes and a weeklong intensive camp to work on techniques and learn new steps.

In winter and spring track, Bridget runs the 100- or 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay and she competes in the jumps.

She holds the school records for the long jump and the triple jump, which she described as a hop, skip and jump.

"It feels like you're flying," she said.

She credits her jumping success in track to the strength she has developed in dance.

"There's definitely a dance/track crossover."

Last year, she won first place in the triple jump and the long jump in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship Meet.

In the District Three Championship, she placed eighth in the long jump and third in the triple jump, despite having mononucleosis.

"I feel a lot better," she said of her health heading into her upcoming senior season on the track. "I have high hopes for this season."

A member of St. John Neumann Catholic Church, the dedicated teen was a student leader in a fall weekend Kairos Retreat for students at Mariawald Renewal Center in Shillington.

"We helped open their eyes to God, to find themselves in God, to use God in their lives."

Over the summer, Bridget works as a nanny for a family. She may baby-sit on a spare weekend during the school year.

But most of the time, she's just too busy.