After running in a few 5Ks prior to high school, Ava Cunningham decided to join the Valley Regional girls’ cross country team as a freshman. In her four years with the Warriors, Ava has blazed a trail that’s taken her to All-Shoreline Conference and All-State accolades, as well as the role of captain.

Before she ran cross country, Ava was a soccer player at John Winthrop Middle School. Ava’s father noticed that she was a strong runner and encouraged her to try cross country. After running in the Citizens Bank 5K in Middletown, the Family Day 5K in Deep River, and the Four on the Fourth 5K in Chester, Ava decided to take her dad’s advice and start taking the sport more seriously.

“My dad has always encouraged me to be really active. Basketball is the main sport he had me play, but he just always wanted me to be an active kid,” says Ava. “I had done some road races and saw I did pretty well. So, he encouraged me to give cross country a try. He was really supportive and came to all my meets. He found people who helped me improve in the sport.”

Ava wanted to make an immediate impact after joining the Warriors as a freshman. She trained with the upperclassmen on the Valley boys’ cross country squad. While she still had a long way to go, especially with how she finished races, Ava ended her first season as an All-Shoreline Conference First Team selection.

“I was naturally better at running than I thought I would be. It was difficult to learn how to pace myself over three miles. Those road races, I just ran for fun. Now, I was really looking to compete and place well,” Ava says. “My coaches were able to help me figure out which strategy would best help me throughout the season.”

Ava once again earned All-Shoreline Conference honors as a sophomore. However, she was still looking for a spot on the All-State Team. Ava worked with teammate Grace Jacaruso, even on their off days, with hopes of one day attaining that accolade. When their senior seasons came to a close, that hard work had paid off as both Ava and Jacaruso were both All-Shoreline and All-State First Team honorees this fall.

Ava finished in fourth place with a time of 22:19 at the Shoreline Conference Championship. She went on to take fifth place by running a time of 21:31 in the Class SS State Championship, where Valley finished in fifth as a team.

“I worked really hard freshman year, but I didn’t understand what it meant to be an All-Shoreline runner. As I kept running, the competition got better, too. We had to push ourselves more for the recognition,” says Ava. “It motivated me to push myself even harder. I knew we could do it. We worked hard all season. It’s nice to see all your hard work pay off in a memory that we can remember for a while.”

Ava and Jacaruso served as senior captains for the Warriors this season after previously holding that role last year. As captains, Ava says that their goal was to not only help their teammates improve their times, but to make sure they were enjoying themselves while doing it.

“We wanted to be people who could push our entire team to be better. A lot of people enjoyed the team, but not the sport,” Ava says. “Grace and I wanted to work together, so people enjoyed the sport just as much as the team. We think it paid off this year. We finished fifth overall at states. We were really proud of everyone.”

In addition to cross country, Ava is also a member of the girls’ basketball and outdoor track teams at Valley Regional. Ava says that participating in each of her three sports has helped her grow as an all-around athlete, while also allowing her to meet and form bonds with numerous different people.

After graduation, Ava plans on attending college on a pre-law path. While she doesn’t plan to compete for a college team, Ava will continue to run for fun now that it has become such a major part of her life.

Whenever Ava struggled on the trails, she would think of her Valley teammates. Ava thought about the relationships they created and how they made them while competing in such a grueling sport. Those bonds helped Ava travel a successful path throughout her cross country career.

“Most people don’t recognize cross country as a sport, but I’m proud to be a part of a team that knows you can work hard physically and mentally. You can achieve something,” says Ava. “All of the hard work that my team put in, we’ve been able to accomplish things we haven’t done. We will have memories that will last a really long time. We’ll all be friends after high school.”