Cross Country, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Sydney McLaughlin
Favorite team: U.S. Soccer women’s national team
Favorite memory competing in sports: At the SOL championship meet, me and my 4x4 relay team got first place with a district qualifying time that broke the school record.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: At the end of one of my 300 hurdle races in sophomore year, I was in first place about to get over the last hurdle when my leg clipped the hurdle. I snapped the hurdle in half and fell to the ground, got up and fell again and still managed to come in second.
Music on playlist: Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt
Future plans: I plan to continue my academic and athletic career at Millersville University.
Words to live by: “Progress doesn’t come without discomfort. The more uncomfortable you are willing to get, the more progress you will make.”
One goal before turning 30: To run a marathon
One thing people don’t know about me: I love anything that has to do with art, whether that’s making something out of clay, drawing or painting.
By Mary Jane Souder
Ava Wilson joined the track and field team as a freshman with decidedly modest expectations. If someone had told the recent Bensalem grad that she would leave with not one but numerous program records – it’s safe to say she wouldn’t have believed them.
“I would have been so shocked,” she said. “I would have said, ‘Are you talking about me?’”
As a matter of fact, that is exactly what Wilson has done during an impressive career that will continue next year at Millersville University.
“She’s such a hard worker,” said Bensalem cross country/track coach Mary Ellen Malloy. “She doesn’t miss a practice, she’s on time, she stays to the end.
“During indoor track, we have jumping practice at night. She comes to jumping practice, and she’ll say, ‘Do you mind if I pull out a hurdle and work on my hurdles in between my jumps?’ ‘Okay – go for it.’ She was always looking to go to the next level.”
Wilson’s versatility is underscored by the fact that she holds program records in winter track in the 55- and 60-meter hurdles as well as high jump. In spring track, she holds the program record in high jump, and she also was part of the 4x400 and shuttle hurdle relays that hold program records.
And, for good measure, she holds the program record in the pentathlon even though she’s competed in just one for Bensalem, and that was this year during winter indoor track at Ocean Breeze.
“Looking at Ava, we were picturing when she hits college, she’s going to be a pentathlete,” Malloy said. “She was supposed to do it last year, but she got sick, and the morning of the meet she called me and goes, ‘I can’t come.’
“She does high jump, she does hurdles, and she’s not a bad 800 runner, so the only thing we had to work on was long jump and shot put, but when you go outdoors, you throw the javelin. She’s already a very good 200 runner, and she qualified for districts and was in the 100 hurdles and was a key member of the 4x400 relay that made districts.”
For her part, Wilson said she enjoys competing in the pentathlon, which is projected to be her event at Millersville.
“I really had to work on shot put and long jump since I had never done them before,” she said. “It was definitely a challenge to get the hang of the two new events, but I had to go out there regardless of the challenges and give my best effort.
“I also had never run an 800 before that, but we do a lot of middle distance runs at practice which definitely paid off.”
Back to the beginning
Like many youngsters, Wilson grew up competing in numerous sports. She tried soccer, basketball and softball and even had a stint playing flag football. By the time she reached middle school, her involvement in sports consisted of just playing soccer.
“Freshman year, outdoor track season came, and I just tried it because one of my friends was doing it,” Wilson said. “I met some of my best friends from track.”
Wilson played soccer through her junior year but – by that time – was hooked on track, and as a senior, she opted to run cross country in the fall instead of playing soccer. 
“Soccer wasn’t making me happy anymore, and I just enjoyed track so much more,” she said. “In track, everything is on me – no one’s relying on me except myself.”
Wilson has been competing in the same events for four years.
“The first two weeks of practice, my coach will have everyone try every event, and it kind of stuck,” she said.
And was her passion for track immediate?
“Not so much because I don’t think I was very good at it, but I came back the next year and I kept working at it, and I got a little bit better every year,” Wilson said.
Bensalem has a scholarship fund initiated by the parents of a former track standout, and each year several team members are sent to summer camps.
Wilson attributes her improvement to attending those camps the summers after her freshman and sophomore years
“She was a scrawny little freshman,” Malloy said. “We taught her how to hurdle, and she showed some promise. She didn’t
do anything jaw-dropping freshman year, but you could see there was a spark, and she stuck with it. Each year she developed more, and the more she developed, the more she wanted to develop.”
The camps fueled Wilson’s fire. The camp after her freshman year was at the U.S. Naval Academy and mainly focused on hurdles. The following summer, the camp - which focused on jumps - was at Kutztown University, and Wilson’s focus was on high jump.
“Everything clicked for me after that, and I had a big spike in improvement,” she said. “Before I went, I jumped like 4-11, and then at the end of that season, I jumped 5-4.”
As a senior, Wilson qualified for the Meet of Champs in winter track in the 60-meter hurdles. During the spring, she qualified for districts in the 100 hurdles and was a key member of the 4 x 400 relay team that advanced to districts.
At the SOL Patriot Division Championships, Walker – a team captain - finished second in the 100 hurdles, first in the 300 hurdles, third in the high jump and was part of the winning 4 x 400 relay team.
“She leads by example, but she’s not a wallflower,” Malloy said. “She’ll come up and say, ‘Hey, so-and-so is not really doing what they’re supposed to be doing. What should we do?’ I like that approach.”
The next step
As she improved, Wilson’s passion for the sport grew.
“I always wanted to do track in college, but I didn’t know if I was good enough,” she said. “Junior year, I was like, ‘Okay, I think I can pursue this in college,’ and I started reaching out to coaches beginning of senior year.”
In the end, Wison narrowed her choices down to Millersville and St. Joe’s.
“It was a very last-minute choice,” she said. “I visited St. Joe’s one day and then Millersville the next day. I was like, ‘It’s going to be Millersville.’
“At St. Joe’s they didn’t have high jump, so I would only be hurdling there. At Millersville, I could do the pentathlon, and I could do high jump and hurdles.”
Wilson – who is undecided on a major - is training diligently to prepare for competing at the next level.
“The coach sent me a summer workout that I do – there’s something to do every day,” she said. “I’m at the track, I’m in the gym, I’m running in my neighborhood, riding bike – all that stuff.”
To say it’s Wilson’s passion would be an understatement.
“Track was everything for my high school experience,” she said. “My whole world revolved around that, and it still does.
“That’s how I made friends, and that’s how I had had all the opportunities I’ve had. It was everything to me.”
In Wilson, Millersville, according to her coach, is not only inheriting a good athlete but a good person.
“She’s just a really nice kid – a good, wholesome kid,” Malloy said. “You would want her living next door to you.”
