By Derrick Smith

Life can sometimes hand you a situation. While this situation does not define you, it is how you handle it that can define you. Ava Cornelius was born prematurely and it still affects her to this day, but she does not let that slow her down and she does not use it as an excuse.

“I was born premature as a monoamniotic twin with an omphalocele,” Ava said. “I was in the NICU for three months after birth and I had several stomach surgeries. This makes it hard for me to gain weight and I have a very fast metabolism. Every doctor has said that I am a miracle for being here. So every single race, I will run for the Lord. I thank him for what I can do every time I start running.”

Cornelius is a freshman at Union High School, where she runs as a member of the cross country team. Tim Dial is the head coach of the Union cross country team and he says that she is an outstanding member of the team and always gives it her all.

“Ava is the heart of what every coach wants in a cross country runner,” coach Dial said. “She shows up every day to practice wanting to know what she can do to get better that day. Every workout, every meet, every mile she does with a purpose. It’s athletes like Ava that push me as a coach to be at the top of my game. Ava is only a freshman but her attitude and work ethic on and off the course is already pushing this team to the next level of competition. We are excited to see what we can get done in the next four years.”

Ava Cornelius Throughout her career, Cornelius has put in a lot of hard work and time in order to be the best runner that she can be. And she is not satisfied with a good high school career.

“There is a lot of pushing myself out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I run outside of practice and I take easy runs easy and hard runs hard. I keep myself motivated by thinking of my future. I would love to be able to earn a scholarship to Oklahoma State University or a division one college one day.”