Knoch’s Santora headed to TCU
JEFFERSON TWP — Ava Santora considers herself a late bloomer. She’s going far away to prove it.
A senior standout cross country and distance runner for Knoch, Santora recently signed a letter of intent to continue her academic and running career at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She plans to major in engineering.
“I wanted to go far from home to attend college, to challenge myself with the best competition I could find,” Santora said. “Some friends told me about TCU. In terms of my athletic and academic needs, TCU checked all the boxes.”
Santora also considered Elon and Colorado State before deciding on TCU. She will be coached by Khadewis Robinson, the Horned Frogs’ director of track and field for two years and a two-time United States Olympian as a competitor there. He is a former head cross country and assistant track and field coach at Ohio State.
Robinson specializes in distance running.
“We’ve talked and he’s such a nice man, but also a straight-shooter,” Santora said. “His clarity made me understand exactly what I’m walking into and I appreciated that. I’m very comfortable with it.”
TCU’s women’s track and field team placed fifth at the Big 12 Championships this season and have seven women competing at the NCAA Championships this week. Four of the team’s six graduating seniors are distance runners.
“That leaves some spots open, but I know I still have to step it up,” Santora said. “I’m coming off of a breakout season and I want to build on that.”
Santora’s personal-best times of 5 minutes, 13.06 seconds in the 1,600 meters and 11 minutes, 18.12 seconds in the 3,200 were third-best in all of Butler County this season. She placed second in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200 at the WPIAL Championships.
She was also the Knights’ only cross country runner to qualify for the PIAA meet last fall.
“Ava has so much upside,” Knoch coach Amy Formica said. “This was the first year she totally dedicated herself to running. She had been playing tennis along with running cross country in the fall before focusing solely on cross country last fall.
“She is a great and unique kid who knows what she wants and goes after it. She had to hit those times she did this year to have a real shot at a big school. She went out and did it.”
Santora comes from a tennis family. A solid tennis player herself, her favorite sport became running.
“Her dad is a recreational runner and they like to go run together,” Formica said. “Ava’s parents are super supportive of her. They want what’s best for her. Believe me, that girl is going to do great things, not only in cross country and track, but in whatever direction her life takes her.”
Santora said she has no personal goals in terms of her running at TCU, only team ones.
“I want to do everything I can to help my teams win,” she said. “That’s what is important to me at this point. I know my coach and the competition I’ll be running with and against will bring the best out of me. I’m not worried about that.
“If I can help my teams get better, I would consider that a successful season.”
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