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By Matthew Dunn, Contributing Writer
School: Grafton High School
Sport: Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
Class: 2019
Grafton – Grafton track and field veteran Alexandra (Alex) Avery gives some insight on her favorite moments competing as well as some of her pet peeves. Avery will be attending Lafayette College in the fall and continuing her track and field career at the collegiate level.
What do you most enjoy about competing in track and field?
“I love the feeling of finishing a race with a time I am proud of. As soon as I cross the finish line, I am filled with happiness and adrenaline which lasts a while. I also love the feeling of finishing a race and knowing that I used all of my energy and couldn’t have pushed myself any harder.”
What race are you most proud of?
“The race that I am proudest of was the one mile at the 2019 indoor Division 5 championship. I am not proud of this race because of my time, but because I ran it, and finished it, with one shoe. In the first steps of the race, someone stepped on the back of my shoe and I could not get it back on. I ended up kicking my shoe off a lap and a half (out of the eight laps) into the race and finished the race without a shoe.”
You are graduating high school this coming spring – what’s next?
“I am extremely excited to attend Lafayette College (Easton, Penn.) next fall where I will be studying engineering. I will also be running on the cross country and track and field teams there. Lafayette College is a very small school, around 2,500 students, and is in the Division 1 Patriot League.”
Who do you most admire? Why?
“I most admire my grandmother Helen. She always makes the best banana and cranberry bread when I’ve had a stressful week or when she thinks I could use a nice snack after school. She always asks me how my meet or game went and ‘hypes me up’ when I am feeling bad about a race. She will even write limericks about my race to cheer me up. She is a great writer, artist, chef, and the strongest person I know.”
What are the few things you can’t live without?
“A few things that I cannot live without are dogs and outdoor grassy areas or trails. Dogs are the perfect companion – they are always around you to make you feel happy by being ready to hang out and watch TV, or ready to go for a walk or play outside. I also cannot live without the open space of the outdoors because I love the smell of fresh air and the feeling of stretching out and exploring. Being outside always gets my mind off of stressful things like school work.”
You can travel anywhere you want in the world – where would you go? Why?
“If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would travel to Switzerland to go spring skiing. I have never been to Europe before and would love to experience the views of the mountains in Switzerland. I would love to ski there because I have only been skiing in the New England area and once at Whistler Mountain in British Columbia. I would also love to try fresh Swiss chocolate.”
What is your favorite professional sport/team to watch?
“My favorite professional sports team to watch would definitely be the Patriots.”
What is your biggest pet peeve?
“My biggest pet peeve is when people do not use measuring cups and just guess the amount of an ingredient a recipe calls for, and when people do not set timers when they are baking something.”
What advice would you give a younger student-athlete?
“If I gave advice to a younger student athlete, I would tell them that the work that you put in, will always pay off. It may not be immediate, but you will see results within a couple months, or even years. You have to be patient. Also, you cannot compare yourself to other athletes. Every person has different capabilities, and even if you think someone is better than you at something, I can guarantee that you have different talents that will show at other times or in different situations.”
