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CHICAGO- coming off the heels of a solid 2022 indoor track opener, Ava Parekh earns this past season's Gatorade cross country player of the year.
Representing Illinois but specifically Chicago Latin High School, the 5-foot-6 senior raced to the Class 2A individual state championship this past season with a time of 16:23.9. The state's returning Gatorade Player of the Year in girls cross country, Parekh won several big invitationals: the Richard Spring Invitational, the Hornet/Red Devil Invitational, and the Naperville Twilight Invitational. She took ninth at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships to earn All-American honors and placed 18th at the Eastbay National Cross Country Championships.
Parekh has volunteered locally on behalf of youth track programs, a food pantry, and a homeless shelter. "Ava
continues to train hard, run fast and be a great teammate," said Latin coach Dan Daly. "I've been privileged
to see firsthand her growth and maturity as an athlete and as a person of high character."
Parekh has maintained an A average in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on
scholarship at Stanford University this fall.
