The Diamondback’s women’s soccer reporter Holliday Woodard and video reporter Lea Glaser followed junior midfielder Ava Morales for a day to learn more about her life as a college athlete.
Ava Morales sat at a table in Gossett Hall chatting with her Maryland women’s soccer teammates, Kennedy Bell and Madison Krakower. The junior midfielder was settled into her study spot wearing comfort sweats after a busy morning.
The Diamondback asked Morales which teammate she goes to for help with schoolwork. The group grinned as Morales sighed.
“If I’m struggling in class, I just have to struggle,” Morales laughed. “I don’t have an option.”
Morales, a physiology and neurobiology major who is studying for medical school, glanced at Krakower, a communication major.
“Yeah, no, we can’t help her,” Krakower said.
Morales’ days are full with her darting from one engagement to the next on her blue moped. She already had two classes, training and a recovery session by the time she sat down with her teammates for a midday study session.
The midfielder’s day began before the sun rose with practice at 7 a.m., which included divided offensive drills and a full-team scrimmage.
Nearly three hours later, Morales jogged off the pitch, beelined to the showers, changed quickly and headed to her physics class. She returned to Varsity Team House to get treatment on her foot around 11 a.m.
[The Diamondback Sports Digest: A pair of fall teams keep rolling]
The Varsity Team House is the home base for the men’s and women’s soccer, men’s lacrosse, baseball, cross country, track and field, and tennis teams. It holds their locker rooms, treatment rooms and equipment. It’s a hub for free snacks too — Morales passed a table filled with Jersey Mike’s sandwiches and Lays chips before heading to the treatment room down the hall.
Earlier at practice a teammate stepped on Morales’s foot, which exacerbated a bruise on her foot. Morales said she spends 14 to 15 hours a week in the treatment room and jumped onto an examination table with familiarity.
Trainer Caragh Wood, who has worked with the Terps since 2018, hooked Morales up to a stim machine and rubbed her bruised foot with baby powder. Wood has known Morales since she made appearances at ID camps that Wood worked at.
Wood’s laughter bubbled in her chest when she was asked about her first impression of Morales.
“All of our incoming freshmen have to do baseline concussion testing,” Wood said. “I just remember seeing Ava sit over there waiting her turn, sitting just staring at the wall so mad and frustrated that we had to do this.”
[Maryland women’s soccer falls into early hole, loses to No. 7 Ohio State, 3-0]
“I definitely wasn’t mad, I was probably nervous,” Morales replied.
“OK well, I need you to know that nervousness came off as ‘I hate the world,’” Wood laughed.
The duo concluded the real reason for the stern look was the beep test, a fitness test involving running in intervals, that loomed over Morales.
The beep test was brutal for Morales as a freshman. But the junior has now conquered it multiple times and continues to excel on the team, notching two assists and 10 shots this season.
Morales left her treatment for biochemistry class before she headed to Gossett Hall. The building, attached to SECU Stadium, is the prime study and social spot for athletes on campus. Morales caught up on assignments she missed in the past week when the team traveled to Illinois to play two away games.
Enjoying a Jersey Mike’s sub, she hung out with friends, caught up on assignments from the team’s away games against Illinois and studied until 6 p.m. before she went home to her apartment.
“The most challenging part about being a student athlete is probably just traveling,” Morales said. “I manage balancing school and soccer just by leaning on the people around me.”
