Barnstable cross-country freshman Ava Bullock runs toward bright future

Ava Bullock of Barnstable leads Adrienne Christy of Martha’s Vineyard and her teammate Calle DeDecko on the first lap of the Cape and Islands Cross Country Championship at Dennis-Yarmouth high school on Nov. 2, 2021. Bullock, a freshman, won the race. Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

Barnstable freshman Ava Bullock is not big on words but what she achieved running cross-county this season speaks for itself.

The humble and soft-spoken 14-year-old from Marstons Mills won several races and a few championships in her first varsity season.

Keith Caldwell, Barnstable cross-country and track head coach, said Ava is a typical freshman teenager, but in so many ways she is not.

"She is a delightful young person with an engaging sense of humor and a youthful exuberance," he said. "At the same time, she has a fierce competitiveness and knowledge of the sport of running that belies her young age. She is a wonderful mix of mature experience and youthful innocence."

Ava said she honestly does not remember how she got interested in track and field and cross-country.

"My mom signed me up for one of the recreational programs when I was younger and it sort of took off from there," she said. "I have been running cross-country since about the fourth grade but I have been running track since a young age."

In September, Ava ran her first Barnstable cross-country varsity race and won with a time of 19:25 at the Barnstable 3.1-mile course.

In October, she broke her own record at Barnstable's 5K course with a winning time of 19:01. She placed second at D-Y's 3.1-mile course with a time of 20:24 and won at Barnstable's 3.1-mile course in 19:08. She went on to win the Freshman 2.1-mile championship, with a time of 12:20, outracing 179 competitors in the contest, which was part of the 10th Annual Bob McIntyre Twilight Large School Meet at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds.

Ava attributes her success to multiple things.

"I think my team has made me so successful so far," she said. "I am a swimmer so that helps with my competitiveness all-around. I also have siblings that are very competitive."

Ava continued her hot start to her varsity career in November by leading the Barnstable girls cross-country team and individual championships at the Cape & Islands Championship League Meet at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School. Ava won the meet championship finishing first in a time of 19:13 over the 3.1-mile course. 

Ava Bullock of Barnstable receives her first-place trophy in the Atlantic division in the Cape and Islands Cross-Country Championship at Dennis-Yarmouth high school in South Yarmouth on Nov. 2, 2021. Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

That same week, she competed at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Frank Mooney XC Invitational at Wrentham’s 5K course. She was moved up to compete in the sophomore race and won in 18:31. Her time was the fastest of the day in the girl's large school races.

A week later, Ava won the Division 1A championship as she led the Barnstable Red Hawks to an 8th place state-qualifying finish. She got first place with a time of 18:28, the fastest time of all three Division 1 races.

In the All-State Division 1 championship meet at Wrentham’s 5K course, Ava led Barnstable with a 7th place finish in 18:28 in a field of 186 competitors and the team placed 15th among the 23 best teams in the state. Ava said that the win was one of her favorite sports moments along with making the Junior Olympics.

The girls start their race in the Cape and Islands Cross Country Championship at Dennis-Yarmouth High School in South Yarmouth on Nov. 2, 2021. Ava Bullock of Barnstable won the girls 3.1-mile race with a time of 19:13. Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

In 2018, Ava competed in the U.S. Track and Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country National Championships In Reno, Nevada. She ran in the 11- to 12-year-old 3K race for girls and placed 206 out of 326 participants with a time of 13:54.55. 

"That experience was so crazy," she said. "When I got to Reno it was extremely high altitude and it was not my best racing day. I got stuck in a lot of the mud that was there because it had snowed and it melted and got into the ground. It was a very memorable race."

Cross-country isn't Ava's only sport. She competes in track and field, tennis and swimming.

She started swimming when she was 5 years old and started playing tennis over the past two years. She currently plays both sports for Barnstable High as well.

In swimming, her main race is the long-distance 500-yard freestyle. She was named an all-star in the Girls Swimming and Diving Cape & Island League and the Tennis Cape & Island Atlantic League earlier this year.

"I don't have a favorite sport but I couldn't do without these sports," Ava said. "I swim and run year-round and tennis is more seasonal."

In June, she won the Hyannis Triathlon girls race with a time of 1:06:56 at Craigville Beach. The sprint triathlon, which is the event Ava won, includes a quarter-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride and 3.6-mile run. 

"I do a lot of track workouts and long-distance runs," Ava said about how she stays in shape and works on her conditioning. "Sometimes I do a double workout in a day where I go running, come home and do my homework, and then go swimming."

With Ava playing sports year-round, she has learned to manage her sports and her schoolwork.

"It's kind of hard when you first think about it but I don't really have a lot of electronics so I'm usually solely focused on my schoolwork or my athletics," she said.

Ava looks up to Olympic medalist long-distance runner Shalane Flanagan, but her mother, Ilona Bullock, motivates her when it comes to running.

Ilona said she hopes Ava sticks with track because it makes her happy.

"I will support her in anything that she chooses in her future direction, but I think she is ambitious and that deserves to be supported," she said.

Outside of being an athlete and doing schoolwork, Ava has a few hobbies.

"I like to do arts and crafts and make beads and small jewelry," Ava said. "I like to hang out with my siblings and I have been playing the violin for 11 years and it's one of my biggest hobbies. It's something I love to do."

Her favorite subjects a school are biology and English, and she is not fond of math.

She does not have any plans past high school as of yet because she still has time to think that over. However, she does want to run, swim and/or play tennis at the collegiate level.

As for high school, she does have a goal that she wants to accomplish before graduating.

"By my senior year I would like to run a 5K race in 17 minutes or get close to it, and I would like to win an invitational race at the varsity level," she said.