GALION—
Ava Smith of Galion High School’s 2022 class made her future official on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith signed a letter of intent to Ashland University, beginning in the fall of 2022 she will call the university home. The Galion senior plans to run track and compete in cross county at Ashland, as a Division II athlete.
Smith was surrounded by friends and family as she signed her letter of intent to the university in the Galion auditorium.
Smith plans to major in social work when she attends Ashland. Additionally she plans to get her master’s degree in clinical counseling following the bachelor’s degree in social work.
“I want to be a counselor, eventually. I just love talking to people and I love helping people,” the senior said.
That wasn’t the only thing that Smith enjoyed about Ashland, which is just 35 minutes from Galion High School.
“I really love the campus, it is beautiful. I love that it is smaller,” Smith said. “The team was a really big deciding factor for me. I went on an overnight with them and they were really awesome.”
Smith wanted to go somewhere that resembled Galion in a way.
“It reminds me a lot of here and I love Galion,” Smith said
In 2021, Smith was first team all-conference in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference for girls track. Also, the senior runner was a part of the girls cross country team that placed second in the MOAC this past season.