JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – Mariyah Avila, a senior at Scottsbluff High School, is Nspire Today!’s Female Athlete of the Month for January. She’s a standout in three sports: basketball, softball, and track and field. In basketball, she’s in her third year as a starter at point guard. Last season she averaged 11 points, four rebounds, two steals, and two assists per game while helping to lead Scottsbluff to the state tournament. She was named to the Class B all-state second team. In softball, Avila was a four-year starter. She started her first two years of high school in the outfield, and she started at second base her junior and senior years. This fall she was named all-state honorable mention. Among her highlights this season was accumulating 40 stolen bases. In track and field, Avila qualified for state her freshman and junior years. Last year she placed third at state in both the long and triple jumps. Her PRs are 35-6 in the triple jump and 17-2 in the long jump. Avila also excels academically. She’s the secretary in Scottsbluff High School’s National Honor Society and has a 3.9 GPA. After graduating from high school, she plans to major in education and play basketball at Hastings College. Her parents are Becky Avila and Andrew Kelley.
Q: Coming into this basketball season, how excited were you for your final year of high school basketball?
AVILA: “I was super excited. I came into the year with really high expectations. I really want this to be my best season.”
Q: What are your individual and team goals for this basketball season?
AVILA: “I don’t have any personal goals; I don’t think about that stuff. I just want to help our team make it back to the state tournament and, hopefully, win state.”
Q: Describe how your basketball career has gone up to this point.
AVILA: “It’s been a lot of fun. I think I’ve been pretty successful.”
Q: How much have you enjoyed being a point guard?
AVILA: “I like it a lot. I really love our team and our coaching staff, so that makes it easy for me to play point guard.”
Q: What do you think is special about this year’s team?
AVILA: “I think we’re all really close. I don’t think we’ve ever been this close before. I know a lot of people say that about the team they’re on, but I really mean that. I think it would be hard to find another team that has our culture or is as close as we are.”
You can read the entire story in the January 2022 issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $20. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $20 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8865.
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