The winner of the 2024 Coach Chris Eaton Memorial Scholarship—the first ever awarded by the Chris Eaton Foundation—is Ava Lulu Estes of Cibola High School in Albuquerque.

Ava was Cibola High School women’s soccer team MVP, team captain, All-Star and All-State selection and one of two Cibola 2024 valedictorians. Ava was selected from a group of outstanding graduating student athletes from high schools all across Albuquerque.  With the goal of becoming a neonatal surgeon, Ava will pursue a pre-medical school track at the University of Miami to obtain a bachelor of science degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.

In addition to her academic and athletic credentials, Ava volunteers in the Neonatal and Pediatric Care Units at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center. She also volunteers with Seed2Need, a nonprofit corporation created to reduce hunger by growing produce for local food pantries.  Ava also was elected to various positions in student government at Hope Christian School and at Cibola High.  She is the daughter of Douglas and Holly Estes of Albuquerque.

Before transferring to Cibola for her final two years of high school (as did Chris Eaton in 2004), Ava won a state soccer championship at Hope Christian in 2022 and was on the state runner-up team in 2021. She was named one of the Top 13 High School Players to Watch in 2023-24 by HQ Sports Magazine, and was nominated to the Academic All-American team, which will be announced in July. Her coach and AP calculus teacher, Heath Weihe, told the CEF that Ava was a great teammate and leader for soccer teammates from the varsity to the JV.  

In early 2024, the CEF notified and later reminded administrators and college counselors at all 19 Albuquerque high schools, along with magnet schools, sports training organizations and coaches associations, of this brand new scholarship. Information was posted on social media and the CEF website. By the May 31 deadline, we had received 25 applications from graduating student athletes from high schools across the city.  To qualify, applicants must have played a varsity sport at an Albuquerque high school, maintained at least a 3.2 GPA, and will attend a college or vocational school in the fall. As Chris stressed to his baseball players, education and learning are essential, as the odds of making a living playing a sport are small. 

The application process was not easy.  Applicants were required to submit a written application, including three essays, and a video presentation.  Among other things, they focused on the four evaluation criteria—academic record, athletic performance and achievements, community involvement, and teamwork and leadership. Selecting a winner similarly was not easy.  The CEF selection committee spent hours reviewing written submissions and videos, and then met in person for the daunting yet rewarding task of learning about these students and trying to narrow down an amazing group of young Albuquerqueans to one.  The CEF will make some changes in the scholarship for 2025, and awarding more than one scholarship is a likely modification.