SCOTTS VALLEY >> Family first. That’s why Scotts Valley High star junior runner Ava Decleve planned to wear a special shirt to a recent track and field practice to reveal her college decision to teammates, before she announced her decision on social media earlier this week.

When she finally wore the shirt, they were elated for her. But, surprised? The Falcons know the oft bubbly Decleve too well.

“I think they already had a pretty good idea,” she said.

Decleve admitted that her teammates likely realized she was glowing and giggling a little more than usual whenever she spoke of her mid-March visit to UCLA, as opposed to the other suitors.

Needless to say, she wore a Bruins tanktop to practice.

“I was shocked the whole time,” said Decleve, of when she gave UCLA coach Andrew Ferris her verbal commitment, “because it was a dream come true. I’m super excited. It felt like the right decision.”Decleve, who will compete in the 800-meter run prelims on the opening day of the 105th CIF State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High in Clovis on Friday, chose UCLA over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. There were a handful of other interested universities, too.

She’ll compete for the Bruins’ cross country program beginning in the fall of 2026, and the track program in ’27.

She described the Falcons’ team as a family and was looking to enjoy a similar experience in college. She also wanted to commit to a competitive program, and a school that offered a great education, as well as a fun social setting. UCLA checked all the boxes.

Decleve described her future coaches and teammates as “sweet and welcoming.”

“The team I’m on right now is so close right now, and I wanted a similar vibe in college,” she said.

During her visit, Decleve and three other recruits were given a campus tour, met the current track and field team and watched a practice, and ate several meals with each other. They also cheered the men’s basketball team to victory over crosstown foe USC at storied Pauley Pavilion, and watched a women’s gymnastics meet, where she got to see 2020 and ’24 Olympic medalist Jordan Chiles compete for the Bruins.

“I got to see what Bruin life was all about,” said Decleve, of her visit.

She loved the experience, and she wasn’t alone. Decleve said the other three recruits also committed to the Bruins.

Decleve is also excited to compete with recent Archbishop Mitty graduate Evie Marheineke, a Santa Cruz resident who committed to UCLA. “She’s so nice and seems like a good teammate,” she said.

Decleve will sign her National Letter of Intent in November.

She has a good idea of what she’s getting with her signature, and so do the Bruins: an already talented runner who is nowhere close to her ceiling.

Brad Hartman, who co-coaches the Falcons with Todd Hoffman and works closely with the sprinters, said he and other local coaches believe Decleve is a generational talent.

“We’ve never seen that ceiling,” he said. “She can finish with numbers close to what Maggie Vessey did. … She’s a dynamic runner. She can run the steeplechase and be successful. She can run the 400 and be successful. There aren’t a lot of athletes who are capable of doing that. You don’t see it that often.”

(Vessey, a Soquel alumna, was a four-time Big West Conference track champion and two-time All-American at Cal Poly-SLO. She placed second in the 800 final in 2 minutes, 3.10 seconds at the 2005 NCAA Championships.)

Hartman said Decleve handles pressure well. “She just gets out there, smiles, and goes,” he said. “It’s like clockwork.”

On the oval this season, Decleve took first in the 400-meter race (57.57), second in the 800 (2:18.93), and second as a member of the 4×800 relay team (10:06.85) in the SCCAL Track & Field Championship at Aptos High on May 3.

She dropped the 400 at the Central Coast Section Semifinals at Gilroy High on May 17 and placed first in the 800 (2:12.70) and 12th with the 4×800 relay team (10:01.76).

With just one race to focus on at the CCS Championships on Saturday, Decleve blazed to the win in the 800 in a personal-best 2:09.56. The top four runners all broke 2:11 and qualified for the state championships, the top three doing so with PRs. The fourth-place finisher was Prospect senior Kylie Hoornaert (2:10.64), the defending CCS champion and a UC San Diego commit.

Stanford redshirt freshman runner Ashlyn Boothby, a close friend and teammate of Decleve’s the previous two seasons, was on hand in Gilroy last weekend and witnessed Decleve’s PR — the second fastest time in Falcons’ history behind her own.

Boothby predicts a bright future for Decleve, and said UCLA is a perfect fit.

“She’s definitely a beach girlie,” Boothby said. “She’s real excited to run in that environment, where all the professionals train and where the Olympics will be (in ’28). She’ll perform beyond all expectations at UCLA. She’ll completely pop off. She’s hard-working, determined, gritty. She’s got fire in her, for sure. She’ll go great things.”

In the fall, Decleve won the individual title at the SCCAL Cross Country Championships at Pinto Lake County Park in Watsonville in 18:13, and posted a 27-second margin of victory over the next closest runner to help the Falcons win their fourth straight team title. (As a sophomore, she took second behind Boothby, a four-time champion.)

Decleve wasn’t done. She also took first in Division IV at the CCS Championships on the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course in Belmont in 18:24.48. She posted an 11-second margin of victory over Sacred Heart Prep senior Sophie Cheung (18:35.60).

The Falcons’ junior also placed 11th in D-IV at the CIF State Championships on the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Decleve posted the second best 3-mile time in Falcons’ history as a sophomore, posting a 16:35 finish in a league dual meet at Soquel on Oct. 5, 2023.

Decleve said she enjoys both cross country and track, but noted that she’s appreciating track to the fullest right now. She’ll be joined by three other county athletes at the state championships: Santa Cruz senior and Duke-committed star Eli Fitchen-Young (3,200), Aptos senior Logan Brantley (shot put), and Watsonville senior Nathaniel Aceves-Aguilar (triple jump).

The county’s lone junior and lone female qualifier isn’t putting added stresses on herself despite unloading one of the biggest ones — making a college commitment. “It was the biggest decision of my life, so far,” Decleve said.

She plans to attack the race with the same smile and intensity that she always showcases.

“I’m not too fixated on the time or place,” she said. “I’m so incredibly happy I made it to state. I’ve trained so hard for this. I’ve prepared. And the field is so incredibly talented. My goal is to stay with these runners and give it my all.”