03/24/2026
Congratulations to former Elite Athlete of the Month and longtime physical therapy patient, Ava Aquino! Ava recently competed in a local Science Fair competition and earned a FIRST PLACE, as well as a Biomedical Excellence Award AND and a Yale Science and Engineering Most Outstanding Exhibit Award! She's been invited to compete at the State Science Fair soon! For her project, she developed a device that measured knee ligament laxity based on her strong interest in and experience with ACL injuries and rehab. During her rehab experience at Elite, Ava developed a genuine passion for learning everything she could about her injury and how to help prevent them in the future.
Ava will also be joining Elite Sports Physical Therapist, Ben Godin, at his upcoming lecture at Simmons University on post-operative rehab and physical therapy following ACL reconstruction surgeries. Ava will be sharing her personal patient experience with the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program at Simmons.
Ava has worked closely with Ben for many years following her knee injuries, surgeries and rehab programs and shared the following thoughts below: "Like you said, I will always remember the small, yet HUGE, roles that you and the other staff at Elite played in not only my ACL recovery process, but my future. I truly believe that one of the reasons I am here today is because of the way you continued to fuel my passion and interest in ACLs/Biomedical Engineering."
We could not be prouder of Ava and her many accomplishments and look forward to seeing what the future holds for her!
