Lehighsports.com

During her six years at Lehigh, Ayres Boswell-Mills was a star on the cross country team, winning the women’s 3.1-mile race at the 1989 Cross Country East Coast Conference Championship and setting the record for the second fastest time (18:15) on Goodman Course for the 5,000 meter.

For Boswell-Mills, who lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with husband Mike ’89 and their four children, running plays a different but equally important role in her life almost 10 years later.  With the majority of her time spent caring for Sierra (10), Ava (7), Braden (5), and Asher (3), Ayres describes herself as a “full-time mom,” but still manages to work part time and fit running into her hectic schedule five or six times a week.  “I usually run in the evenings when Mike gets home from work,” she said, “it’s a time for me to organize my thoughts and ease my mind.”

In addition to caring for her children, Ayres is an out-patient counselor for the Community Lenape Valley Foundation.  She previously worked full-time as the Intake Director for six years before having Braden, her third child.

At Lehigh, the running star majored in psychology and, with the encouragement of her academic advisors and coaches, stayed at Lehigh for a post-graduate degree.  “Running was what ultimately kept me at Lehigh for two more years,” she said, “I red-shirted freshmen year due to an injury, so I was eligible to run during my first year of graduate school.”  During her last year of post graduate study, Ayres continued her involvement on the cross country team as a coach while she completed a teaching assistantship program in the Social Relations Department.

After grad school, Ayres moved to Boston where running, as well as friends she’d made at Lehigh, continued to be an important part of her life.  “I was in runners’ clubs and ran in the Boston Marathon,” she said.  After a year, she moved to New York City where she worked in foster care for four years before moving back to Pennsylvania.

Boswell-Mills, cheery and upbeat despite her business, said she has very fond memories of her six years at Lehigh, and makes sure she gets to at least one or two Lehigh football games during the fall.

Ayres credits her ability to balance spending time with her kids, working, and running to the time management skills she learned as a student-athlete at Lehigh.  “As a student-athlete, there’s a lot of pressure and you’re always busy juggling time,” she said, “It definitely taught me how to multi-task.”

Boswell-Mills said of all the things she learned at Lehigh academically or athletically, it’s to always try your hardest and have fun – a lesson she said she passes on to her children.  “As long as you give 100%, the best you can do, and have fun doing it, you can never be upset with yourself.”

Story written by Sarah McClutchy ‘09