Fifth-year thrower Maria Deaviz has trained with the most prestigious track and field schools in the country. She decided to culminate her athletic career at Villanova University, where she has broken the school record three times in just one month.
Just 30 minutes from campus in Souderton, PA, Deaviz grew up playing soccer and basketball. While she attended Souderton HS, Deaviz realized that playing basketball and softball would not be in her best interest. Standing at 5-foot-7, Deaviz knew she did not have a great chance at making a Division I roster.
The first winter season without basketball, Deaviz was bored and was encouraged to try out for track. Since she played soccer, her parents and coaches thought she would have a career as a sprinter. Noticing her adept arm strength, her coach decided to put Deaviz in the shot-put cage. Finding her hidden talent in her junior year of high school, Deaviz started training at Garage Strength, an hour away from her house in Fleetwood, PA.
“I was training really hard,” Deaviz said. “I was surrounded by like-minded athletes at the time, and we just all trained so hard together. I was training up there, commuting, and that’s where my skills, my technique and my strength just really elevated.”
Deaviz went on to become a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) champion for shot put, as well as the Souderton record holder for shot put and discus. The immense training and support she received at Garage Strength gave her recognition from Division I college track and fieldprograms.
A track recruit is allowed five official college visits. Deaviz was cutting it down with her fourth at the University of Virginia. After a brief meeting with the coaching staff, Deaviz was amazed by the sense of community at Virginia.
During her time as a Cavalier, Deaviz achieved the program record in shot put for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Deaviz was also a four-time All-ACC academic honor student. In 2021, Deaviz placed fourth in the NCAA Championship for shot put at 17.97 meters.
“She’s just a really, really, really good person,” Villanova women’s head coach Gina Procaccio said. “You just want nothing but great things to happen for her.”
Deaviz competed for Brazil, her parents home country, at the U23 South American Championships in 2021. There, she won gold in the shot put with a distance of 16.28 meters.
Not long after, Deaviz discovered back pain leading to a stress fracture in L4 and L5 of her lower spine. The Virginia track coach left the program, and Deaviz realized she needed strong leadership at an elite program. During her injury recovery, she transferred to the University of Michigan for her senior year. In the 2024 Big Ten Championships, Deaviz placed in fourth place in shot put outdoors and in eighth place for shot put indoors.
With one year of eligibility left after graduation, Deaviz did not want her athletic career to end once she received her undergraduate degree. Deaviz entered the transfer portal and committed to one of the best, track and field programs in the country: the University of Oregon.
After training in Eugene for a month this past summer, Deaviz learned the horrific news of her father’s terminal cancer. Not wanting to be on the West Coast, Deaviz entered the transfer portal yet again. This time was different. She wanted to be closer to home but had no schools on her radar.
Fortunately, Villanova offered her a spot on the team. The proximity to her house allowed Deaviz to spend time with her father before he passed away in the fall of 2025.
“[My father] loves Villanova,” Deaviz said. “I was just so glad before he passed to have that opportunity to let him know what my future looks like. He was just so ecstatic and so thrilled.”
Despite the many college uniforms Deaviz was grateful enough to don, she believes Villanova is second to none. The support system that immediately surrounded her in a time of great distress was something she never expected, but she will forever appreciate.
Cullen Aubin joined Villanova track and field the same month as Deaviz. Aubin was named as an assistant coach coming from the University of New Hampshire, and trains field athletes. Aubin and Deaviz developed a special relationship after starting in the program at the same time.
“I’m just trying to continue what she was already able to accomplish,” Aubin said. “She’s somebody that has competed at the highest level collegiately. She already has a wealth of knowledge that she has shared with the team, in particular, our large number of incoming freshmen this year.”
On Saturday Jan. 10, Deaviz broke the women’s shot-put program record in her first throw in a Villanova uniform. Then she broke again two weeks later, and again on Friday Jan. 30, at the Ott Center in Philadelphia. The new distance of 16.76 landed her at No. 13 on the NCAA indoor performance list for the 2025 indoor season. Her whole team came to support her this past weekend, even though she was the only one competing.
“I don’t think there’s many individuals that have gone through those obstacles,” Deaviz said. “I think everyone has different challenges and different obstacles… when people share their stories, I think there’s more people that relate to it. You always find your way back home, I guess.”
