6. Fabulous Freshman: Kayla Davis Finishes Out Her Insane Debut Season With Three Remarkable Wins At NBNO, USA U20s And Pan Americans
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A young star was blossoming before our very eyes in 2019.
If we are to look back at the year for what it told us about Kayla Davis, the young freshman from Charlotte, North Carolina, we learned just how quickly the 15-year-old could adapt to high pressure environments, from experiencing loss at The VA Showcase and in the 200m at New Balance Nationals Indoor, to pushing for third in the 300m at the USA Track and Field Championships against professionals in February and then an unbeaten outdoor season.
Maybe that first indoor season taught Davis that race anxiety was just a feeling and not a reality, that she could compete against anyone and hold her own.
She would go on to win 13 straight races over the outdoor season.
Her most important, however, came in the final stages of the season, in June and July, as Davis earned her brightest accomplishments.
First, a career best and US No. 1 time of 51.17 seconds at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. Next, a win at the USA U20 Championships. And finally, her first international win at the Pan American U20 Championships, where Davis secured a gold medal with a time of 51.61.
Just a tad more?
Davis helped Team USA secure a new World Junior Record in the 4x400 at the Pan American U20 Championships, anchoring the team to a time of 3:24.04, surpassing a record that previously stood for 15 years. Best yet: Her anchor split was 49.8!
- Cory Mull, MileSplit USA