Athletics News
Overcoming Hurdles: Anna Davis ('18) used skills, resources to craft illustrious career
Great athletes don’t make excuses. Rather, they use the skills and resources they have and find ways to get better. For Anna Davis ’18, what sparked a spectacular career in track and field was an older brother blazing the path, a coach that believed in her, a set of dance techniques that transitioned to track, and a knack for finding ways to make the most out of what she had.
From Tallulah Falls School to Davidson College and eventually where she just graduated at Northeastern University, Davis has racked up countless awards, records, and accomplishments. It’s easy to see where she’s ended up, but her start came from humble beginnings.
“I first got into track because my older brother James did, and after watching him for a couple years I was eager to try racing myself,” says Davis. “I was a ballerina leading up to starting at Tallulah Falls in 6th-grade, so hurdling seemed like the ideal event for me since I was used to leaping. It took me some time to learn some of the major technique differences between track and dance and learn to run through the hurdles rather than leap over them. I have always loved the extra challenge and technique that comes with hurdling as opposed to just running flat races. There is always room for improvement with hurdling through new ques and drills, and hurdle days have always been my favorite practice days because of that.”
Davis used to borrow the TFS hurdles to take to other facilities to practice and perfect her craft. That led to a pair of state titles in her senior 2018 season in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. She was runner-up in both events as a junior, and third the year prior in the 200-meter hurdles. Davis also had a pair of 4th-place finishes in the long jump (2019) and 400 meter dash (2016). She still holds both hurdles records at TFS. Despite the school not having a full-sized track, she didn’t let that become a barrier.
“Looking back at it, that could have easily impeded our ability to train, but Coach [Scott] Neal was amazing at adapting and creating workouts to fit what we needed,” adds Davis. “I would also run at the Habersham Central or Rabun County tracks on occasion leading up to bigger meets.”
Neal’s impact on Davis goes far beyond the track.
“One of the biggest things he did for me from the beginning is believe in me,” states Davis. “Even when I was in middle school, he would always tell me that I was going to be capable of amazing things one day and pushed me to set goals for myself. He introduced me to what it is like to work hard and be rewarded for that hard work in competition. The confidence he had in me and confidence he built in me through competing early on in my track career is why I wanted to keep running as I got older and in college. He taught me to strive for excellence. The expectations he had for our team far exceeded those of most college teams, even Division 1. He was able to foster a community on the team where everyone was held accountable and dedicated to the team despite their athletic abilities. In doing this, he taught me and many others to push myself to do the little things right, even when I may think it does not matter. For example, doing 10 amazing reps of an exercise rather than eight sloppy ones, running through the line in a workout, coming prepared to meet, or thanking the officials at the end of a competition. There are countless other examples that I am so thankful to have learned before college that I felt made me more than prepared to succeed at the college level. As a track athlete the sport itself is a challenge, and having a coach that has such high expectations for excellence on and off the track was even more of a challenge at times. However, looking back at it, I think those challenges and expectations Coach Neal set for me are what allowed me to have success and shaped my character as an individual the most.”
At Davidson, Davis broke the 100- and 400-meter hurdle records and had a fantastic four-year run with numerous accolades and honors while majoring in psychology on a pre-med track.
“Being a student athlete at Davidson was an incredible experience,” adds Davis. “About a quarter of the population at Davidson are athletes so it was fun to make friends from all different sports in classes and be able to go watch and support each other compete. I loved getting to be part of a team of very talented athletes and work toward goals I previously thought to be impossible. My favorite memory was at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship my junior year because I finally ran sub-1:00 in the 400 hurdles, placed second, and found out I was going to get to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary round of the NCAA Championships. All three of those things I had never even thought would be possible, especially after losing my sophomore outdoor season due to the pandemic. My freshman year my PR was just under 1:03, and I placed 9th at the A10 conference meet barely missing out on finals and scoring points for the team. It was so exciting to get to score some points for my team and get the opportunity to compete at a higher level with some of the best athletes in the world. I certainly had failures in my college career, and aside from the exciting times when I was successful, I also have amazing memories of bonding with my teammates and coaches and having their support though it all. Although in the moment it is horrible, some of my best memories are from the super hard workout days when we were basically crawling off the track by the end.”
Following her stint at Davidson, Davis went to Northeastern as a graduate student to pursue an advanced degree in psychology.
“I knew I wasn’t ready to be done with track, so I began the long almost puzzle-like process of finding a school that would be the best fit,” states Davis. “I knew I only had one year of eligibility, did not have any specific plans for graduate school before deciding to do a fifth year so I looked for schools with a one-year graduate program in psychology. I also knew I wanted to go somewhere where I could have a positive impact on the team and receive an athletic scholarship. I was eager to go somewhere new and get out of my comfort zone, since I knew this was one of the few times in my life I would have this opportunity. One of my coaches at Davidson had a connection with the head coach at Northeastern so he got us in touch, and the rest is history! It was an amazing opportunity to experience something new, get my master’s degree, and have another year of competing with a new team.”
With a Master of Science in Applied Psychology degree in hand, and a spectacular career on the track now in the rearview mirror, the future is brighter than ever for Davis.
“I still hope to go to medical school in the next few years, so I am starting a job this summer at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston in order to get some experience I missed out on as a student athlete and due to the pandemic in the middle of my college experience,” says Davis. “Although unfortunately my time as a track and field athlete is over, I am eager to begin my own journey as an athlete. I plan to get into distance running and have just started training for my first 5K!”
The mentality it takes to compete at a high level in track and field is now part of her DNA, and will continue to be an intricate thread throughout everything she does in life.
“Track is not an easy sport, and I think anyone who has ever done it can attest to that,” explains Davis. “It is not always fun, can be very painful, and the team dynamics are very different than other traditional team sports. However, I think it is an incredibly rewarding sport, and I have met the most amazing influences and friends in my life through track. Track has taught me how to stick with things even when they are hard, and that I am capable of doing things I think are impossible at times. Being on the many different teams I have been a part of has taught me how to be part of something bigger than myself and the responsibility and time management that comes along with it. I have learned what it feels like to be successful and support others in their successes, but also what it feels like to have heartbreaking failures and support others though their own. I truly cannot imagine the past 12 years of my life without track, and I am so thankful for all the amazing people like Coach Neal I met along the way who shaped me into the person I am today. I am so glad he saw something in the 12-year-old girl who wanted to try out hurdles, and never shied away from challenging me to be the best version of myself I could be.”