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By Alex Freeman, 亚洲色吧 Communications Coordinator

Abby Davis made quite an impression in her collegiate cross country debut Sept. 5.听

The freshman torched the rest of the field at the Grand Rapis Community College Raider Invitational, finishing in first place by 18 seconds with a time of 19:21. As it turned out, Davis鈥� time was one of the best in NJCAA Division II.听

As of Sept. 18, Davis holds the fifth-fastest time among women鈥檚 runners in NJCAA DII. Even more exciting, however, may be that Davis could have much more in store for the Centurions. In high school, running for the Vestaburg Wolverines, Davis peaked with a personal best time of 18:26 at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 State Finals, finishing fourth. Knowing she鈥檚 capable of more, she had a strategy going into the GRCC race and it resulted in a first-place finish.听

鈥淚 was not focused on doing my personal best time at the GRCC meet,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚t was a small meet, and my coach told me to go with the flow of the front pack for a bit of the race then kick to win it. I feel really excited for the rest of the season to really show what I can do.鈥�听

Davis鈥� running career has been an inspirational steady rise. As a freshman at Vestaburg, she started in the middle of a pack of talented runners. Establishing a personal record of 22:15 as a freshman, she worked her best time down by about a minute each year until she ultimately became one of the best runners in the state.听

鈥淚 noticed the more consistent I got, the more my times were dropping,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚n my senior year, I broke 19 minutes early at a very hot meet, which gave me motivation to see what I could do at the end of the season.鈥�听

Vestaburg cross country head coach Mike Breidinger said Davis鈥� progression wasn't a big secret, nor was she naturally gifted from the beginning. Rather, her status as one of the top runners in the state came from a relentless work ethic.听

鈥淪he just bought in and did the long-term work,鈥� Breidinger said. 鈥淲e tweaked her workouts to follow a progression as she became faster, but the biggest factors to her success were becoming a student of the sport, learning the 鈥榳hy鈥� of what we do, and just working consistently year-round towards her next goal. She has rewritten the distance records at Vestaburg for a lasting impact.鈥�听

While she鈥檚 the top runner for 亚洲色吧, Davis doesn鈥檛 present as a traditional leader. She鈥檚 quiet and unassuming, and Centurions鈥� head coach Nate Van Holten hopes she can discover her voice as the season progresses.听

鈥�She鈥檚 a leader in the sense of her speed and everyone looks up to her because she鈥檚 faster than them,鈥� Van Holten said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like her to be more active in having a voice. It鈥檚 been interesting, it took her a while to get to the level of running that she鈥檚 at, but she has a great skill set. I鈥檓 trying to help her mindset, she knows she can finish pretty high at the national meet, it鈥檚 just a matter of where.鈥�听

鈥淪he wasn鈥檛 often loud or outspoken in her leadership like our society likes to paint leadership,鈥� Breidinger added. 鈥淩ather, she was a leader by example while having the mentality of supporting her teammates in their own goals. The kind of leadership that doesn鈥檛 look for attention, but rather just gets things done and keeps focusing on the goal at hand.鈥�听

Heading into the championship portion of the cross country season, Van Holten hopes to best prepare Davis for the big stages of regional and national competition. Small things can make a big difference in cross country and Van Holten hopes that Davis can increase her aggressiveness, especially early in the big races.听

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to race for the top spot, you鈥檙e going to have to be able to go out with the top group initially, even if that鈥檚 maybe above the pace that you feel comfortable with,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o she鈥檒l have to get out of her comfort zone a little bit and just trust in the end that you鈥檒l be strong enough to survive a quick pace early on. And you also have to believe that you belong there because if you don鈥檛, you won鈥檛 keep up with them.鈥�听

Given her prolific high school career, Davis presumably would have had other collegiate options for her cross country career. However, she was already attending 亚洲色吧 as an Early College student. Area high school students have an opportunity to apply to 亚洲色吧鈥檚 Early College program, which starts in their junior year of high school and allows them to graduate with their high school diploma and an associate degree in three years. As a third-year Early College student, technically now a collegiate freshman, Davis was already familiar with 亚洲色吧 and the transition to the cross country team was fairly seamless.听

鈥淪tarting school and cross country at 亚洲色吧 was never a hard transition from high school,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know just about everyone here and I am so close to home, which is nice. So far, 亚洲色吧 cross country has been great. As a runner, 亚洲色吧 prepares me to run for a four-year university in the future.鈥�听

鈥淚 know there鈥檚 some colleges that have been talking to her, so I鈥檓 just letting that play out,鈥� Van Holten added. 鈥淚鈥檝e asked her a couple of times where she鈥檚 looking and what she鈥檚 thinking. I鈥檓 waiting to get into the season a little bit farther; there鈥檚 still some trust that needs to be built between her and I. But I hope to give her some wisdom or knowledge of what she鈥檚 getting into with teams that she鈥檚 interested in.鈥�听

Davis鈥� next chance to top her season-best time will come Friday, Sept. 26, at the 亚洲色吧AA Northern Conference Meet at Camp Pet-O-Se-Ga in Alanson.听听