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 If a double major puts a lot on the average college student's plate-and a student athlete's plate is already full with classes and practices-Eastern freshman Shannon Davis may well be lining up for a buffet. Davis, 19, transferred to Eastern from Tulane University on a football scholarship, but isn't wasting time waiting on football season. Davis is currently a participant in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash for the outdoor track team while training in spring practice with the football team-and holding down 17 credit hours as a double major in sports management and sociology. Davis said it's all about time management skills and knowing what roles to play. From the boyfriend role to the child role, everyone deserves time, Davis said. "I can't procrastinate on anything; its very hectic and, at times, frustrating," Davis said. "You need to know what you're trying to do and when you're trying to do things." The Atlanta native has made a splash in the track and field community, capturing an array of medals in the indoor season-most notably taking gold at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships in the 55 and the 200. The wins helped propel the Colonels indoor track and field team to first place in the OVC. Davis isn't the only athlete pulling double duty in the Colonel sporting world. Andre Evans transferred to Eastern the same time as Davis and is also taking on track and football. "We get along really well and we're together all the time," Davis said. "Pretty much anytime you see one of us, the other's not far behind." Davis and Evans do not limit their competition to track and field; their battles spill onto the gridiron as well, where Davis is primarily a receiver and Evans was recruited as a cornerback. "I try go to go against him as much as I can; the rivalry doesn't start on the track and end on the track," Evans said. "It's a healthy rivalry, when they say someone's faster than you, you want to see what they're all about." Evans competes so well with Davis because he may be the only one on campus that really understands how busy Davis is from day to day. Davis said his schedule is so detailed with workouts and study that every hour of the day is set with something to do before he ever wakes up in the morning. This still doesn't seem to be enough for the freshman. "If I had to pick between track or football, I wouldn't pick either; I would play baseball," Davis said. "Baseball is my first love." Davis said he plans to try out and play baseball next year, attempting to fulfill his long-time dream of participating in three sports on a collegiate level. "It's what I enjoy doing; sports is my life," Davis said. "Take it to the max." Taking it to the max includes collecting the free minutes of his day-which average out to a little more than an hour-and using them productively. "I do push-ups or crunches to make sure I say in shape and ahead of the game," Davis said. "I eat when I can and make sure I get a lot of water to stay hydrated and healthy." Assistant track coach Leon Pullen, who specializes with Davis and sets up his track practices around football, calls the football staff the morning of practice to find out what Davis did the day before, and then prepares his workout for track accordingly. "He's a very focused and determined individual, very willing to learn," Pullen said. "He knows what he wants and earns it; I can't see anyone or anything getting in his way." Even with the high regard Pullen holds for Davis, he doesn't believe there is any way to pull off three sports at the collegiate level, explaining it's not a talent issue-there simply aren't enough hours in a day. Pullen said he believes Davis is talented enough, but Evans said he wonders why Davis would want to even try. "As much hard work as we're doing just running track and playing football … that's just plain crazy," Evans said. Whether Davis understands the level of involvement needed to play three sports or not is irrelevant. "I like proving people wrong," Davis said. "It's letting people know all things are possible." And he is well on his way to proving his importance to the athletic community at Eastern. Davis has started the outdoor track season and already qualified for the NCAA regional meet. He was named OVC Track Athlete of the Week after he ran a 10.52 in the 100 amongst a 70-man field last week. "I'm gonna play sports until I can never play sports again, until somebody tells me, 'look, enough is enough, you're done,'" said Davis. "As long as I can breathe and walk and have uses of all my limbs, I will continue to play." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Davis Named OVC Track Athlete of the Week BRENTWOOD, TN – Eastern Kentucky University freshman Shannon Davis was named the Ohio Valley Conference Track Athlete of the Week Tuesday, the league office announced. Davis won the men’s 100 meter dash Friday in a loaded 70-man field at the North Carolina State Raleigh Relays. His time of 10.52 qualified him for NCAA regionals, and is also first on the OVC Best List. Davis, a native of Atlanta, transferred to EKU from Tulane University, where he played wide receiver for the Green Wave last fall. He joined the Colonel track and field team midway through the indoor season, and quickly emerged as one of the top sprinters in the OVC. The track and field team returns to action this Saturday as they travel to the University of Cincinnati Invitational. |
 2008 NSIC Results New York, NY - After winning long jump and 400m, Christian Taylor was the overwhelming favorite to take this event as well and complete his quest for three golds at NSIC, leading the nation by more than a foot with his 52-footer this winter, which was US #3 all-time. And after reaching 51'2.5 in the qualifying flight, the only remaining question was whether he could challenge the national record of 52'7.5, which he indicated he would be shooting for. But this mark proved to be too challenging for his tired legs, although he did improve to 51'3 on his final jump. No other competitor was even close to challenging him, with New Yorker Albert Johnson grabbing the silver with 48'2, more than three feet behind. Taylor capped off his remarkable triple-gold weekend with an impressive performance, and the Sandy Creek senior is sure to wow the crowds next year as well when he competes for University of Florida. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Taylor knew he could win it in last 100 meters. This event was the most anticipated race of the weekend, with an extremely deep field. It certainly lived up to the expectations. Its quality was so high that some national-level stars did not even make it out of Saturday’s qualifying round, including Dominick Roberts from Colorado, who last month won Simplot Games in Idaho with US#2 time of 47.98. On Saturday he only managed a 49.65, which left him twelve hundredths of a second short of qualifying for the 12-man final. Another casualty was Coloradoan Kyle MacIntosh, 4th at Simplot, finishing even further back, along with the hometown favorite Dennis Scruggs, who before this meet was US#9. All the other favorites, including Georgia superstar Christian Taylor, aiming for a triple gold after winning the long jump on Friday and with triple jump still to go on Sunday afternoon, qualified for Sunday’s final. Taylor posted the fastest qualifying time with his clocking of 48.28, ahead of Robert Simmons’s 48.42 and Khalid Featherstone’s 48.57. The only major surprise was the fact that William Wynne, who had the fastest indoor time in the nation this winter (47.82) only posted a 49.46 qualifying time, behind eight other competitors, which knocked him out of the seeded heat in Sunday’s final. As expected, Wynne won the unseeded section handily in 48.75, but his mark was unlikely to withstand the assault of several speedsters in the faster section. Right after the gun went off, Pennsylvania star Khalid Featherstone surged into the lead from lane 4, going through the first lap in 22.5, but Taylor was right on his heels. On the back straightaway the Georgian went around Featherstone and pulled away around the last turn. He would win his second gold by an impressive margin in 47.42, easily improving on Wynne’s US#1 time. Featherstone faded to third in 47.96, also defeated by Texan Robert Simmons (47.80). Wynne would end up fifth overall. After the race, Taylor said, “after winning this I feel more relaxed and confident about getting three golds. I was nervous about the 400 because I knew this would be the most difficult of the three to win. When I saw Featherstone take it out so hard, I knew he set a good pace for me, and I knew that no matter what, I would get him on the last 100 meters. I have been working on the final 100 with my coach, and it’s definitely paying off. Now I can just focus on the triple and try to break some records there.” And indeed, two hours later Taylor would grab another gold on the triple jump runway, completing his remarkable achievement. |
2008 NSIC Results New York, NY - Six Quicksilver athlete traveled to the "Big Apple" to compete in the 25th Anniversary of the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. These athletes included Omari Barrow (Sr., Stephenson H.S., Vincent Butler (Sr, Lithia Springs H.S.), Jamillah Middlebrooks (Fr., Riverwood H.S.), Bobby Onyeukwu (Sr., McEachern H.S.), Marchello Sinkfield (Sr., Fredrick Douglass H.S) and Christian Taylor (Sr., Sandy Creek H.S.). This meet brings together some of the best athletes across the U.S. and Canada. The NSIC has become a annual trek for QTC over the past few years since the Indoor program has been implemented. QTC has also enjoyed a good amount of success at the NSIC and 2008 was no differenct as Christian Taylor scored an impressive triple at the New Balance Armory (400m, Long Jump and Triple Jump). Jamillah Middlebrooks started her High School career with a 19th place with in the 200m, with a time of 25.32. Bobby Onyeukwu had a breakout performance in the 800m with a personal besta of 1:57.92 to finish 21th overall. Omari Barrow competed in the Long Jump (11th), 60m (15th) and 200m (27th). Vicent Butler competed in the 200m and 400m, and Marchello Sinkfield competed in the 60m Hurdles (14th) and 400m (24th). |
  IAAF World Youth Championship Results OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - On the first warm day of the meet Saturday, conditions were tailor-made for Team USA's Christian Taylor (Quicksilver TC - Sandy Creek H.S. - Fayetteville, Ga.), as he shattered his previous personal best and won the triple jump with a final-attempt leap of 15.98 meters/52-5.25 on the fourth day of the 5th IAAF World Youth Championships. He became the first ever American to win the Boys’ World Youth Triple Jump title. Taylor, the long jump bronze medalist whose best coming into the meet was 15.22m/49-11.25, had a hip problem and was behind the board on his first three attempts, but managed to improve on each try. His fourth-round effort of 15.64m/51-3.75 put him into the lead for good, and with the gold assured he uncorked a massive final attempt to record the best jump by a youth in the world this year. Bryce Lamb (Chandler, Ariz.) was eighth at 14.99m/49-2.25. "I just tried to kill it on my last jump," Taylor said. "This was for my coaches at the Quicksilver Track Club in Atlanta. I love hot weather, and this felt like I was jumping at home. Having my family here was a big motivation, and it is great to be world champion and win another medal." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ United States' Christian Taylor lived up to his pre Championships tag by capturing the Boys Triple Jump with a World leading leap on Saturday. With Cuban Ernesto Kindelán missing in action, Taylor, who entered the Championships with the second best distance, stamped his class on the event with some impressive jumping. He was the only jumper to maintain a distance over 15 metres throughout the final, and in the end, his 15.98 metres on his last attempt, bettered the previous World leading mark of 15.84m, which was done by Kindelán last month. Taylor, who also had impressive leaps of 15.64m and 15.59m, defeated the Russian pair of Aleksey Fedorov (15.59m) and Gennadiy Chudinov (15.54m), both doing personal best distances. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Taylor adds gold to bronze USA’s Christian Taylor won an exciting Triple Jump battle and came close to breaking the 16-metre barrier on his last attempt. In an extremely consistent series, Taylor took the lead in round three, lost it briefly in the fourth round when Russia’s Aleksey Fedorov jumped 15.59m, but soon regained the pole position. On the very last jump of the competition, Taylor bounded out to 15.98m to become the first ever American to win the Boys’ World Youth Triple Jump title. Fedorov’s best mark remained good enough for silver, while his teammate Gennadiy Chudinov jumped 15.54m to take bronze on count-back from Singapore’s Stefan Tseng Ke Chen. |
 Sacramento, CA - The Auburn men’s track and field team produced an individual champion and it was not from a athlete favored to come home with a a gold medal. Ty Akins, the third seed in his event, sprinted to victory in the 110 hurdles Akins pulled a mild upset in the 110-meter hurdles, as the third seed got off to a quick start and pulled away to win in a school-record time of 13.42 seconds, which was 0.15 seconds ahead of runner-up John Yarbrough of Ole Miss. Akins, who bested his previous school record of 13.51 despite running into a headwind, became the first Auburn man to win the high hurdles since Weems Baskin won the 120-yard hurdles in 1927. “I knew everybody in the race was good and anybody could have won,” said Akins. “But I knew the important thing was the start and I had to get out fast, and I got out pretty well. I crashed a couple of hurdles but I put my all into it. It feels good because all of the hard work I did in the fall and in the winter added up and paid big dividends.” |
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 DURHAM, N.C. - By the time they are three years removed from high school, most football players have given some indication of what they might be able to accomplish at the collegiate level. But for Duke's Jabari Marshall, his third season past the prep ranks is more like a starting point and launching pad for the remainder of his college career. After graduating from Atlanta's Mays High School in 2004, Marshall redshirted his freshman year at Duke and sat out last season for academic reasons. So when he stepped on the field for the opening contest against Richmond in September, it marked his first game action since the 2003 Georgia state high school playoffs. "I remember my first kickoff return against Richmond," he says. "I needed it, and after I got it, everything clicked again and I was back. It didn't take long because it's what I do. "I hadn't played in awhile, and I had some questions about myself a little bit. But when I got out there, it was just back to normal." Marshall's journey has been anything but normal, but his rookie season has been a good one from a personal standpoint. He is one of the fastest players on the team, and Duke's coaches have put that speed to use mostly on special teams. He has been the top kickoff return man on the squad, with an average of over 26 yards per attempt, which ranks among the national top 25. He has also been a gunner on the punt team and made several plays in coverage situations, including the recovery of two fumbles. While the team remains winless and the youthful roster inconsistent from week to week, Marshall has done his job well virtually every game. He emerged as the primary kick returner after his roommate, fellow speedster Ronnie Drummer, was injured against Richmond. Over 75 percent of his returns have gone for at least 20 yards, and on a few occasions he's been only a block or cut away from going the distance, such as in the Florida State game when a defender knocked him off balance after a 67-yard gain. He also had a 44-yarder against Vanderbilt, a 38-yarder at Alabama and a 34-yarder against Navy. "He's got some grit about him, and he doesn't shy away from mixing it up. He takes pride in what he does," says coach Ted Roof. "He's fearless. He doesn't dance around. We've just got to maintain our blocks a little bit longer, and he's obviously got the speed to hit a home run." Marshall says he plays without fear because he figures that after a lifetime of carrying the football, he's already been hit about as hard as he'll ever be hit - although he also acknowledges that a shot he took in the recent Navy may have been the hardest ever for him. His home run speed may be a natural resource, but he is quick to credit its refinement to his extensive background as a track sprinter. "When I was younger I was pretty fast, but it wasn't trained speed," he says. "When I got to high school I started running track, and I learned a lot of speed mechanics from my summer track club because they had time to work with you individually. I think I got college football speed by running summer track." Marshall was on a state championship 4x100 relay team in high school, and last spring ran that event for the Duke track team along with Drummer. The two helped the Blue Devils to the second fastest time in school history at 41.81 seconds. Marshall also runs the 100 and 200 individually, and last spring at the ACC meet he was clocked in 22.73 seconds for the 200. He plans to be back on the track this year. "Running track is fun. It keeps your speed up, and speed helps you in football," he says. "Ronnie and I didn't run the times we could have (last spring) because we were still doing football, but it kept our speed up, and it keeps us in shape." Marshall had plenty of time to focus on his physical shape and conditioning last fall when he was out of school. He spent part of his time working out in Durham and the rest at home in Atlanta contemplating his return for the spring semester. "It was kinda hard, but I feel like it made me work harder to get back and do the best I could when I got back," he notes. "It made me think about the game more and how it really affects your life. Right now my life is just going to school and football. I had both of those taken away, now I've got them back and I'm trying to make the best of it. "My mom was my biggest supporter. Most of the time I was with her and we'd talk about it and she'd tell me it was okay. She was my biggest fan as far as keeping me up. She just told me to work hard and be ready when my name was called again." Duke's coaches who initially beat out Notre Dame, Auburn and Illinois for Marshall's services penciled his name in at defensive back for his return to the team this season. Marshall had played both offense and defense in high school, with nine interceptions his senior year and 14 for his career. During preseason practice, however, he was switched from cornerback to wide receiver. He saw limited duty on offense for the first eight games, but during the last two weeks his named was called a few times with pleasant results. He turned the corner for 15 yards on a reverse in the Navy game, then ripped off runs of 22 and 20 yards at Boston College. "He's one of our better athletes, and I wanted to find a way to get a guy who has the ability to make some big plays on the field," Roof says. "It's certainly shown up in his kick returns, and every week he's picked it up on offense a little bit more." Indeed, Marshall says his recent opportunities on offense are due to the fact that he has finally developed a better understanding of the playbook. "Physically I can do whatever they want me to do, but learning it and putting it all together, now I'm starting to get it and they're giving me my shot," he says. Marshall returned one kickoff and two punts for touchdowns in high school, and he continues to look for the seam or block that will launch him toward the end zone at Duke. "Personally I think I've been doing a pretty good job, but I want to do better," he says. "Your goal on kickoff return is to score and I haven't done that yet. But I feel like I've tried my best each week and gotten a good outcome from what we've done." |