Tamari Davis Drops Fr. National Record, US#4 A-T 11.13 100m


Shots fired. Gainesville freshman Tamari Davis owns the US#1 time in the 200m dash with her 22.48 from the state meet, but on Saturday she improved her 100m time as well. Running at the Star Athletics Invitational in Montverde, Florida against a field of professional women, some twice her age, Davis clocked a time of 11.13s finishing third behind Dezerea Bryant (11.08) and Semoy Hackett (11.07). Her time ties her with fellow Florida phenom Briana Williams who beat her head to head at the 3A state meet.  The mark is a new freshman class record, and tied with Williams for US#4 A-T and a 15 year old age group world record.



Coach Gary Evans, also featured in this interview told us afterward the pair has been working more on her 100 meters the past month, tweaking and fixing little things that needed work.

"Tamari gets away with a few mistakes because of her top end speed, but when you step on the line with women that's at the next level there's no room for mistake," Evans added. "The shorter the race in distance the least room for error."

The pair also took notice of what Williams did in Jamaica against a pro field at the Racers Grand Prix running 11.25.

"I think yesterday you just witnessed two ladies (Davis & Williams) that will put their country (USA & Jamaica) senior uniforms on at the next level sooner then probably both me and Ato (Boldon) thought," he said. "I have plans for Tamari but her legs are out running my plans so I will make some changes for the 2018-19 season."

Next up for Davis will be New Balance Outdoor Nationals with her Empire Athletics teammates. She will compete in the 100 and 200 meter dash then finish the season off with the USA Junior Olympics. Evans felt that it was time to start focusing on USATF events.

"We love AAU because it gives every kid a chance to compete against their own year of birth age bracket and it's truly for the kids, but if you want to put that USA uniform on you have to compete in the USATF program," he added. "The plan for USATF is the 4x1 and 4x4. We're still deciding on which open event she will run, but it may be the 400."