Tamari Davis Ties Bianca Knight's Freshman Class 200m Record 23.06s At Bob Hayes Invitational

Mar 17, 2018

Less than a week after sweeping the 60m and 200m indoor national titles in New York, Gainesville HS freshman Tamari Davis was back on the outdoor track. Davis who set freshman national records in both events, and held the 14 year old age group world record in the 200m, had a record setting performance at the Bob Hayes Invitational.

The stud sprinter ran 23.12w (3.8 m/s) to set the tone for the finals and a potential showdown with Northeast sophomore Briana Williams who ran a wind legal 24.36 in the heat prior. Williams ran a new 15 year old world record in the final breaking Marion Jones mark with a blazing 11.13s and opted out of the 200m final. With nobody pushing her, Davis made her own history, running 23.06 to tie Bianca Knight's freshman class record.

============================================================================
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Wind Points
============================================================================
Finals                                                                      
  1 Davis, Tamari             09 Gainesville              23.06   1.5  10   
  2 Toussaint, Ulani          12 Miami Northwestern       24.45   1.5   8   
  3 Douglas, Hannah           09 Olympia                  24.61   1.5   6   
  4 Gay, Ma'Asa               12 Wakulla                  24.85   1.5   5   
  5 Johnson, Deaundra         09 Pine Forest              24.88   1.5   4   
  6 Harper, Aniya             10 Westside                 24.96   1.5   3   
  7 Wright, Sydney            09 Mainland                 25.19   1.5   2

Although he wasn't there in person to see it, Coach Gary Evans was able to view the race on FLRunners afterwards and felt that running solo, she did a very good job.

"Staying focused about things she can't control played a big part in her race," he said. "We thank God for the win and the ability to finish the race healthy and the other athletes. The win was nice, but now we put it behind us and move on to the next track meet. No one remembers this if you can't seal the deal at the FHSAA state championships and outdoor nationals."

(Photo by Cedric Gillette)

Next up for Davis will be the Alachua County Championships on Wednesday. For those of you looking forward to a Davis/Williams showdown that will likely happen at the 3A state championship meet with a title on the line and possibly later in the month at either Flo Golden South or the Adidas Dream 100.

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