Back to Billings: Brielle Davis blossoms into star as senior for 'Jackets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Friday, October 23, 2015 Back to Billings: Brielle Davis blossoms into star as senior for ‘Jackets By: Alesha Erfle, MSUB Media Relations Intern

MSUB women’s cross country senior Brielle Davis is set to race in Saturday’s GNAC Championships, having spent the past two seasons adjusting to the Division II level and progressing into one of the Yellowjackets’ top runners.

MSUB SPORTS – The stakes had been placed and the flagging stretched along the perimeter of Amend Park in Billings, Mont., as the trimmed grass and shallow berms beckoned the footsteps of collegiate cross country runners on a crisp October morning.

The scene was more forgiving than the last time the Montana State University Billings cross country team toed the familiar course; this time there was an absence of snow covering the path as there was at the 2014 NCAA West Region Championships last November.

MSUB senior Brielle Davis had last run the six-kilometer course competitively at MSUB’s Fall Invitational in 2014, finishing in 20th place with a time of 25:03.69.

In just more than a year’s time, the improvement Davis had made was evident at the Yellowjackets’ 2015 Invite. Shaving more than 16 seconds off of her time from a season ago, the senior was the first ‘Jacket to cross the finish line and took second place overall in 24:46.93.

The strong finish was an indicator of the profound impact Davis has had on the program, emerging into one of the team’s top runners in just her second season.

Now set to compete in Saturday’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, Davis is peaking as her career comes to a climax. For MSUB, the timing of securing a runner with Davis’s potential was partly luck and partly her own will to continue competing in the sport she loves.

During her senior prep year, Davis was given an opportunity that she could not pass up.

Plucking Davis out of Skyview High School in Billings, Gillette College wound up with one of its most successful runners both in cross country and track and field.

Solely participating in cross country to stay in shape for track and field, Davis found her niche in distance running her junior year of high school. “My coaches in track encouraged me to focus on distance running as well,” Davis commented on her high-school career. “I didn’t even consider running in college, but I received a full-ride offer from the coach at Gillette College in Wyoming halfway through my senior year.”

Davis left her hometown of Billings and moved to Gillette, Wyo., as she began her journey as a Pronghorn. Two years later, she had helped her team to a third-place finish at nationals and an 18th place overall individual finish. She qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association nationals in both indoor and outdoor track and field both seasons at Gillette.

“I had some races I’ll remember forever because they are major and really important to me,” commented Davis reflecting on her 18th-place finish. “I just remember the race really well.”

Preferring strength over endurance, Davis became the runner she is through faster and stronger workouts. Bringing her personal experience along with her own technique she was able to adjust to the coaching style of her new coach at MSUB, Dave Coppock. “I just wanted to be closer to home, especially with my parents being big supporters,” said Davis.

It was an easy decision returning to her hometown, as Coppock offered her an opportunity she could not defer.

“She was a good runner at Gillette College, however, transitioning into Division 2 was an adjustment,” commented Coppock on Davis’s ability. “I knew she was capable, which has shown as she has been in the top one or two spots this season on our team.”

The move to MSUB has not only led Davis to further her career as a collegiate athlete but also to continue her education, as she is pursuing a degree in rehabilitation and related services. Though she is not sure where her degree might take her in the long distance race of her life, she is confident she will find her placing, whatever it may be.

None of MSUB’s current runners have trekked the course at Lake Padden Park in Bellingham, Wash., the site of Saturday’s GNAC Championships. For Davis, just like her Yellowjacket teammates, it will be a first. Considering the way her career has taken shape to this point, the challenge of another unknown will play directly into Davis’s strengths.

“She is healthy right now, and she is someone I know I don’t have to worry about during a race,” Coppock said. “She has been so consistent all year and has been at the top of our team from the start of the season. She has really improved from last year.”

With her final indoor and outdoor track and field seasons to look forward to in the spring, Davis will first turn her entire focus to the biggest meet of the season to this point.

When runners from all 11 GNAC schools line up and the starting gun fires, Davis will draw on her past as a successful runner at the NJCAA national level. She’ll remember the determined mindset she adopted when she decided to pursue her running career further and build herself into the strongest runner she could be.

Most of all, Davis will do what she has done in her two seasons at MSUB, and quietly set the pace for the Yellowjackets.

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