School Record Broken!

On May 8^th, at a distance carnival track meet that drew top high school runners from around the state, Cascade High School senior Landon Davies decisively broke the school two-mile record. The previous record, set by Todd Smith in 1998, was 9:42. Davies’ new record is 9:34.

“It was under the lights; there was music in the background,” Davies said, describing the elite atmosphere. “I was seeded fourteenth but came in about fifth.”

When Davies came through at the mile, he was off record pace. However, he proved to have lots left to give, and the second mile was a negative split, run in 4:40. “It wasn’t my hardest race,” Davies said. His solid training and the level of competition, which was higher than what he normally encountered in the Caribou Trail League, came together for this personal best (PB) race.

A week after the PB, Davies had another stellar showing by winning both the mile and two-mile at his final high school meet, regionals.

Reflecting on all that had been taken away in the last year, Davies said, “I didn’t even expect a season. I’ve taken nothing for granted. I’m thrilled to end with something great.”

Davies has had many coaches to guide his training, enabling him to stay healthy and get stronger. About Dayle Massey and the other cross country coaches, Davies said, “They were very supportive without being super intense.” Additionally, his track coaches include his father, Bill Davies, and Eric Wulfman. “Coach Wulfman would put us through some tough repeats, maybe 300s or 800s. He knew what we could do better than we did, so we were able to push our limits.”

“I started coaching Landon in sixth grade with cross country,” said Wulfman. “It’s been fun watching him develop as a runner and person. His work ethic, coachability and desire to win are largely responsible for where he is today.”

Davies also had a corps of dedicated athletes around him, as the cross country boys and girls teams won league and the boys also won regionals, and many of them continued to focus on distance events in track. “We all held each other accountable,” he said.

Landon Davies thrives both on the track and off. He’s a talented singer, whose ability helped earn him the title of Mr. Kodiak, a playful version of a pageant for senior boys, recently too. “I took a famous song, changed the lyrics and turned it into a parody about COVID.” He’s also going to be on a combined music and academic scholarship at Chapman University in Orange, California.

This summer Davies will be training, preparing for cross country with his new Chapman team. But he will seek to balance it with work at Schocolat and lots of time to hang out with friends, paddle board and swim.