Jerayah Davis 3-Peats As Wyoming Gatorade Girls Track And Field Athlete Of The Year

In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Jerayah Davis of Kelly Walsh High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Davis is the second Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Kelly Walsh High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track, distinguishes Davis as Wyoming’s best high school girls track & field athlete.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Davis joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Allyson Felix (2001-02, Los Angeles Baptist, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.), Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.) and Bianca Knight (2006-07, Ridgeland HS, Miss.).

The 5-foot-10 senior sprinter and jumper won three individual state championships this spring and led the Trojans to a third-place finish at the Class AA state meet.

Davis captured the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.94 seconds, the 200-meter dash in 24.44 and the long jump by soaring 18 feet, seven inches.

The state’s two-time returning Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year, she also earned fourth place in the long jump at the Great Southwest Classic with a leap of 19-6.25, which ranked as the nation’s No. 33 performance among prep competitors in 2014 at the time of her selection.

Davis has maintained a 3.93 GPA in the classroom. A devoted member of her church community, she has volunteered locally as a youth track and field coach and as a mentor for students with special needs.

“Jerayah Davis is the best combination sprinter and jumper in the history of women’s track and field in the state of Wyoming,” said Kelly Walsh High head coach Kevin Williams. “She is also an exemplary student and member of the community. I have not seen that combination of talent on and off the track in my 37 years of coaching the sport of track and field.”

Davis has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on an athletic scholarship at the University of Southern California this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.

The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Three-time winner Davis joins Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Paula Andrie (2010 – 11, Campbell County HS), Baillie Gibson (2009-10, Natrona County), Emily Moore (2008–09 & 2007-08, Campbell County), and Amber Henry (2006-2007, Mountain View) among the state’s list of former award winners.