Mikaila Davis’ skill as a shot-putter has taken her places she never thought she could go. She first picked up a shot put during her junior year at Nipomo High School, and then refined her technique at Allan Hancock College. Now, she’s enjoying a full scholarship at Concordia University, a top-tier Christian university in Irvine.
“It totally found me,” she said of her success. “To be offered a scholarship at a private college that offers the major of study I want is just amazing. I could never have made this happen on my own. I give all the credit to God.”
The 19-year-old Davis also credits her coaches at Hancock with helping her improve her best shot-putting distance by more than five feet—to 34 feet, 11.5 inches.
“I never could have done it without them,” Davis said. “Coach [Willie] Flores has a lot of insights and techniques that helped me, and Coach [Louie] Quintana was always checking up on me, making sure I made it to the weight room and put in the work I needed to.”
Hancock’s coaches spoke of Davis with equal admiration.
“Mikaila has a great work ethic,” said track and field head coach Quintana. “If I told her to do something, she did it and then some.”
Davis finished the 2011 season ranked No. 1 in the Western State Conference in the shot put and among the top five in Southern California. She’ll make her debut as a Concordia Eagle and also experience her first NAIA track meet at Westmont College in Montecito on Feb. 4, where she’ll compete in discus and javelin, in addition to shot put. Happily, it’s close enough to her Santa Maria home that her family can be there to cheer her on.
Davis is currently training three times a week at Concordia, focusing on upper body and lower body strengthening—incorporating squats, lifts, clings, bench-pressing, and lots of heavy weights, almost like a football workout. Throwing the 8-pound shot put takes both strength and technique, and Davis seems to possess both.
While athletics is important to her, she’s equally disciplined in academics, maintaining a 3.7 GPA. She’s currently studying athletic training, but is considering medical school.
“I don’t know what God has planned for me, but I would love to be a surgeon,” she explained. “My goal is to keep up my grades and my athletic training, too. It’s a balancing act every day, but my parents taught me good work habits, and I always want to do my best.”
This article appears in Jan 19-26, 2012.
