Prep Sprinter Earns Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Kayla Davis

With 27.78 percent of the vote, Kayla Davis won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Sydney Masciarelli with her second-place tally of 24.31 percent.

The 15-year old who runs for Run U Xpress in North Carolina defended her home state turf Sunday at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. She won the 400 meters in 51.17.

That time is a world age-15 best. It also breaks the 10-year-old freshman class national prep record by nearly a second. The previous record was 52.15.

Davis' time also now ranks her equal to seventh on the prep all-time performer list and the ninth-fastest ever run by a prep sprinter. It is the fastest prep time since 2012. And it ranks her equal to 17th in the world this year.

Watch Davis' race at NBNationalsOut.com.

This was not Davis' first time running record-breaking performances. She set national prep and freshman class records indoors at 400 and 300 meters. She even finished third in the 300 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships, competing against professional athletes. But this was the next step in the sprinting evolution of Davis.

Editors’ Choice: Kayla Davis

There were many great performances this week. There were so many, it was hard to narrow the field to 10 for this week's poll. However, Davis stands above the rest with her stellar 400-meter race Sunday.

The race was not a simple demonstration of Davis' 400-meter prowess. She faced stiff competition in indoor 600-meter American record holder Athing Mu. Mu, who just completed her junior year of high school, has taken a similar racing competition approach to Davis. They both have opted to run for club teams and not compete for their high schools.

From the gun, it appeared the race was Mu's to win. She shot out of the blocks and built an early lead. Given Mu's strength at longer distances, one might guess Mu would be able to lead the whole race for the win. She ran 2:01.38 for 800 meters at the Music City Distance Carnival. Mu lead coming off the final turn, but her competition was not yet beaten.

That competition was namely Davis, although previous US#1 Jan'Taijah Ford was also nearby. Using a more measured approach to her pace in the race, Davis made the pass into first place with about 75 meters to go. She powered down the homestretch to win in 51.17. Mu finished second in 51.98. Ford was third in 52.46.

Watch Davis' post-race interview on DyeStat.com.