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\u201cHe\u2019s one of the mentally toughest runners I\u2019ve had,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carroll was a multi-sport athlete. When he wasn\u2019t running cross-country, he was playing soccer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the things that always stuck out to me about him was how scrappy he was,\u201d athletic director-turned-principal Spencer Perrin said of Carroll. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter who they were playing or what point of the game it was; he was gonna play as hard at the very first minute of the game as he was right before the buzzer went off.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Davis\u2019s only challenge with Carroll was reigning him in so he didn\u2019t overextend himself. He, just like McVey, is also part of the \u201c30 Plus Club.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRobbie was a little bit that way, too,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things you look for in a runner who\u2019s gonna be successful. When they\u2019re gungho, they\u2019re gonna push themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 22 years, Davis was an elite-sponsored triathlete. He\u2019s finished top 20 in the nation for his division several times and was still racing at a high level when he started the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Davis has since retired from racing, he still goes trail running, hiking, and mountain biking with his kids. Davis said that even if his runners don\u2019t continue running the same way post-graduation, they may become thru-hikers, backpackers, or outdoorsmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running over roots and rocks, beside creeks and across rivers, among Tennessee\u2019s wildlife, opens up an extra avenue to enjoy nature. The physical benefits are undeniable, and debatably it\u2019s the most accessible sport there is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since he introduced cross-country to Fayetteville High School 10 years ago, Davis has had two women compete in the state championships, and now two men have signed to run in college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting stronger, and our program is growing,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s not only good news to him. Perrin said it\u2019d open doors for more student-athletes in sports outside of football and basketball to consider, and be considered, to continue to college teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor whatever reason, people don\u2019t think about going that avenue or that being an attainable goal to get a scholarship,\u201d Perrin said. \u201cWhat they have done now is made other colleges aware that, \u2018Hey, Fayetteville City potentially has some athletes here that can help our college programs.\u2019\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" AS FAYETTEVILLE High School’s cross-country program flourishes under former triathlete coach Chris Davis, two of its top athletes have signed with college teams. Their athletic (and academic) achievements are not only a testament to the potential of this young team but have paved the way for future student-athletes to consider all of their options. Recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":20204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/2-4-1024x683.png\")