State champion Davis ready to take next step with Cardinals

CHESAPEAKE — When he was in elementary school, Corey Davis was told to stay away from the pole vault. It was too dangerous.

But Corey Davis was the beneficiary of a gene pool that gave him characteristics of his late, great grandfather Phil Davis, who was an Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame honoree as well as a wrestling and track coach.

“It’s funny. There’s this guy named Ken Brown. He was friends with my grandpa and they coached track together for years. I’ve been around track since the fourth grade,” said Davis.

“When I was in the fourth grade, my mom decided she wanted to be an assistant girls’ track coach. So, I went to track practice every day. I didn’t want to just sit there so I practiced with the older kids. One event I wasn’t allowed to do was pole vault because they said it was dangerous. So, of course, that’s what I wanted to do.”

That seed grew into what was to become a state championship and a scholarship to pole vault for the University of Louisville Cardinals. Davis just won the OHSAA Division 4 state championship at Jesse Owens Stadium the weekend of June 5-7.

But Davis can’t forget his early start and the encouragement he got from his grandfather and Brown.

“As soon as I got to middle school, the first thing I did was pick up a pole. I’ve got to give credit to coach Ken Brown. Him and my grandpa are the ones who started pole vault because Travis Brown was (Ken’s) son and he’s the one who was the first Chesapeake pole vaulter,” said Davis.

“Coach Brown would grab every middle school kid as say you’ve at least got to try it.”

At the state meet, Davis cleared 16-feet to finish ahead of Hudson Williams of Zane Trace who went 15-4. His height was the best in all five divisions.

 “The kids who vaulted in the other divisions I vaulted against them all year and none of them beat me. It was a good feeling. I can’t lie. It was a good feeling. Sixteen feet is kind of a normal day for me,” said Davis who set the Chesapeake school record at 16-feet, 8-inches in a meet earlier in the year.

“I vaulted most of the year in northern Ohio. There’s better competition up there, but I came down to Coal Grove and that’s when I jumped 16-8. I remember second place was like 12.”

Davis was getting recruited by multiple Division 1 schools. He visited Kansas, Youngstown among other schools. Davis said he was sending out letters to everyone asking them to give him a chance.

The Louisville pole vault coach Brooke Ransack reached out to Davis and she seemed very interested and wanted to get together and have a conversation.

“I’m a pretty personable guy. I try to be like my grandpa in that aspect. I was talking to her and she asked me how I would like to make a visit. I went down there and, I’m a Christian and I take my faith very seriously, and I just felt like God was telling me this is the place.”

The final decision came down to Louisville and Kansas, and Davis said it was extremely difficult to choose.

“I went on a visit to Kansas. I loved Kansas. The facilities are amazing and the coach is insane. They’re athletes are amazing,” said Davis.

“But one of the big things I loved about Louisville is the community was bigger than pole vault. All the kids there were best friends and hanging out every night and their FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) was humongous,” said Davis.

It wasn’t the first time recently that Davis had to make a difficult decision. He was playing football and was a talented defensive back as well as a wide receiver. After his sophomore season, he sat down with his father, Scott, who was one of Phil Davis’ sons and was an outstanding quarterback for Chesapeake.

“I’ll be honest. One of the hardest decisions I’ve made is to not play football and concentrate on track just because of the (football) legacy that came before me. My two brothers didn’t play when they got to high school. My dad was never too hard on us. He said do what you want to do and just excel at it as much as you can. It was a hard decision, but golly, I made the right decision,” said Davis.

“I have two older brothers and they kind of keep to themselves more. They’re more like my dad and his twin brother. But everyone says I got the grandpa gene. I’m the only one like him. When you hear stories like that, you look up to him. He’s been my idol since I was a baby. That’s who I wanted to be like. I hear people tell me I remind them of my grandpa. That’s what I’ve tried to emulate, not just through sports but as a person.”

One thing that keeps Davis working hard and is a driving force is the goals he sets for himself.

“When I was a 12-footer, 14 seemed impossible. I got to14 and 15 sounded impossible. It’s always the next bar is how I look at it. I’m a goal oriented person. I set my goals high. I set the goal to be state champion and I achieved that. I want to go to a D1 college and I achieved that,” said Davis.

“I want to jump 17 (feet) in high school and I’ve got one more meet to do that. But if I don’t do it, I’m not mad. I feel that setting your goals so high that you can’t achieve them at that time, I feel it’s good. It’s healthy.”

But there are more goals to come with college conference and national meets. Davis said going to Louisville is the first step toward achieving those goals. 

Going to Louisville also means that Davis will be competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference which will create stiff competition which is exactly what Davis wants to experience.

“It is a big thing. The ACC is pretty known for pole vault,” said Davis. “If I found my home somewhere else, I found my home somewhere else. I wasn’t set on impressing anyone that I went D1. I wanted to go to a place where I could develop the most.”

While future goals seem to be obtainable goals, there is one more ultimate goal that sits in the back of his mind.

An Olympic qualifier.

“Why wouldn’t you think of it. I’ve always had people say I have a different mindset. Why would I put this much time into it if I didn’t think I could do it? I might as well try for it. I don’t think the Olympics is a crazy thought anymore,” said Davis.

When Corey Davis talks like that, he sounds a lot like his grandfather Phil Davis. And that’s got a pretty nice sound to it.