Kayla Davis (Run U Xpress) traveled to Florida to go after a fast 400 meter race at the Flo Golden Classic.
While she only ran in the prelims, she was using it to gauge her fitness ahead of the summer season.
But Davis executed a shockingly fast race in the preliminary field, crossing the line in 52.08 seconds to break her own state record--set two years ago as a seventh-grader--and officially cementing it as her own.
The mark she set in 2017 wasn't exactly a state record, since Davis was in middle school when she achieved the m ark, though it was assumed that she could go after it at some point this year. She bettered her previous PR of 52.54 from the 2017 USATF JO Nationals in the 13-14 age group race.
Her mark surpasses Demetria Washington's previous North Carolina high school state record of 52.74 seconds from 1997.
Davis' 52.08 also breaks Robin Reynolds' (Jackson HS, FL) national freshman class record of 52.15 seconds, which stood since 2009. She still has a long summer ahead, as we could see the first North Carolina high school girl under 52 seconds this season.
Davis will race at the Mark Trail Invitational in Georgia on May 25, followed by the Bershawn "Batman" Jackson Youth Invitational in Durham on June 8.
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