Meghan Davis hopes she can take the Big Apple by storm this evening.
The Mohawk Trail Regional High School senior is in the field at the 2019 New Balance Indoor Nationals, which begins today and runs throughout the weekend at The New Balance Track and Field Center at The Armory in New York City.
After another stellar indoor track campaign for the Warriors, Davis will compete in the the 5,000-meter run in NYC. She’ll be in the fast section of the event, with an estimated start time of 5:15 p.m. The Plainfield resident is one of two Bay State runners in the 5K field, as she’ll be joined by Amherst’s Sophia Jacobs-Townsley.
“I’m super excited about it,” began Davis of the trip to Nationals. “There aren’t 5Ks in high school meets so I had to use a 3K conversion time to qualify.”
The meet record in the event was set back in 2017 by Colorado’s Brie Oakley, who crossed the finish line in 15 minutes, 55.75 seconds.
On the 200-meter banked track at The Armory, Davis and the field will run 25 laps in a race that requires plenty of discipline and strategy.
“I honestly think I do better the more laps there are,” said Davis with a laugh. “I really want to run 5K/10K in college, so I think this could be a really good starting point. I’ve only ever run 5Ks during cross country outside so I’m not sure how it’ll translate on the track.
“It’s easy to fall off if you fall off the pack,” she continued. “If that happens and you’re just there in no-mans land, that makes for a very long race. So I’m just going in with having a goal pace per lap, hopefully that’ll help me stay in connection with the other girls.”
At last year’s New Balance Nationals, Davis finished 12th in the Girls Emerging Elite 2-mile field with a time of 11:16.59 during her debut trip to the prestigious meet. This time around, she’ll look to test her mettle again some of the best long-distance runners in the country.
“The energy of being at the meet itself is awesome. It’s enough to carry you through,” Davis recalled. “It’s obviously overwhelming, but I was just super excited to be there (last year). It’s always just an honor because you never know if you’re going to make it. Qualifications are pretty steep to get in, so it’s the icing on the cake to the indoor season.”
After a standout tenure at Mohawk, Davis is in the final few months of her high school career, with today’s race the culmination of her indoor season. She’ll quickly make the turnover to the outdoor season, before graduating and heading to Tufts University where she’ll run for the Jumbos beginning this fall.
“I’m very excited for that. I’m hoping to run longer distances in college,” she said. “Since the beginning of indoor season, I’ve wanted to focus on my speed development. I’ve focused on shorter, faster races so I can get that kick in me and hopefully that’ll pay dividends (today) and moving forward. This spring, it’ll probably be very similar.”