Abigail Davis runs in the state meet at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park Sat., Nov. 8. | Joy Haynes

Hartselle junior Abigail Davis has been a naturally good runner since she started cross country during her freshman year, but she has still been able to shave about four minutes off her times since then.

Davis moved to Hartselle in the eighth grade from Priceville and was ineligible for school sports until her freshman year. After her brother Aaron started running cross country, head coach Kenny Lopez encouraged her to try running as well.

At that time, her 5K times were in the 23-minute range, an astonishing pace for a beginner. Davis ran the state meet in 19:16, placing fourth overall and earning All-State honors. She also finished first in Morgan County during the North West Alabama XC Invitational with a time of 19:35.

Davis said her goal of breaking 19 minutes didn’t happen this season, but she plans to try again next season.

“My goal for the year was to break 19, and I got close, but I haven’t reached it yet,” Davis said. “I got sick about halfway through the season, which set me back. I never had to miss a meet, but it took me a while to recover, and I feel like I could have cut my time into the 18-minute range if I had stayed well.”

Davis said she would love to run in college, but she is trying to focus more on academics.

“Running in college would be great, but I need to focus on places that will give me an academic scholarship,” Davis said. “I don’t want to rely only on an athletic scholarship in case I don’t like the program and want to quit. If I have an academic scholarship, then an athletic scholarship would just be a nice bonus.”

Davis is currently in as many AP classes as possible, and she plans to continue that same rigorous academic schedule next year.

She hopes to become a chemistry teacher some day because she loves AP chemistry with Kelly Wade. Davis is currently looking at Troy, Shorter and Berry universities.

Track season started Monday, so Davis is not done running this school year. She also runs the 3,200-meter, 1,600-meter and 4X100-meter for Hartselle’s track team. Davis said finding a balance between running and school can be difficult, but she always finds time for homework.

“My usual cross country routine involves running twice a day Monday through Friday over the summer with a long run on Sundays,” Davis said. “During the school year I run every day after school at practice with an extra run before school on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then Saturdays we have a meet and Sunday is another long run. Two days a week, I run, go to school, run again, do homework and then go to bed. It doesn’t give me much of a social life, but running is my stress reliever, so I enjoy it for the most part.”

Davis estimated that each of her runs is about four miles on average, with the exception of her six to ten mile runs on Sundays. She expects to run before and after school every day and pick up more weight training during her senior year.

With her one off-week between cross country and track, Davis said she enjoyed her spare time by baking a peanut butter pie. She said one of her favorite things about cross country is being able to eat most anything she wants.

“Besides being a major stress reliever, running so much also lets me eat a lot,” Davis said.

Davis said she has nothing but praise for Coach Lopez.

“He is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Davis said. “Instead of yelling, he gives us disappointment speeches, which really motivate us to try harder and do better for him and ourselves. He really lets his emotion show, and we can tell how much he cares. He sets goals for us that really push us to succeed more than we thought we could, but he doesn’t get mad if we don’t reach them. He just encourages us to try our hardest and lets us know what he thinks we are capable of.”

Davis said cross country has given her a sense of accomplishment.

“I know that I’m doing something that a lot of people don’t have the motivation to do, and that really makes me feel accomplished,” Davis said. “It’s great to push myself and find out what I’m capable of as an individual, but it’s also still a team sport with support from friends. I have also realized that anyone can run, and I shouldn’t set limits for myself or others.”