All-American Ellen Davis Leaves Behind Exceptional Track Record

Davis, pictured in the lead at right, was honored by the College Sports Information Directors Association of America (CoSIDA) in June as she was named a CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine third-team Academic All-American after gaining first-team District I laurels in cross-country/track.

The 10 first-team picks from each of the eight districts (80 total athletes voted upon by all the Sports Information Directors (SIDs) in their respective district) appeared on the national ballot with three squads of 15 named Academic All-Americans after review by a national committee of SIDs. Cross Country/Track is one of seven distinct athletic areas that has an Academic All-America team chosen. Football, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s at-large are the other six areas.

An individual must have a GPA in excess of 3.20 to qualify for an Academic All-America award as well as be tremendously accomplished in a sport. Davis was just that with her long list of major athletic accolades.

Davis’ running career includes a 2007 NCAA Division III title in the indoor 5k event, a ninth-place showing among 279 runners for 2006 All-America laurels in cross country, and a New England Open title in the outdoor 10k with a trip to the NCAAs in the spring of 2007.

She was a three-time indoor track All-American capped by her first-place finish in 2007 and a two-time cross-country All-American while also competing in the NCAA outdoor track championships twice during her career. She had the fastest time in the country in the 5k outdoors this spring but chose not to compete in the event at the NCAA Championships May 26 in order to attend her graduation at Wesleyan May 27, where she received her degree in women’s studies.

Davis placed 10th in the 10k outdoors at Nationals. She set three indoor track team records in 2006-07 with best-ever times in the 3k, one-mile and 5k, and two outdoor marks with standards in the 5k and 10k this spring.

She leaves Wesleyan as the university’s second Academic All-American in the last two years.

Davis is spending her summer in North Carolina while looking for a position that will prepare her for a career in archival science and art history.

“Ideally I’d like something for a year or two, like an internship in a museum library, before going back for a master’s degree in archival science and art history,” Davis says.

As for her future running career, Davis has no specific long-term plans.