How TJ Davis went from SHS baseball hopeful to NAIA National Track & Field Champion

LA GRANDE, Ore. — A 2018 SHS graduate and two-time NAIA National Champion at Eastern Oregon University, TJ Davis is living proof that small town student-athletes can compete amongst the best this country has to offer — and can even see their sporting achievements recognized on a billboard one day.

Like most young student-athletes, TJ, an attendee of Kootenai Elementary, was interested in a variety of sports growing up. During his younger years he played baseball, football, and basketball; he didn’t join the track & field team until middle school. Even then, TJ was more focused on other sports, specifically baseball.

“I made the varsity baseball team my sophomore year and was more committed to that than track,” TJ said. “I happened to have a really bad year of baseball that year, but I did win the district title and made it to the state finals in the 110 hurdles — my first year doing the 110 hurdles.”

TJ placed seventh in the state that year (2016) with a time of 15.92 seconds. That accomplishment, along with some additional influences and encouragement, would propel him to prioritize track & field over baseball. Shortly after getting serious about track & field, TJ met Spokane Falls CC hurdles coach Linda Lanker thanks to former SHS head basketball coach Kent Leiss.

“To put it simply, she is one of the best hurdles coaches in the world,” TJ said. “She’s worked with Olympians, was the head coach for the Pan American Games, and has worked with high level athletes and teams from all over the country.”

TJ started working with coach Lanker the summer going into his junior year, however, an ankle injury he suffered during the last game of the basketball season severely limited his progress. Despite all odds, TJ got cleared to jog during the week of the district championship track meet, but he didn't want to just jog, he wanted to compete.

“I went straight to (coach) Matt Brass and (coach) Dave DeMers and said ‘hey, I think I can do the 110 hurdles at districts,’” TJ said. “It was a pretty down year that year for the district so I figured if I at least showed up, I had a shot.”

After one official practice … he won the 4A IEL 110-meter hurdles title for the second year in a row in 16.72 seconds. Even though he qualified for state, he dropped out in the preliminaries due to his injury. TJ came back stronger than ever his senior year; he was ranked as the No. 1 110-meter hurdler in 4A and won another district title, this time in an impressive 14.99 seconds. Unfortunately, TJ false started in the finals at the state meet to end his high school career, but that only served as motivation for what was to come.

After high school, TJ headed to Spokane Falls CC to continue his track & field career and his studies. While there, he remembered coach DeMers had put the thought of being a multi-event athlete into his head and he didn’t forget that.

“I remember on the first day of practice at Spokane Falls, the coaches said to raise your hand if you're a multi … I raised my hand,” TJ said. “I kind of knew at that point, I wanted to try it out.”

During his freshman year, he finished third in the 110-meter hurdles (15.37) and fifth in the decathlon (5687) at the NWAC Outdoor Championships. TJ referred to those marks as “nothing special,” which in comparison to his future marks, makes sense. Looking forward to his next season as a Sasquatch, COVID-19 temporarily shut down TJ’s hopes and dreams. Unsure of where to go next, former Eastern Oregon track & field coach and current Spokane CC head coach, John Spatz, said Eastern Oregon would be interested in him.

“Yea, they would give you some money if you wanted to go there and compete,” TJ remembers coach Spatz saying. “That was really my only option, so I said let’s do it.”

EOU head track & field coach Ben Welch would soon realize he found a hidden gem. As a sophomore at EOU, TJ was the 2021 Cascade Collegiate Conference decathlon champion (6496), a part of the CCC winning 4x100 relay (41.82) and picked up two NAIA All-American honors after finishing seventh in the indoor heptathlon (4746) and seventh in the outdoor decathlon (6627) at the NAIA National Championships. His junior year started off even better; TJ placed second at the Washington State University Invitational in the heptathlon with a score of 5,248 points, a 500-plus point personal record and the to-date best score in the NAIA.

“I think I can be a national champion,” TJ remembers saying to former EOU assistant track & field coach, current University of Utah assistant track & field coach, Rebecca Rhodes. “I always knew my goal was to win a national championship, it just happened earlier than I thought.”

TJ did indeed win his first NAIA national title that year in the heptathlon with 5,439 points. He also won the 2022 CCC decathlon title again (7101) and placed second in the decathlon behind friend Lee Walburn (Carroll College) at the NAIA National Championship. To put things into perspective, Walburn ended up transferring to WSU and placed seventh in the decathlon at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships this past season.

Three weeks later, already thinking about what he could accomplish his senior year, TJ was back to hitting the weight room. One day, he felt a pain in his back that lingered. A bulged disc put him out of commission for the entirety of his senior year. It was another roadblock. He then formed the idea of coming back and using his last year of eligibility as a graduate student and made it happen, but not without another sacrifice. TJ, who was on a full-ride scholarship since winning the heptathlon national title, was able to rejoin the team with no scholarship ... the money had already been given away to other recruits.

“I figured I took all that money for a year and didn’t do anything, so I’ll come back next year and do it for free,” TJ said. 

That decision, in hindsight, was a good one.

TJ’s goal was to sweep national titles during his final year, but during Valentine’s Day weekend of 2024, that goal would no longer be achievable. The day before heading to a Spokane CC Invitational to compete in his first heptathlon of the year, he tore his labrum (shoulder) in his non-dominant arm on a fall during a pole vault session. TJ refused to remain sidelined. He went on to break the EOU school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.13 seconds and qualified for the NAIA national championship, where he placed ninth in the preliminaries.

Later that year, TJ opted out of surgery and continued to pursue his dreams. He won the 2024 CCC decathlon title for the third time (6996) and ended up qualifying for NAIA nationals as the No. 1 seed. He knew winning the national title would be a challenge, especially with Dakota State’s Treshawn Roberts in the mix.

“There was not a single event he was dropping the ball on,” TJ said. “I had a lead of just 12 points on him after the first day of competition.”

TJ didn’t want to head into the final event, the 1500-meter run, while trailing … but that is exactly what happened. He would have to win the 1500 by a large amount to overtake Roberts for the title. Down 150 points, TJ sat down with his coaches, who told him he would need to beat Roberts by roughly 25 seconds to win the title — not an easy feat by any means. Luckily for TJ, all that adversity over the years came in handy as he ran a new personal best time of 4:35.29 to take second, defeating Roberts by exactly 35 seconds for a 59-point win. He finished an NAIA National Champion with a new personal record of 7,231 points.

“By the grace of God, we were able to do it,” TJ thought after winning the title.

After all was said and done, TJ has cemented quite the track & field legacy at EOU. He ended his college career as a five-time NAIA All-American, a three-time CCC decathlon champion, a school record holder in the 60-meter hurdles, holds the second-best score in the decathlon in EOU history, and was recently named the 2024 CCC Men’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year and the 2024 NAIA West Region Male Athlete of the Year. 

“It’s cool to me that people are recognizing my efforts over the years, especially the ones I care about and the ones that supported me from the very beginning,” TJ said. “It’s a joke in the multi world that our events aren’t very publicized, but the people in Sandpoint always know what’s going on and have reached out.”

The city of La Grande also knows TJ well. Along U.S. Route 30, there is a massive billboard that says “National Champion” with a picture of TJ running on it.

“I have had a lot of people come up to me that I have known for years saying, ‘holy moly, you’re on the billboard out there,” TJ exclaimed. “It’s funny seeing how it all clicks with people.”

For now, TJ plans on staying in La Grande with his wife and two young children. In addition to his full-time job, he will also remain active in the track & field scene as the EOU graduate assistant coach next year.

“Have fun,” that’s TJ’s advice to those looking to pursue a track & field career as a multi-event athlete. “If I had just been a hurdler, I don’t think I would have made it or have been as successful as a college athlete. Just have fun and enjoy it all.”