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.”