Austin Davis - Assistant Coach - Horizontal Jumps - Track and Field Coaches

Austin Davis

Title:
Assistant Coach - Horizontal Jumps
Email:
austindavis@ou.edu

Austin Davis enters his sixth season coaching at the University of Oklahoma. Specializing in horizontal jumps, Davis brings over 11 years of coaching expertise to the Sooners’ track and field team. Since his arrival in the fall of 2019, his athletes have seen remarkable success.

Davis has played a pivotal role in the development of the long jump and triple jump events at OU. In six years, his coaching has led to five Big 12 titles and 55 Big 12 All-Conference honors for 15 athletes across the indoor and outdoor seasons, 36 NCAA first-round appearances for 21 athletes, and 17 All-Americans from a group of seven athletes.

In 2024 alone, Davis’ horizontal jumps squad earned two Big 12 titles, nine Big 12 All-Conference awards, five NCAA All-America honors and seven qualifications for the NCAA Outdoor West First Rounds. Coach Davis aided BJ Green to an outstanding sophomore season where he swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor triple jump titles. He claimed sixth place at the NCAA Indoor Championships and third place at the outdoor championships, becoming a two-time First Team All-American in the TJ. BJ was named the Big 12 Field Athlete of the Week twice during the 2024 season, once during the indoor campaign on Jan. 31 and outdoors on April 24.

Over the summer, Davis worked with student-athletes participating in national and international competitions in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the Jamaican trials, senior Nikaoli Williams finished fifth in the long jump with a 25-11 (7.90m) mark. At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Davis supported BJ Green as he competed for a chance to represent USATF at the Olympics.

Four horizontal jumpers mentored by Coach Davis qualified for the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning two First Team All-America honors, a second team award and an honorable mention; BJ Green, Nikaoli Williams, Anthony Riley and Jasmine Akins.

Davis’ squad proved a force to be reckoned with at the 2024 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, with six athletes’ scoring for Oklahoma, collecting 30 points and two top-three finishes. On top of Green’s TJ titles, Nikaoli Williams grabbed third and Jasmine Akins earned fourth in the LJ, Floyd Whitaker finished fifth in the TJ and three others placed within the top eight of horizontal jumps.

Also at the 2024 Big 12 Indoor Championship, Whitaker earned a bronze medal in the triple jump and Williams scored for the Sooners with a sixth-place finish in the long jump. Williams’ would go on to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the second year in a row under Davis’ guidance.

In 2023, Davis coached sophomore Nikaoli Williams to indoor and outdoor Big 12 Conference Championship titles in the long jump. Williams is the first Big 12 athlete to secure both championships in a single season since 2012. Williams also broke a longstanding indoor school record at the Windy City Invitational, with a long jump of 26’5.5 feet (8.06m). Williams recorded a sixth-place finish in the LJ at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning First Team All-American. Williams' success extended internationally when he claimed fifth at the Jamaican National Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, that summer.

Davis's impact continued as he coached freshman Agur Dwol to a USATF U20 national title in the women’s triple jump on July 6, 2023. This achievement secured Dwol’s place on Team USA for the U20 Pan-American Championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, on Aug. 5, where she earned a bronze medal.

Davis played a pivotal role in the development of freshman BJ Green. During the 2022-23 season, Green clinched two All-Big 12 honors and placed fifth in the men’s triple jump at the NCAA West preliminary rounds. Green competed in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning 10th overall, garnering Second Team All-America honors.
The NCAA released final team rankings at the end of the 2023 season. Davis’s horizontal jumps groups all ranked within the top-10 nationally.

#2 in women's long jump
#6 in women's triple jump
#8 in men's long jump
#8 in men's triple jump

In 2022, Davis coached redshirt-senior Rayvon Allen to a Big 12 Indoor Championship title in the men’s long jump. This historic victory marked the second time an Oklahoma Sooner had claimed this title in the past 15 years. Rayvon Allen's jump of 7.87m secured his qualification for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Junior Mikeisha Welcome boasted a new indoor school record in the women’s triple jump, recording 13.56m at the Arkansas Qualifier on Feb. 18, 2022. She jumped 13.89m at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, securing her spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Welcome holds the Saint Vincent & Grenadines top-two national records in the triple jump with scores of 13.72m and 13.75m, both recorded during her time at Oklahoma.

Three of Davis’ four horizontal jumps teams ranked within the top-ten nationally at the conclusion of the 2021-2023 season.

#1 in men's triple jump
#3 in women's triple jump
#9 in men's long jump

In 2021, Davis coached senior Rayvon Allen to a Big 12 Outdoor Championship record in the men’s long jump on May 16. Allen’s first-place 8.19m leap also broke Oklahoma’s outdoor school record. At the NCAA West Preliminary Round, Allen secured first place. His impressive postseason run concluded at the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he registered eighth place in the LJ and earned First Team All-America honors. Allen went on to compete that summer at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials where he finished in 10th place.

Davis guided senior Essence Thomas to a school record in the women's triple jump with a leap of 13.56m at the Big 12 Indoor Championship on Feb. 27, 2021. Thomas’ performance earned her a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships, where she finished 11th. Thomas was named a Second Team All-American.

Sophomore Mikeisha Welcome recorded multiple Saint Vincent national records during the 2021 indoor and outdoor seasons in the women’s triple jump. Her remarkable season concluded with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, both earning her All-American honors.

Three of Davis’s horizontal jumps teams were ranked within the top-ten of NCAA at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

#2 in men's triple jump
#3 in women's triple jump
#3 in women's long jump
#17 in men's long jump

Davis coached freshman Mikeisha Welcome to a 13.35m jump at the 2019 K-State Winter Invitational on Dec. 5. This leap secured Welcome a new school record and Saint Vincent indoor national record. Welcome earned National Field Athlete of the Week and was ranked as the No. 1 triple jump female athlete in the world for three weeks. Thomas secured the Big 12 silver medal in the women’s triple jump on Feb. 27, 2020 and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In 2020, Davis guided junior Essence Thomas to a school record in the women’s TJ at the Tyson Invitational with a jump of 13.37m, surpassing her teammate Mikeisha Welcome’s mark of 13.35 set earlier that season. Thomas was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week twice during the 2020 indoor season. She placed third in the Big 12 women’s triple jump and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the LJ and TJ.

At the conclusion of the 2020 season, all of Davis’s teams were ranked within the top ten of the NCAA standings. Davis’s exceptional triple jump groups were named the best in the country.

#1 in women's triple jump
#1 in men's triple jump
#3 in women's long jump
#8 in men's long jump

Before arriving in Norman, Davis made notable coaching contributions at UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill, Davidson, and Winston-Salem State. As the head coach of Division 1 UNC Wilmington, Davis coached the Seahawks to four individual events to 2019 CAA Outdoor Championships, 16 All-Conference Performers, and 1 NCAA First-Round Qualifier.
His stint at Western Carolina, under Cale McDaniel, resulted in 14 NCAA qualifiers, 25 Southern Conference event champions, four conference performers of the year over two seasons, and five team titles. Davis also spent a year coaching at Davidson, overseeing sprints, jumps, hurdles, and throws. His journey began at Winston-Salem State, where he coached 12 CIAA scorers, 25 All-CIAA performances, 5 Conference MVP performances, and 7 All-American performances.

Beyond Davis’s athletes’ impressive performances, he has earned multiple coaching certifications. Davis is certified as Level 2 in both USATF jumps and USTFCCCA strength and conditioning.

As a former student-athlete, Davis holds an ACC title in the triple jump and is a two-time NCAA Division I All-American. His commitment to the sport began at the University of North Carolina, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Sports Administration.

Davis is not only a dedicated coach but also a loving family man. He is married to Shanice Davis, and they have two beautiful children, Austin (Ace) Davis Jr. and Ashlyn Davis.