Bayside’s Daves earns All-American honors at outdoor nationals

By Tony Whitehead, GCM Sports
Posted 7/14/21

EUGENE, Ore. – Incoming senior Patrick Daves of Bayside Academy earned All-American honors at The Outdoor Nationals presented by Nike while competing at Hayward Field in Eugene, …

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Bayside’s Daves earns All-American honors at outdoor nationals

Posted
  • “The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart.” – From a sign at Hayward Field

EUGENE, Ore. – Incoming senior Patrick Daves of Bayside Academy earned All-American honors at The Outdoor Nationals presented by Nike while competing at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The competition was held June 30 - July 3.  

Daves qualified for the finals in the 110-meter hurdles and finished fifth in the finals with a time of 13.96 seconds. 

He said focusing on the hurdles was a lot of hard work but it had been his favorite event since the seventh grade. He added that making it to the Outdoor Nationals level at Hayward Field left him speechless. But he wanted to also thank his parents.

“It was really an honor to get to run there,” he said. “Not many high schoolers get the chance to compete at Hayward Field. If not for my dad (Michael Daves) and my coach and my teammates, I probably would not have been there. And also, my mom (Ashley Daves) who is my biggest cheerleader as well as coach (Dave) Whiteis and coach (Aaron) Moore.”

His coach at Bayside, Admirals Track and Field head coach Joe Swagart said Daves’ own hard work as well as talent earned the chance to compete at the national high-school level.

“Patrick has put in the extra work and shown the dedication it takes to compete on that level,” Swagart said. “He has received a lot of interest from several SEC schools and some military academies. A lot of things needed to be accomplished this past year leading up to this opportunity for Patrick to compete at nationals. And he worked hard to get there.

“He works essentially year round getting stronger and faster. And he is supportive of his teammates and his work ethic is one of leading by example. He is also a gracious competitor even when he does not win and is quick to congratulate the winner.”

Swagart said Daves’ contributions to the indoor and outdoor season were key in leading the Admirals to a third-place finish in the 2021 AHSAA Class 3A state championships.

“Patrick ended up as a three-time individual champion in high jump, the triple jump and the 60-meter hurdles in the indoor season.”

In the outdoor meet, he won the 110-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles, the triple jump and high jump.

Swagart added that the competitive-balance rule was applied to the 2021 boys indoor season requiring the Admirals to compete in the 4A-5A Class this year. Daves still won the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles, triple jump and high jump. The competitive-balance factor was applied because the Bayside boys won the Class 3A state indoor title in 2020 and were the 3A runners up in 2019. Daves also holds a number of Bayside Academy school records as well.

 Another athlete from the Gulf Coast who earned All-American honors was junior Iyanna Johnson of Davidson High. She finished fourth overall in the girl’s triple jump at 40 feet, seven inches.