Savannah Davis threw a javelin 111 feet in July and didn't flinch. The 13-year-old Ransom Everglades eighth-grader set a club meet record at the 2026 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Club National Championships in Jacksonville, winning gold in both javelin and shot put to bring her career AAU title count to 17.

Her javelin mark of 33.87 meters broke the existing club meet record. She won shot put at the same meet.

"I was just waiting for, like, a big breakthrough," Davis told the Coconut Grove Spotlight. "I didn't expect to go that far."

Beating Older Competitors at Districts

Davis takes classes as a middle-schooler but competes in track and field at the high school level for Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove. The arrangement paid off on April 15, when she swept all three throwing events at the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) 2A District 15 Championships at Gulliver Prep as a seventh-grader, beating older competitors in shot put (32 feet, 10.5 inches), discus (99 feet, 1 inch) and javelin (97 feet, 9 inches). The Miami Herald named her second-team all-county in javelin for spring 2026.

Her coach at Ransom, Mike Becker, has spent 22 years developing athletes at the school. He told the Spotlight that Davis's composure separates her from the field: She gets better as the pressure builds, not worse. Becker said he believes the ceiling for Davis is limitless.

The Shout Before Every Throw

Part of that composure comes from an unusual pre-throw ritual. Before each attempt, Davis unleashes a "kihap," the spirited shout used in taekwondo to focus energy. She developed the technique with a martial arts trainer, Master Cocco, while still in elementary school. Davis said the shout releases anxiety she can't shed on her own.

She also works with mental performance coach Nicole Kendrick Evans, founder of TRU U Mindset Institute, who said she followed Davis as a fan before becoming her coach.

Family Ties to the Sport

Davis's father, David Davis, is a track and field coach who first spotted her arm when she was 5 years old and she heaved a two-pound baseball weight across the room. He took her outside and handed her an 8.8-pound shot put. He still coaches her. Her mother, Kimberly Davis, is president of the Coconut Grove Optimist Club.

Off the field, Davis launched an enterprise called Field Events Matter to push for greater recognition of throwing athletes and more even field conditions at meets. She said throwers sometimes feel invisible next to sprinters.

Davis's stated goals for the coming school year: reach the podium at the Florida state championships and keep her grades up. Her next high school track season at Ransom Everglades begins in the spring.