Ron Davis

Ron Davis[apos] appointment as head men[apos]s and women[apos]s cross country coach in the spring of 2012 marked his return to San Jose State where he was an NCAA Cross Country Champion in 1962.

A SAN JOSE STATE CHAMPION

Davis was a member of two outstanding Spartan cross country teams - the 1962 squad that won the NCAA Championship and the 1961 team that finished second. In track and field, he specialized in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He finished sixth at the 1961 and fifth at the 1962 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His San Jose State best time of 9:06.0 still ranks him among the top-10 clockings in school history.

A COACH OF CHAMPIONS

Davis[apos] cross country and track coaching career spans over 40 years and is well-connected worldwide. He has coached and trained distance runners in Canada, Ireland, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Nigeria.

He began coaching in 1968 when he trained athletes from Pakistan for the Mexico City Olympic Games. The following year, Davis served as a student-assistant to legendary San Jose State track and field coach Bud Winter. The Spartans won the 1969 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

His NCAA Division I coaching experiences include two seasons at Ohio State, two at Maryland Eastern Shore, four at the University of New Orleans and four at the University of South Alabama. Davis returns to San Jose State after one season as the assistant coach for cross country and track and field at Cal State East Bay.

The 2005 San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame inductee trained 1980 Olympic Games 3,000-meter steeplechase runner Filbert Bayi of Tanzania to a silver medal. In 2006, Vincent Rono of Kenya was the NCAA outdoor 1,500-meter champion running for the University of South Alabama under Davis[apos] watch.

In 2000, Davis coached the women[apos]s track and field team at University of New Orleans to its first ever Sun Belt Conference Championship. Two of Davis[apos] female cross country runners made NCAA All-Region honors and another qualified for the NCAA Championships that year and he was named the 2000 Coach of the Year by the Sun Belt Conference.

He recruited and coached Michaela Mannova who placed fourth in the mile at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship and was University of New Orleans[apos] first ever All-American.For the second time in three seasons, the Sun Belt Conference honored him as a conference Coach of the Year and he received the same honor from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

AN OLYMPIC LIAISON

Aside from coaching, Davis was a Fulbright lecturer in 1990-91. He served on a multitude of Olympic committees both in the U.S. and around the world during the 1990[apos]s.

Davis was a driving force in the early nineties behind South Africa[apos]s re-entry into the International Olympic Movement. His efforts alongside the International Amateur Athletes Federation (IAAF) vaulted South Africa[apos]s participation in track and field at the 1992 Barcelona games.

Davis and Atlanta Committee for Olympics members successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee members in Africa to bring the games to Atlanta in 1996. He was the founder and director of the LaGrange International Training Program prior to those [apos]96 games. It would grow to be the largest pre-Olympic training center in Olympics history with over 500 athletes from 45 countries.

Davis relocated to the Bay Area in 2011 as an assistant coach of men[apos]s and women[apos]s cross country and track at CSU East bay. The father of six currently lives in San Jose and calls New York City his hometown.