Davis Farmer will join three former Blue Demons on the Concord track team.
By Marty Gordon
Christiansburg High School rising senior Davis Farmer has signed to continue his track and field career at Concord University.
Mike Cox, Concord’s head coach for the track and field program and both men’s and women’s cross country, made the formal announcement of Farmer’s decision Tuesday. The Blue Demon runner said he chose Concord because of the school’s fulfilling atmosphere.
“Concord had somewhat of a next–step mentality that I could relate to on a human level, making it the right choice for me not only academically and athletically, but also in my life’s trajectory,” Farmer said.
Farmer follows in the recent pipeline of scholastic runners coming from Christiansburg. He will be reunited with former teammates and Concord sophomores Nate Leichner and Alex Watty and freshman Caleb Hatcher.
Farmer leans toward cross country where he is looking to get a better base going and be a serviceable athlete and teammate.
“On the track, I am looking to become a 10k athlete in the latter half of my college career and dropping a lot of time in the middle distance area as well. I hope to set some school records way down the road,” Farmer said.
The future Mountain Lion finished up his successful cross–country career last fall with a 37th-place finish in the Virginia Class 3A State Meet. Additionally, Farmer was a top-15 finisher at the Group 3A Region D Championship each of his last two years of high school. His best 5,000-meter cross–country time is 16:49, which he clocked at the Hagan Stone Classic in Greensboro, N.C., in 2019.
Like other senior athletes, Farmer lost his fall cross–country season to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Not having a fall season will be a little out of the ordinary for me,” he said. “However, it’s a great opportunity to get prepared both physically and mentally for the upcoming seasons.“
On the track, Farmer has run 2:09 for 800-meters, 4:43 for 1,600-meters and 10:54 for 3,200-meters. This past winter, he finished 10th in the 1,000-meter run at the VHSL 3A Indoor State Meet.
In addition to Farmer, Hatcher, Leichner and Watty, Bailey Knowles and Kenna Knowles came out of Christiansburg High School to run on Concord’s women’s cross-country and track-and-field teams from 2015-19.
Farmer plans to major in communications with an emphasis in broadcasting with hopes of eventually working in the production industry.
