Davis brothers look to take on State

What started out as a dream suddenly became reality for the Davis brothers. Each strive and push the other to their limit to achieve success. Dominic already has received a scholarship to USC for football and has nothing more to prove in his high school career. However, his younger brother Diab, has more to prove than most juniors.  

He not only proves his success in the classroom by being an honors student, but also demonstrates success on the track through his dynamic speed. Diab and Dominic recently set personal records for themselves while also becoming the 3rd and 4th fastest runners in the state for the 100m race.

The older brother and high school senior, Dominic, placed before Diab after having earned a time of 10.56 sec, while Diab placed second in the state with a 10.6 flat. 

The Davis brothers were recently overtaken as the top two runners in the state by Chaminade’s TJ Brock and Vista Murrieta’s Antonio Mitchell.

When asked about their relationship with their competitors and how they felt when they heard they had been dethroned from the top two spots in state, they said that neither is “angry or anything of that sort, it just makes [them] want to make work that much harder and do all the little things to put [them] over everyone else. [They} feel that [they] should be 1st and 2nd place at state finals in June and are working towards that.”

The Davis brothers are both friends with Broc, and Diab has competed with him in track as far back as the eighth grade. The first time Dominic ran against Brock was his sophomore year in high school.

Both brothers know him and talk to him whenever they see him. At the Arcadia Invitational the weekend of April 10, Diab expects to run in the middle 10.5 second range, while Dominic believes he can run in the 10.4 second range, which would propel him to be the fastest 100 meter runner in the state. 

Both the Davis brothers started late on the track field. Diab explained that typically many track runners start between the ages of six and eight. They became interested in track after their mother’s friend encouraged them to try track and field.

When they were asked how they made up for lost time after having started at a late age, they said they never did anything outside of actual practices. Diab noted his brother Dominic was always a good runner: in his first race, he ran 100 meters in 11.8 seconds, as a 13 year old.

On the other hand, according to Diab, he was one of the bottom tier runners when he first started and then later improved over time. Diab mentioned he never really shined until high school. He attributes his improvement to the workouts from Alemany’s track coach Michael Wellington.

The workouts proved more successful for the type of runner Diab is. Diab asserts that he is the type of runner that performs better in shorter endurance workouts rather than long endurance ones. Likewise, Dominic is a similar type of runner, although he handles longer endurance running far better than Diab.

The Davis brothers are always in training, but they do not have a strict diet. However, since the 2015 season has started, before every meet, they usually have a fruit and vegetable blended smoothie to improve their performance. On a normal training day for the Davis brothers, they jog a lap or two, then complete a dynamic warm-up followed by a brief stretch.

Next, they run the routine workout and cool down with a lap and long stretch to keep their bodies loose and agile. Track is obviously a physically strenuous sport. When asked what keeps them motivated when they are exhausted and want to quit, they are often overworked and are inclined to retire, but their motivation to succeed propels them to be the best track runners in the state. Both have never expressed interest in quitting because it is too difficult and they relish the opportunity to continue to compete.

Both Diab and Dominic feel that track strengthens their relationship as brothers. When Diab was asked what it will be like to have his brother gone next year as Dominic will be attending USC on a football scholarship, he explained that it will be different from a track standpoint. Diab will have less competition during practices but knows that he will still be able to perform at his best even with his brother gone.

When Diab was asked about how he copes with the pressure of school and track since he maintains a rigorous course schedule including classes such as AP Chemistry and Honors Trigonometry, he admitted that balancing his classes and track can be a bit difficult sometimes, but to his surprise, he handles both well. Whenever he is stressed, he listens to music to relax and take his mind of the pressures involved with his courses and athletic commitments.

Dominic was asked how he stays motivated to still excel in track when he knows that he will begin USC football in the summer and fall, he explained that he uses the track season as motivation for summer football practice. He understands that speed helps him on the football field and as a result, he uses track season to improve on that front.

Lastly, Diab talked about his interest in running track at the college level and if he was received any interest yet from colleges. Dominic discussed his aspirations to run track at USC. Dominic said he will be running track at USC when he does not have practice for football. As for Diab, he admitted he plans on running at the college level and has received interest from colleges, but that all offers go to his coach and Diab is not yet accustomed to the recruiting process. The Davis brothers look to always improve and make Alemany a dynamic track school.