NIACC's Davison signs with Oklahoma Christian

MASON CITY - NIACC's Emma Davison signed a national letter of intent Tuesday to run track and field and cross country at Oklahoma Christian University.

Oklahoma Christian is an NCAA Division II school located in Edmond, Okla. The Lady Eagles are a member of the Lone Star Conference, which includes 19 schools located in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

"One of the things that stood out to me was what the school had for my major," said Davison, who will major in Biology. "Also, the coach was kind of like (NIACC) coach (Curtis) Vais. He's real laid back.

"I also liked that it was a Christian university. I didn't think that there would have been an opportunity for me like that."

In cross country, Davison was a two-time all-region performer. She placed 11th at the regional meet as a freshman and placed 12th at regionals as a sophomore.

Davison, who owns the school's fourth best 5-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 14 seconds, placed 45th at the national meet as a sophomore and placed 62nd in her freshman season.

In track and field, Davison set the school indoor record in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:06.43 at the Minnesota State Ted Nelson Classic on Feb. 8, 2020. She qualified for the 2020 national indoor track and field meet in the 1,000 and will also run legs on the 4800-meter relay and the distance medley relay at the national meet.

Davison, who is from Mason City, placed 20th in the 1,000 at the 2019 national indoor meet. At the 2019 outdoor national meet, Davison was 18th in the 1,500 and 23rd in the 800.

She said her time at NIACC both academically and athletically helped prepare her for making the transition to a four-year school.

"Coming to NIACC really helped my confidence that I had the ability to take some hard classes," Davison said. "As far as running, it helped get me on a regular, normal schedule and I improved my overall ability to run."