Jody Davis new coach for UCHS cross country

Jody Davis moved to Northeast Tennessee with hiking in mind, but the New Jersey native was born to run. Davis, the Unicoi County cross country coach, is in her first season taking over for Josh Marsh, who is now teaching at Providence Academy. After 25 years coaching track in New Jersey, including 24 at West Deptford High School, Davis moved to the area in the summer of 2025. Enjoying the great outdoors was part of the attraction. But Davis began helping Marsh with track and field this past season. "I haven't coached cross country," Davis said. "It was always what I wanted to do, but at my school in New Jersey it was never available when I was able to coach. So, I was really excited to be able to coach these kids and be asked to do this." Two veteran Blue Devils have helped Davis hit the ground running. Senior Braydin Baresel and junior Curtis Todd have smoothed the transition. "Braydin and Curtis are awesome leaders for the team. They've really stepped up, because I didn't know that the team's normal routine was. I really count on them a lot. "They're committed. They work hard. They do whatever is asked of them happily without complaining. I feel like they've been my assistant coaches." Baresel finished 10th overall at the Tri-Cities Twilight Two-Miler, a season-opening meet at Johnson City's Civitan Park on Aug. 7. The large meet included teams such as Science Hill, Daniel Boone, Dobyns-Bennett, David Crockett, Tennessee High and Sullivan East. Todd finished 25th overall in the Twilight meet, which was ran a soggy track after heavy rain and lightning delays. Unicoi County senior McKinley Norris finished 12th overall. "I'm seeing a lot of potential from McKinley," Davis said. "He's been working really hard. He worked really hard all summer and he's so encouraging to the other kids. I'm expecting a lot from him – anticipating a lot from him." Sophomore Owen Masters finished third among the Blue Devils. Masters is new to the cross country program. He ran track as a freshman. Freshman Jackson Laws and sophomore Jonas Dorton placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the season opener. A promising crop of underclassmen includes sophomores Kelar Adkins and Wyatt Vallie and freshmen Raziel Townsend and Rylan Engle. Junior Mason Stack has also shown promise. Junior Anna Crutchfield finished second behind Baresel among the Blue Devils girls in the opening meet. Freshman London Hatcher and sophomore Maddie Stack are also making strides for the girls squad. The Blue Devils' next scheduled meet is Aug. 22 in Bristol. Other notable meets include the Dr. Enuf Night Classic at Civitan Park on Aug. 29 and the Fender's Farm Carnival on Sept. 5 in Jonesborough.