Cotter grad excelling at Oxford
Photograph by Adrian Royle
Arran Davis is throwing himself out there.
All the way to from Argentina to Brookings, South Dakota, and Oxford, England.
Davis, a 2007 Cotter graduate, became a javelin thrower
“I was taught by a local coach in the town my grandmother grew up in [in Argentina]. We threw with bamboo sticks but he told me I was good at it. So, I emailed universities in the U.S. and South Dakota State was the only Division I school that offered me a place on the team – so I gave it a shot!”
Competing for Oxford University, where he is a Ph.D. candidate, Davis finished 7th in the javelin throw at the 2016 British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) National Outdoor Athletics Championships. Davis’ throw of 55.22m (181 feet) qualifies him for a Full Blue award, given to student-athletes who have performed for Oxford University at the highest standard.
Davis followed up his performance with a 2nd place finish in the javelin throw at the 142nd Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Athletics Match. In 2015, Davis won the 141st competition of the Varsity Match, and later placed 1st in a combined meet pitting Oxford and Cambridge against American rivals Harvard and Yale.
Davis is studying for a Doctorate of Philosophy in Anthropology. Before attending Oxford University, Davis was an Academic All-American in the javelin throw at South Dakota State University, where his best throw of 57.91m (190 feet) ranks third all-time.
The Oxford University Athletics Club is the oldest athletics club in the world, being founded in 1860. Former members included Olympic Champions and World Record holders, most notably Roger Bannister – the first man ever to run a
sub-4-minute mile. Athletes who compete for the club against Cambridge University in the annual Varsity Match are eligible to be awarded an “Oxford Full Blue”, provided they achieve the Blue standard during competition.
Davis had this to say about his current studies:
“I study exercise from an evolutionary perspective, looking at how different social environments – such as support from others or team cohesion – change the way we interpret pain and fatigue and ultimately lead to different output levels during physical exertion.”
Davis feels his time at Cotter placed him on his current academic path.
: “Cotter did a fantastic job in sparking my intellectual curiosity. I was inspired to think critically about the problems we face as a society and my teachers helped me develop the tools and desires needed to work at solving them. Cotter’s emphasis on academic rigour and service to others has stuck with me to this day.”
“My advice to current students would be [that] if you have something that you want to do, the first step is to just start doing it; you won’t always be successful in the beginning, but if you keep pushing yourself through adversity you will continue improving, and learn something about yourself and the world during the process.”
