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Peakes Davis signs with Louisville to pole vault Published 1:49 am Wednesday, June 24, 2026 CHESAPEAKE When he was in elementary school, Corey Davis was told to stay away from the pole vault.
It was too dangerous.
But Davis was the beneficiary of a gene pool that gave him characteristics of his late great grandfather Phil Davis, who was an Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame honoree as well as a wrestling and track coach.
Its funny.
Theres this guy named Ken Brown.
He was friends with my grandpa and they coached track together for years.
Ive been around track since the fourth grade, said Davis.
When I was in the fourth grade, my mom decided she wanted to be an assistant girls track coach.
So I went to track practice every day.
I didnt want to just sit there, so I practiced with the older kids.
One event I wasnt allowed to do was pole vault because they said it was dangerous.
So of course thats what I wanted to do.
That seed grew into what was to become two state championships and a scholarship to pole vault for the University of Louisville Cardinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA Division I.
Davis just won the OHSAA Division IV state championship at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the weekend of June 4-7.
But Davis cant forget his early start and the encouragement he got from his grandfather and Brown.
As soon as I got to middle school, the first thing I did was pick up a pole.
Ive got to give credit to coach Ken Brown.
Him and my grandpa are the ones who started pole vault, because Travis Brown was (Kens) son and hes the one who was the first Chesapeake pole vaulter, he said.
Coach Brown would grab every middle school kid and say youve at least got to try it.
At the state meet, Davis cleared 16-feet to finish ahead of Hudson Williams of Zane Trace, who went 15-4.
His height was the best in all five divisions.
The kids who vaulted in the other divisions, I vaulted against them all year and none of them beat me.
It was a good feeling.
I cant lie.
It was a good feeling.
Sixteen feet is kind of a normal day for me, said Davis, who set the Chesapeake school record at 16-feet and eight inches in a meet earlier in the year.
I vaulted most of the year in northern Ohio.
Theres better competition up there, but I came down to Coal Grove and thats when I jumped 16-8.
I remember second place was like 12.
Davis was getting recruited by multiple Division I schools, as he visited Kansas and Youngstown State among others.
He said he was sending out letters to everyone asking them to give him a chance.
Louisville pole vault coach Brooke Ransack reached out to Davis, and she seemed very interested and wanted to get together and have a conversation.
Im a pretty personable guy.
I try to be like my grandpa in that aspect.
I was talking to her and she asked me how I would like to make a visit.
I went down there and Im a Christian and I take my faith very seriously, and I just felt like God was telling me this is the place.
The final decision came down to Louisville and Kansas, and Davis said it was extremely difficult to choose.
I went on a visit to Kansas.
I loved Kansas.
The facilities are amazing and the coach is insane.
Theyre athletes are amazing, he said.
But one of the big things I loved about Louisville is the community was bigger than pole vault.
All the kids there were best friends and hanging out every night and their FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) was humongous.
It wasnt the first time recently that Davis had to make a difficult decision.
He was playing football and was a talented defensive back, as well as a wide receiver.
After his sophomore season, he sat down with his father Scott, who was one of Phil Davis sons and was an outstanding Chesapeake quarterback.
Ill be honest.
One of the hardest decisions Ive made is to not play football and concentrate on track just because of the (football) legacy that came before me.
My two brothers didnt play when they got to high school.
My dad was never too hard on us.
He said do what you want to do and just excel at it as much as you can.
It was a hard decision, but golly, I made the right decision, said Davis.
I have two older brothers and they kind of keep to themselves more.
Theyre more like my dad and his twin brother.
But everyone says I got the grandpa gene.
Im the only one like him.
When you hear stories like that, you look up to him.
Hes been my idol since I was a baby.
Thats who I wanted to be like.
I hear people tell me I remind them of my grandpa.
Thats what Ive tried to emulate, not just through sports but as a person.
One thing that keeps Davis working hard, and is a driving force, is the goals he sets for himself.
When I was a 12-footer, 14 seemed impossible.
I got to 14 and 15 sounded impossible.
Its always the next bar is how I look at it.
Im a goal-oriented person.
I set my goals high.
I set the goal to be state champion and I achieved that.
I want to go to a D-1 college and I achieved that, said Davis.
I wanted to jump 17 (feet) in high school and Ive got one more meet to do that.
But if I dont do it, Im not mad.
I feel that setting your goals so high that you cant achieve them at that time, I feel its good.
Its healthy.
But there are more goals to come with college conference and national meets.
Davis said going to Louisville is the first step towards achieving those goals.
Going to Louisville also means that Davis will be competing in the ACC, which will create stiff competition, which is exactly what Davis wants to experience.
It is a big thing.
The ACC is pretty known for pole vault, said Davis.
If I found my home somewhere else, I found my home somewhere else.
I wasnt set on impressing anyone that I went D-1.
I wanted to go to a place where I could develop the most.
While future goals seem to be obtainable goals, there is one more ultimate goal that sits in the back of his mind.
An Olympic qualifier.
Why wouldnt you think of it? Ive always had people say I have a different mindset.
Why would I put this much time into it if I didnt think I could do it? I might as well try for it.
I dont think the Olympics is a crazy thought anymore, said Davis.
When Corey Davis talks like that, he sounds a lot like his grandfather Phil Davis.
And thats got a pretty nice sound to it.