Sophomore jumper Shaun Berry was one of four Point Park athletes who competed at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship at the David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field, Johnson City, Tenn. from March 3-5.
Even though Shaun Berry and Jryi Davis are best friends, the two track and field athletes have a committed rivalry between them.
“It’s more of a friendly competition, we might say things, but we know with each other that it’s just a joke,” Davis said.
Throughout the season, Berry and Davis continually fought to hold the Point Park triple-jump record, out jumping each other by single digits.
“Competing back and forth for who has the school record has always been a battle between them,” Coach Kelly Parsley said.
Berry, a Pittsburgh native and Shadyside Academy graduate, began his track career in middle school, having been inspired by watching his cousins and sisters run on a summer track team.
During his senior year of high school, Berry placed second in the high jump in the 2014 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League and sixth place in the triple jump in the 2014 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Berry was drawn to Point Park because the university was able to give him an affordable college education.
During his freshman year at Point Park, the first year for the track and field program itself, Berry became the university’s record holder in the long, triple and high jump.
“He came in mostly as a high-jumper more so than a triple-jumper, but he has really evolved as one of the best triple-jumpers in the country,” said Parsley, who has worked with Berry for his entire career at Point Park.
It was during his freshman year that Berry met sports, art and entertainment management major Jryi Davis.
Davis arrived at Point Park after a successful track and football career at Bangor Area Senior High, where he placed second in the Colonial League Championships.
Davis says that his decision to join track his freshman year of high school was “one of the greatest decisions of my life.”
Davis was drawn to the Point Park program because of the fresh slate a new program would offer him.
“I was nervous about choosing the right college for me,” Davis said. “I thought if everything was new that it will be easy for me to adapt to a new system instead of jumping into a system.”
During his freshman year at Point Park University, Davis competed alongside Berry in the triple-jump event. This year, Davis is captain of the team.
“We made him captain because of his leadership qualities. He’s positive, he’s a hard worker and he’s a great teammate,” Parsley said.
Berry and Davis serve as trailblazers for their freshmen teammates.
“The track team is so young that our sophomore class is our upper-class,” said teammate and freshman electrical engineering major Tony Reina.
As for the future, Davis hopes to make nationals every year from now on and wants to become a jumps coach at the collegiate level.
“Maybe I’ll even start a brand new program at a school,” Davis said.
Ultimately, Davis hopes to represent the country through the sport.
“I want to work my way up to being an official in the Olympics,” Davis said.
Both athletes are looking forward to taking on the outdoor season together, which starts April 2 at Slippery Rock.
Berry is focused on the upcoming outdoor season.
“I’ve been out every day, and I definitely want to make All American in outdoors,” Berry said.
According to Parsley, although Berry and Davis are technically rivals, their close friendship has turned rivalry into motivation.
“They both push each other to be better,” Parsley said.
Both sophomores have been named “Athlete of the Week” several times by the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC). Even awards are a competition between the two friends.
“Shaun has won more [‘Athlete of the Week’ awards] than me so far, so I’m trying to get another one,” Davis said.
The two athletes say they have been dreaming about nationals since the beginning of their Point Park careers, and both cite the day they found out they would both be going to nationals together as their favorite memory from the season.
“The day he [Berry] made it, I had the biggest smile on my face,” Davis said. “It was a great feeling knowing we would both be going to nationals together.”
Berry and Davis were two of four Point Park athletes to qualify for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor National Championship. Davis qualified before Berry during the SPIRE Indoor Team Challenge with a jump of 14.03 meters, making him the first Point Park men’s track and field member ever to qualify. Berry qualified after his 14.49 meter jump at Kent State, during the last meet of the regular season.
“It didn’t feel too real,” Berry said of qualifying.
During the NAIA Championship, Berry jumped 14.11 meters, putting him in 12th place nationally out of 21 jumpers, just four spots shy of NAIA All-American status – a title awarded to the top eight finishers.
Davis placed 19th with a jump of 13.54 meters.
Proving there are no hard feelings, Davis had only positive remarks on his friend and teammate.
“He’s always there next to me, always trying to help me out, rooting for me even though we compete against each other.” Davis said.
The Point Park men’s and women’s track and field teams return to action this Saturday, March 19 for the Juniata College Invitational.
photos courtesy of Liz Berie, Point Park Athletics
Sophomore jumper Jryi Davis competed at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship in the men’s triple jump against fellow jumper Shaun Berry.
