PINCKNEY — Even on a bad ankle, Pinckney’s Davea Crowe was still the best female hurdler in Livingston County last season.
With her ankle fully healed, she’s back to being one of the best hurdlers in Michigan.
Crowe headed into regionals with a state-qualifying time in the 300-meter hurdles safely locked up, having met the early standard with a time of 46.51 seconds that ranked her sixth among all Division 2 athletes.
A year ago, she didn’t even qualify for the state finals, placing fifth at regionals. It was a massive letdown after Crowe finished as the Division 2 runner-up in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.47 as a freshman in 2024.
Her sophomore year was compromised when she suffered an ankle injury just before the start of the season. The injury wasn’t bad enough to keep her from competing, but it prevented her from running to her potential.
“The injury was during the whole season,” said Crowe, who is the Livingston Daily’s Athlete of the Week.
“If I ran on it, a lot of times it would start hurting. It was frustrating a lot of times, but I had to come to an understanding about it.”
Crowe is running times much closer to her incredible performances as a freshman.
Her best times in the 100 hurdles were 16.34 as a freshman, 17.10 as a sophomore and 16.12 as a junior. In the 300 hurdles, her best times were 45.47 as a freshman, 47.75 as a sophomore and 46.51 as a junior.
She dominated the hurdles to help Pinckney win the SEC White championship on May 7, winning the 100s by 1.12 seconds and the 300s by 3.02.
“It was probably this year when I had my first outdoor race where I was like, ‘OK, this felt really good,'” Crowe said. “I got so used to always running with my ankle always hurting. Now it’s not taped and not hurting. It’s a different feeling. It feels amazing.”
Crowe excels in both hurdles, but her greatest success has come in the 300s.
“I think it’s the endurance part,” Crowe said. “A lot of people, once they get to the second 100 of it on that little curve, they’re tired and you have the last 100. I’m able to keep fighting and pushing where a lot of people aren’t able to. I have a background in running distance.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney hurdler Davea Crowe returns to form after injury-plagued year
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
