Known to many as the voice of track and field in the United States, Davis beat back cancer twice in recent years before becoming ill at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Davis earned bachelors and masters degrees from Cal State Northridge, and a B.A. in political science and a masters degree in systems engineering from UCLA before embarking on a twenty-year career with Xerox as a software engineer and manager.
Through the years he continued his passionate love affair with track & field, first kindled when he competed in junior high for Jim Bush, later the hall-of-fame coach at UCLA. In the late 70s, he was mentored by famed announcer Stan Eales, and became co-announcer of meets such as the Sunkist and LA Times Invitationals. By 1984, he was announcing at the national level, and during the ensuing 26 years he continued informing track and field fans around the world.
Davis was the meet announcer for the Nike Prefontaine Classic for 21 years and was the voice of countless events, including the Mt. SAC Relays, where he served as the meet director for 20 years. He also announced at numerous collegiate conference championships, NCAA Championships and USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Davis also served as the announcer for track meets at his beloved collegiate alma mater, UCLA, for 28 years.
On the international scene, Davis was one of the announcers at the 1999 World Outdoor Championships in Seville, Spain, and he became the voice of the World Juniors and Youth Championships for the IAAF in the last decade. Prior to his illness, Davis was slated to announce at this week's Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
His lifelong love of track and field included being one of the earliest members of the TAC (now USATF) Press Box Crew, and serving as a Team USA press officer at the 1982 USA vs. East Germany dual meet, and the 1983 World Outdoor Championships.
Davis had been the Secretary General of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS) since 1994. In 1983, he also co-founded and served as the president of the Federation of American Statisticians of Track (FAST), and for 32 years was the editor of the FAST Annual, which for many years has been published as an indispensable section of the USA Track & Field Media Guide. Davis was also a founding member and longtime awards chairman for the Track & Field Writers of America (TAFWA).
"Scott was the dean of American track & field statisticians, the voice of USA and NCAA Championships and the organizer of one of this country's great meets," said USATF CEO Doug Logan. "He devoted his life and his passion to our sport, and losing him has hit many people very hard. He already is deeply missed, but he can never be replaced."
Davis, who included football as one of his many passions, along with stamp collecting, classical music, fine wines, joke telling, Russian history and literature, served on the UCLA football stats crew for more than 20 years. His chair in Suite 302 at the Rose Bowl will remain open this coming season as a memorial.
Davis is survived by his wife Cheryl and son Scott, Jr. Services are pending.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; Tom.Surber@usatf.org
