Originally, though, she had no interest in pursuing the sport.

“Yeah, I was always a soccer player,’’ Davidner said. “But then [coach Neil Levine] kind of convinced me that I could do cross country and I started going to double sessions . . . something just clicked. I made the switch and it just worked out. It’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made.’’

Levine said he first noticed Davidner as a seventh-grader and could tell right away that she had potential to be a great cross-country runner. The junior high school schedules a race every year, according to Levine, and Davidner broke the school record as an eighth-grader. He recalled that she even stopped 20 feet from the finish line to look behind and see where her friends were. She found herself alone and then finished the race.

“I didn’t really recruit her, I just went up and said ‘You’re a really talented runner.’ And she still didn’t want anything to do with me,’’ he said. Davidner clearly avoided him, fully realizing that he was the cross-country coach.

However, two days into the season Davidner’s freshman year, Levine received a phone call from her father, asking if there was still time for his daughter to join the team. Of course, the coach responded.

The rest is history.

As a sophomore and junior, Davidner was undefeated in the Hockomock League. She won the EMass Division 3 meet last fall, covering the 5K course at Franklin Park in 18:32 for a whopping 25-second victory. In her return to the same Franklin Park course for the Division 2 All-State meet, she shaved 8 seconds off her time (18:24) and was the runner-up to Bromfield’s Emily Jones, the state’s runner of the year. Davidner was named the Globe’s Division 2 Runner of the Year.

“I just love running, so every day at school I look forward to practice,’’ Davidner said. “I hear other kids on other teams like ‘I don’t want to go to practice today,’ but for me it’s something I look forward to every day.’’

Davidner, according to Levine, is willing to make sacrifices, both for her own development, and the betterment of the team.

“You’ll see [her] instead of going out and setting a course record, hang back and work with other members of the team who aren’t as strong as her and help pace them through the race,’’ Levine said. “[She’ll] help them reach their personal best. She’s always sacrificing her performances to help other people do well.’’

Even with those sacrifices, though, Davidner achieved enough to attract the attention of college programs. Last weekend, she made an official visit to the University of Pennsylvania. Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of North Carolina have also expressed interest. There are no front-runners yet, she said, and she’s not really sure where she wants to go.

Regardless of her final decision, Levine knows she’ll find success.

“It’s tremendous satisfaction,’’ he said of Davidner’s college possibilities. “She had a call on the first day of eligibility from Stanford at 9 a.m. She called me and said ‘Stanford just called me.’ And it was like . . . we did it, you know?’’

Oliver Ames co-coach Judy Copley said Davidner is an outstanding athlete who “has capitalized on her gifts in her four years [here].’’

“She’s smart, she trains well. She loves the sport,’’ Copley said. “She loves to compete. You don’t get many athletes like her.’’

Davidner’s teammates aren’t blind to her personality or talent. Fellow captain Rachel Zussman described Davidner as fun, outgoing, and a great cocaptain.

The boys’ senior captain, Connor Sullivan, said that while Davidner is one of the hardest workers on the team, she also knows how to stay loose and can make the team laugh.

“She’s probably one of the best influences on the team,’’ he said.

Oliver Ames sophomore Chelsea Sirois compared Davidner, who is her cousin, to an older sister. The two have trained together at a family summer house in North Falmouth, and Davidner has helped Sirois with her mileage and offered other tips on running.

“Jenna is the type of athlete a coach gets once in a lifetime,’’ Levine said. “She’s the total package.’’

Lizzy Snell can be reached at esnell@globe.com