Griffith makes dream come true
HERSHEY — For the past year, Butler senior Drew Griffith has been on a mission.
Saturday morning at the PIAA Class 3A Cross Country Championships? Mission accomplished.
Griffith broke the boys Class 3A record on the 5,000-meter course in Hershey by completing his run in 15 minutes, 23 seconds and winning the PIAA title. He had finished second in the event as a sophomore and junior.
“Every race I’ve run, all the training I’ve been doing in the past year has been geared toward this,” Griffith said of the PIAA championships. “For me, this is a dream come true.”
Griffith won the race by a 21-second margin over runner-up Nicholas Mazzeo of Lower Merion. North Allegheny’s Jack Bertram finished third.
Griffith finished second to Butler teammate CJ Singleton in the PIAA race his sophomore year. He lost out to Brian DiCola of Hatboro Horsham by 15 seconds last season.
“The year he took second behind CJ, we were hoping Drew could finish among the top 10,” Butler cross country coach Rick Davanzati said. “Drew sort of burst onto the scene there. Last year, we felt he had a chance to win it.
“He broke out to a fast start last year. I think he learned a lesson from that. Let someone else do the work early.”
“I definitely took a different approach this time,” Griffith admitted. “It helped that I knew the course, too. I was able to pace myself, know what hills to attack and which ones not to.
“But, basically, I wanted this so bad ... I just put my head down and kept running.”
Griffith separated himself from the pack a little over a mile into the race.
“He was at 9:41 at the second mile, right around where we wanted him to be,” Davanzati said.
Griffith has not lost a race the entire season. He will next compete in the Northeast Regional, slated for Nov. 25 at Franklin Park in Boston, in an effort to qualify for the Foot Locker Nationals.
“He capped his regular season running career just like he wanted to. Now it’s on to the next phase,” Davanzati said.
The Golden Tornado’s Owen Dressler also medaled in the 3A race, placing 22nd with a time of 16:32. Butler finished ninth in the team standings.
North Catholic’s Tyler Carroll finished 42nd in 17:17 in the boys 2A race, the highest Butler County finisher in that division.
On the girls side, North Catholic freshman Gracie Plastino placed second in 2A with a time of 19:12, 24 seconds behind champion Baylee Espinosa of Lewisburg Area. The Trojanettes’ Madeline Meeuf also medaled, placing 10th in 19:32 after winning the WPIAL race. North’s Grace Lazzara was 28th in 20:18.
North Catholic’s girls placed fourth in the team standings.
In 3A girls, Mars’ Hailey Long was 38th in 19:51 while Butler’s Ava Brewster was 49th in 20:02.
“Both Ava Brewster and Makayla McLister (20:43) shaved a lot of seconds off their previous best runs there,” Davanzati said. “Both ran very well.”
Knoch’s Ava Santora was 47th in the girls 2A race in 20:36.
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