Griffith finds success again
BOSTON — The distance wasn’t as far. The result was just as great.
Butler senior Drew Griffith, coming off a cross country season that saw him win WPIAL, PIAA and national championships, placed second in the Junior International Mile during the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix held Saturday at The Track at New Balance in Boston.
Griffith took part in the race that was by invitation only.
“New Balance invited the top high school milers in the world, flew them up to Boston and out them up at their expense,” Butler track and field coach Mike Seybert said. “They do their research and find where the top runners are.”
New Britain and Ireland, along with the United States, are known for producing the best distance runners and those countries were included as well.
Griffith ran a personal-best 4 minutes, 2.71 seconds in the event, finishing second behind JoJo Jourdon of Utah, who posted a winning time of 3:59.87. Jourdon became the sixth high school runner to ever break four minutes in the mile.
Griffith wants to become the seventh.
“It’s my goal for the year and I know I’m close,” Griffith said. “After that race, I’m confident I can get there. I was surprised to post that kind of time this early in the season.”
So was his coach.
“If he got under four minutes, I thought he’d do it during the outdoor season,” Seybert said. “To post a 4:02 in early February, after the time he’s taken off ... That’s crazy.”
Following his national cross championship win in San Diego in early December, Griffith took five days off before getting back into running again. He felt pain in his knees and shut down his running workouts for another two weeks.
“I tried coming back too soon,” he admitted.
Now he appears on top of his game with plenty of indoor track season remaining.
Seybert said Griffith may have cracked four minutes on Saturday, had a runner from Ireland not cut in front of him late in the race, throwing him off stride a bit.
“That was an incidental thing. It happens in these races sometimes,” Griffith said. “He cut me off with 300 or 400 meters left. It took away my momentum a bit and I wasn’t able to finish with the strong kick I wanted.
“I can’t say I would have beaten four minutes had that not happened. It would have been close, though.”
Griffith arrived in Boston last Thursday. He and the other invited runners were treated to the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics game that night and have been able to watch high-level college and professional distance races.
“I’ve had a blast out here,” Griffith said. “We’ve been treated great and everyone’s so nice. I know I’ve met a couple more friends that will last a lifetime.
“You’re going to run really fast times in an event like this because the entire race is faster. You don’t realize how fast you’re running when everyone is pushing each other like that.”
Griffith will take part in a two-mile race at Notre Dame — where he’ll be going to school in the fall — in two weeks. The top runners in that event have been invited to compete.
“That’s going to be really fast and really fun,” Griffith said.
Seybert marvels at the demeanor of his record-setting runner.
“Drew is always so calm, laid back about everything,” Seybert said. “He’s the second fastest high school miler in the world right now. That’s not supposed to happen to some kid from Butler.
“He makes it happen.”
