WRENTHAM — Superintendent Paul Zinni and Athletic Director Gary Brown are pleased to share that senior Mike Griffin has been named the 2019-20 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
The award recognizes athletic excellence, as well as high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
Griffin won the Division 1 state meet this past season with a time of 16:06, breaking the tape seven seconds ahead of his next-closest competitor. He also took 36th place at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships after qualifying with an eighth-place finish at the Foot Locker East Regional championships. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Tennessee this fall.
Outside of athletics, Griffin has maintained a high GPA, has volunteered locally on behalf of a fundraising campaign to benefit Leukemia research and has donated his time as a youth track coach.
“Since the very first day of cross country practice in August 2016, Mike has pursued greatness in running while also showing incredible humbleness, and a ‘team comes first’ spirit that has earned him the love of his teammates and respect from his opponents,” Boys Cross Country Coach Chris Elgar said. “As cliche as this sounds, every accolade that he has earned has come from his incredible perseverance and determination.”
Griffin is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award which will be announced later this month.
About the Gatorade Play of the Year:
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track and field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. From the 12 national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. In all, 607 athletes are honored each year.
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