April 15, 2011

WALNUT, CA - Redshirt sophomore William Griffin (Columbia, Conn.) became the first Marist College track athlete in school history to break the 30-minute barrier for the 10,000-meter run, leading the way for the Red Foxes late Thursday night at the 53rd annual Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Relays, held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Running in his first 10,000-meter race on the track, Griffin notched a historic effort. He eclipsed Girma Segni's one-year-old school record by more than 23 seconds and completed the race in 29:45.81, good for eighth place in the national-caliber field. Segni ran 30:08.28 at the 2010 Bison Invitational at Bucknell.

Griffin's time easily qualifies him for the IC4A Championships, and gives him a strong chance of earning a berth at the NCAA East Regional next month at Indiana University. In order to make the NCAA meet, the top 48 declared athletes based on time are accepted. In 2010, all sub-30:00 10,000-meter runners qualified for the NCAA meet.

Griffin started the race in the middle of the pack and slowly worked his way through the field of 41 competitors. At the 5-kilometer halfway mark, he was at 14:53 and in 15th place. He maintained that pace through the second half of the race and surged into the top 10 over the last two kilometers.

"Will committed early to a faster than anticipated pace, hung tough and ran the race of his life," Marist Director of Track and Field Pete Colaizzo said. "To do it in his first-ever 10km is even more noteworthy. This was a major breakthrough effort, and Will has worked hard for months to achieve this goal."

Earlier in the day, the Red Foxes had two competitors in the University/Open 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Arquimedes DelaCruz (Wantagh, N.Y.) was 16th overall in 9:24.82 and freshman Ken Walshak (Babylon, N.Y.) was 17th overall in 9:25.79. For Walshak, the time was a personal-best mark by eight seconds.

This was the first time the Marist track team appeared at the Mt. SAC Relays, a prestigious event that attracts collegiate and professional runners from all over the country. "Part of the reason we came out here was to increase exposure for Marist track," Colaizzo said. "Will's record-breaking run definitely went a long way to doing just that, and we are all very proud of him."