April 30, 2010

Tiger decathlete signs with Wichita State

Coming from Sharon (OK) Mutual High School as an accomplished high jumper/hurdler, Cowley College sophomore Mac Griffith has transformed himself into one of the top decathletes the school has ever had. He recently used his success to land a scholarship to compete at Wichita State University.

Griffith helped lead Sharon Mutual to the state title as a senior as he was the state champion in the 110-meter hurdles. However, it was his high school teammate, Jory Custar, that Cowley College head track and field coach Mark Phillips was recruiting to compete for the Tigers.

Phillips learned of the 6-foot-5 Griffith when visiting Sharon Mutual to sign Custar.

“His mother walked up to me and asked if I would be interested in a high jumper/hurdler,” Phillips said. “I turned around and there was Mac. I asked him if he ever thought about being a decathlete. He had the size and speed and if you can high jump and hurdle you can learn to do pretty much anything.”

Griffith decided to join Custar at Cowley and has re-written the schools record books.

“I didn’t know anything about the decathlon when I first came here, but I knew they had a good program” Griffith said.

Griffith will join another solid program at Wichita State, which is led by head coach Steve Rainbolt, who was a national class decathlete before entering coaching.

“WSU is one of the top college programs for decathletes in the country,” Phillips said. “They have a great program and our kids do well there.”

Former Tigers’ Willy Lucero and Bryan Tapia are current members of the Shocker track and field team, while several other Cowley athletes have gone on to compete at WSU.

“Coach Phillips mentioned that coach Rainbolt is a really good coach so I went on a visit and I liked the program and the guys I will get to train with next year,” Griffith said.

Griffith had a strong freshman season at Cowley as he was conference champion in the decathlon. He capped his freshman year by placing seventh in the decathlon with 5,373 points at last year’s national outdoor.

The decathlon consists of the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500-meter run.

This past indoor season, Griffith finished as the conference champion and region runner-up in the heptathlon. He broke his own school record in the heptathlon (4,657 points) and earned Coaches Association All-American honors by placing fourth at the national meet.

He is having another solid outdoor season, which has been highlighted by his winning the Tiger Decathlon. Griffith was in third place after the first day of the event but came away victorious by placing first in the javelin (164-4) and placing second in the pole vault, 110-meter hurdles, and 1,500-meter run.

He will look to finish strong when Cowley competes at the Region VI/Jayhawk Conference championships May 6-8.

“I am ranked pretty high nationally in the decathlon so I hope to compete well against those top guys and have a good region meet,” Griffiths said.

During his two years at Cowley, he has helped the Tigers capture the indoor conference title in each of his two seasons at the school and led the team to a pair of top-11 finishes at nationals. He also helped Cowley capture the outdoor conference title as a freshman and has the team looking to make it four straight conference titles when they compete at the conference meet.

He will look to continue his success at WSU, where he will have an opportunity to redshirt next season before helping the Shockers for two more years.

“He is going to be an absolute asset for WSU,” Phillips said. “With another year to develop he will be a factor in the Missouri Valley Conference.”