The first article in the series highlighted Jeff Parker’s talented children Chris, Alison, Jennifer and Jessica. Here's a link to the Parker article.
The Next Generation: Griff Graves
Griff Graves and his father Tom take the saying “like father, like son” to a new level. They look alike, they talk alike, and they are both humble gentlemen alike. They both were multiple prep state champions, and they both competed and won at Detweiller Park in Peoria, Illinois. They both have ties to Carl Sandburg high school and Abingdon high school in Virginia as well as Auburn University and Syracuse University at the collegiate level. They both have brothers who were accomplished swimmers, and most importantly, were both smart enough to marry their beautiful sweethearts, Sandy and Cassie!
The list goes on, including how hard they trained and how they met with serious injuries in college that challenged them both physically and mentally. Griff was lucky enough, worked hard enough and was graced by God enough to be able to fight through his torn labrum, snapped ligament and bone spur in his left hip, to finish 55th and lead the “Cuse” to a top ten finish in last year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Griff had a similar training regimen to that of his father. No surprise since Tom was training him all through high school. “I started running in the low 80 miles a week in the 9th grade and increased to 100 by my senior year. He trained me hard for a high schooler, but it made me tough and it allowed me to compete at a high level. It also helped that I loved competition and the sport (of distance running). If I didn’t, there is no doubt I would’ve been mentally burned out.” Those of us who ran with Tom remember how hard he trained, we were part of it. It was what made Sandburg great in the late 70’s and early 80’s. And there was no doubt you had to be mentally tough to get through the workouts.
Interestingly, his ties to Sandburg cross country run deeper than just being the son of Sandburg and Illinois racing legend Tom Graves. During his high school days, Coach O’Malley invited him and his father back to Illinois to give Griff a chance to tour Detweiller Park just the way his father did way back when. (see the Chicago Trib article here) And Griff did so with style. At the 2006 Peoria Notre Dame Invitational, Griff lost a tough battle to Kevin Havel of Hersey finishing 2nd, and in 2007 visited Illinois to win on the same course that his father set the all-time record on, this time cruising to an excellent time of 14:19 that would put him 3rd, only behind Lukas Verzbicas and his dad Tom on the all-time list of Sandburg Cross Country top times at Detweiller. His name does not appear on that list, but being an honorary member of the Eagles cross country team during his visits to Illinois, we can imagine his name right behind his “old man’s” 13:56.6 IHSA record mark.
Like father, like SON’S ……. It’s all Gravey!
To read more about Griff's comeback from injury, here's an article in the Daily Orange.