* Drew Griffith stunned onlookers at the PIAA Championship last Friday, shattering four in the 1600m.
Photo Credit: Ryan Comstock/MileSplit
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The king of Pennsylvania distance running just drove a bigger stake in his claim.
On Thursday evening, Drew Griffith became the 22nd high school athlete to break four minutes in the mile and the fifth fastest all-time as he clocked a time of 3:57.72 at the HOKA Festival of Miles.
Griffith went to the front from the gun and fell in line behind the pacer.
The designated pace-setter stepped off after an opening 2:30 1,000m. Clay Shively was the only boy still with Griffith and they formed a 15-meter gap back to the field.
The duo came through 1,209m at 2:59.62 before Griffith unleashed a 58.10 last lap to seal the deal.
Shively would eventually finish in second with a heartbreaking 4:00.02. Indoors he ran 4:00.47 at New Balance Nationals Indoor and 4:00.70 at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational.
He has narrowly missed the elusive four minute barrier.
Nathan Neil was third at 4:00.76, Tommy Latham was fourth in 4:01.74 and James Partlow was fifth in 4:03.21.
Ringgold's Ryan Pajak finished 11th with a 4:05.07.
With the run, Griffith broke Gary Martin's 2022 Pennsylvania state record. At the 2022 HOKA Festival of Miles, Martin ran 3:57.89. Two years later (nearly to the day), Griffith got the job done.
This comes after Griffith broke the 1,600m state record at the PIAA Championship last week. Griffith completed an unreal triple and earned two individual golds. He ran 3:57.08 over 1,600m, 8:43.72 over 3,200m and split a 1:50.04 4x800m leg.
He has now raced hard in three consecutive weeks but he shows no signs of slowing down. The Notre Dame signee is expected to race at New Balance Nationals Outdoors in a couple of weeks and could race between now and then.
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