After missing a year and a half of track and field, Hopewell Valley Central High senior Amaury Griffin returned this past winter and expectations weren’t exactly, umm, through the roof, shall we say.
“I really didn’t have any hope for me at first,” he said. “It was so long since I did anything.”
But when the Mercer County Indoor Relays took place, Griffin gamely ran the four-by-200 relay. In the movies, he would have run a blazing leg en route to a state record. But in the real world?
“After I got done I just…threw up,” he said with a sheepish grin.
In fairness; Griffin wasn’t the first athlete to suffer that indignity nor will he be the last. It’s what happens after that matters; and that’s where the story gets good.
Before the winter was over, Griffin had quickly gotten himself back in shape. In the 55 meters he ran a school-record tying indoor time of 6.72 in taking third in Central Jersey Group III. In the high jump he was third in the SJTCA Winter Meet No. 6 for Groups II, III and Non-Public A with a PR of 5-8, and he took fifth in CJ Group III in 5-6.
And in his speciality, the triple jump, Griffin was second in the Mercer County meet in 41-4.5, and his mark of 41-10.75 in the SJTCA Winter Meet No. 12 qualified him for the Meet of Champions, where he jumped a school-record tying 42-3.5 to finish 12th.
“He could have won the counties indoors if that kid from Lawrenceville (Gregory Foster) didn’t go crazy and jump like, a state record (45-6),” Hopewell coach Rick Smith said.
Fueled by his indoor success, Griffin made up for lost time in the outdoor season, winning the Mercer Coaches Classic long jump in a PR 21-10 and the MCT title in 20-11.25, while taking third in the CJ Group III meet in 20-0.75.
In the triple jump, he won the Coaches Classic (school-record 43-6), took second in the counties (breaking his own school record with a 43-7) and finished third in CJ Group 3 (42-11.75).
Griffin hoped to advance to the Meet of Champions by jumping 42-plus in the long jump at the Group III meet and in the low 44s in the triple. Unfortunately, he finished 14th in both events with jumps of 20-0.75 and 42.05.
“He was relatively healthy for states,” Smith said. “He had some foot pain since counties, but it just didn’t come together for him at Groups.”
That couldn’t detract from a strong comeback year for Griffin, whose last experience with competitive track and field was the winter season of 2020. Much of this year’s success was his willingness to take coaching.
“He’s got a really good attitude, he’s easy to get along with, he’s positive, he has fun with his teammates and things like that,” Smith said. “I think he’s just kind of realizing his potential. He’s a confident kid, he says ‘I’m gonna win.’ He wants to do well in relation to all the other people in whatever meet we’re going to.’
Griffin started track in seventh grade at Timberlane Middle School. It was the first sport he ever did, as he never played organized baseball, basketball, soccer or any other little kid sports.
“I was fast,” he said. “I thought ‘Why not do it,’ and it was easy.”
It wasn’t, however, as easy as he thought.
“I was basically one of the fastest people on the team, but I didn’t have any technique or anything so the other kids that had been here longer started over me,” Griffin recalled. “In eighth grade I ended up being the second fastest on the team. This one kid, Jay Swindell (now running at Lawrenceville), we were always one and two and he would always beat me. But I raced him in the winter, I didn’t know how I’d do against him and I ended up beating him.”
When Griffin arrived at Hopewell, he continued to sprint and do relays during winter track. In the spring of his freshman year, then-coach Danny Johnson introduced him to the jumps. During that season he competed in at least one meet in seven different events and four different relays. A sign of things to come was when he won the triple jump in a season best 38-7.75 in the Mercer County Freshman/Sophomore meet. He took second in the 110 hurdles in the same meet
“I think my coach just saw I had the potential to jump and I could jump a lot further, so guess he decided to let me jump,” Griffin said. “I didn’t really care about the long jump. I only jumped 15 or 16 feet, so I wasn’t that good. But the triple was easy. Not a lot of kids did it, so it was easy to place in. But now, there’s a lot more competition.”
During his sophomore indoor season, Griffin had success in some running events but triple jump is where he stood out; taking first in a quad meet, third in the Princeton Invitational Series No. 2, and fourth in the county meet with a season-best of 41-8.5.
Things were moving along nicely, and then it all stopped. First, there was the Covid-19 shutdown in the spring, 2020 season. When athletics resumed that fall, Griffin decided to go out for football as a means of keeping in shape for track.
“I really wasn’t doing anything in the fall,” he said. “I didn’t want to just sit around. I thought I might as well pick up that sport. Coach is like ‘Yeah, we’ll just give you the ball and you can run downfield and score touchdowns.’”
Dave Caldwell’s game plan was no doubt a bit more involved than that, but the message was clear – a guy with Griffin’s speed could be a bonus.
Unfortunately, it would take a while to find out. After carrying the ball just three times as a junior, Griffin became academically ineligible and would not compete in football or track for the remainder of the school year.
“I just couldn’t wait to get back to track,” he said. “I knew I was fast and I was letting down my team by not being there and not being eligible. I did learn a lesson. Academics come first and then sports. My grades are a lot better now.”
He showed flashes of brilliance on the football field last fall, running for a team-high 336 yards and four touchdowns on 61 carries (6.6 yards per carry). He followed that up with his stellar winter and spring track seasons, and qualified in triple jump for the NewBalance nationals held on June 19.
“As a jumper he’s got a couple things to keep in mind,” Smith said. “They’re super technical events. I’ve only worked with him indoor and outdoor this year so it’s fun to see him kind of realize his potential.”
Despite missing so much time, Griffin has made a mark in HVCHS track & field. His indoor time of 6.72 in the 55 meters tied Will Gibson’s 10-year-old school record. His 43-6 triple jump mark at the Coach’s Classic smashed an 11-year-old record that Griffin broke again by an inch at the counties, and his 42-3.5 in the indoor Meet of Champions also set a new Bulldogs standard.
The record Amaury is proudest of came when he, as a freshman, teamed with seniors Will Titus, Sean Dolan and Kevin Murry set the school’s sprint medley relay record of 3:28.40.
“This spring was his coming-out party in the county,” Smith said. “Everybody says ‘Where was he? Where did he come from?’ It kind of stinks he’s a senior because he’s just getting revved up.”
Although colleges only started paying attention this year, Griffin has drawn the interest of NAIA school Ottawa in Kansas, and several junior colleges.
“I think missing all that time set me back a lot,” he said. “If I had that other season last year I’d be even better than I am now. But I think I made up for it somewhat.”
And the good news for whatever college he chooses, is that he’s still making up for it and getting better each day.
“Absolutely,” Smith said. “As far as potential, he’s super talented. If he gets a coach that will meet his needs and kind of keep him on the right path he could do great in college.”
This season, Hopewell Valley senior Amaury Griffin set a school record in the triple jump with a distance of 43 feet, 7 inches. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
