Senior Moment - Graydon
Graydon matriculated through Garfield Elementary and Jefferson Middle School. I've actually known Graydon since he was a sixth grader. He was a student that teachers dreamed about other teachers having in class. His only saving graces in middle school was he was so darned cute and usually had the ability to know when to stop pushing. I had him in class eventually and we got along fine. I think we both knew our futures would be intertwined, and it made sense to communicate in positive ways.
Graydon ran a five minute mile in middle school which is pretty good in itself, but when you added in that he looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, you had to know faster times were on the horizon. He came over to visit the Capital distance team as an eighth grader and all of our runners looked forward to seeing him in the fall as a member of the XC team. Not because he could really help the team, but because they wanted to throw that mouthy eighth grader into the Frosh Pond. Camp Kah Nee Ta was a bit tough for Graydon at first, but they began to realize there were two Graydons - the mouthy one and the other that was pretty cool. In the end he beat all but one of those athletes that season and they had nothing but respect for him, especially when he helped the team make it to state.
Graydon's Sophomore year was tainted by hip injuries. A lesser athlete would have packed it in at this point. It took a lot of character to hang in there. His Junior year he began his come back and we knew he was set to have a brilliant Senior year and he did:
League Champ in XC
League Champ in the 1600 and 3200
School record holder in the 3200 - 9:10.01, 3000- 8:54.59, 1500 - 4:02.84, and only a few tenths of a seconds off the mile record in 4:16.32
State Meet - Fourth in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600
His double at the XO with one hour in between was amazing.
I found a photograph taken at one of the first Capital Invites. I forget who was featured in the photo, but in the background was Jay Manning and a miniature Graydon. Graydon looks to be only five or six, but you can see that he is intently watching the race and perhaps dreaming of the day---
Thank you Jay and Lorraine for your support through the good, and the bad times. It has made all the difference for Graydon.
Graydon will be joining Capital athletes Zach Midles and Jordan Swarthout at the UW next year.
He will be missed by all of us coaches and athletes alike.
Graydon ran a five minute mile in middle school which is pretty good in itself, but when you added in that he looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, you had to know faster times were on the horizon. He came over to visit the Capital distance team as an eighth grader and all of our runners looked forward to seeing him in the fall as a member of the XC team. Not because he could really help the team, but because they wanted to throw that mouthy eighth grader into the Frosh Pond. Camp Kah Nee Ta was a bit tough for Graydon at first, but they began to realize there were two Graydons - the mouthy one and the other that was pretty cool. In the end he beat all but one of those athletes that season and they had nothing but respect for him, especially when he helped the team make it to state.
Graydon's Sophomore year was tainted by hip injuries. A lesser athlete would have packed it in at this point. It took a lot of character to hang in there. His Junior year he began his come back and we knew he was set to have a brilliant Senior year and he did:
League Champ in XC
League Champ in the 1600 and 3200
School record holder in the 3200 - 9:10.01, 3000- 8:54.59, 1500 - 4:02.84, and only a few tenths of a seconds off the mile record in 4:16.32
State Meet - Fourth in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600
His double at the XO with one hour in between was amazing.
I found a photograph taken at one of the first Capital Invites. I forget who was featured in the photo, but in the background was Jay Manning and a miniature Graydon. Graydon looks to be only five or six, but you can see that he is intently watching the race and perhaps dreaming of the day---
Thank you Jay and Lorraine for your support through the good, and the bad times. It has made all the difference for Graydon.
Graydon will be joining Capital athletes Zach Midles and Jordan Swarthout at the UW next year.
He will be missed by all of us coaches and athletes alike.
posted by Milldog at 7:01 PM
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