Hall of Honor
After earning three All-SCIAC First Team selections in Cross Country, two All-SCIAC nods in Track & Field, Caltech's 1975 Most Outstanding Athlete and a barrage of school records, Griffin to this day stands as one of the most decorated runners in Caltech history.
The star jumped from 32nd place at the 1971 SCIAC XC Championships his rookie season to an incredible third place finish one year later, leading the Beavers to a third-place team performance — their best finish in a decade. The team MVP went on to cross the line in ninth at the NAIA District III meet, leading the group to a top-10 finish. Griffin continued his dominance as an upperclassman, earning fifth place at the conference championship meet in both of his final years. The distance specialist qualified and competed at both the '72 and '73 NAIA National Cross Country Championships.
On the track, the standout earned runner-up at the 1973 SCIAC Championships in the 3-Mile (14:25.6) and third in the distance at the 1974 Championships (14:45.8).
Griffin earned school records in the 3000-meters (8:36.54, converted from 2-mile), 5000-meters (14:52.24, converted from 3-mile), 10,000-meters (31:14.34, converted from 6-mile); he also set a Caltech record in the marathon (2:37.11).
The runner held the 3000m record for an entire half-century before Rohun Agrawal '25Â surpassed him this past spring; Griffin held the 5000m record for 41 years until Aditya Bhagavathi '16 beat him out. The legend held the 10K record for 49 seasons before Joey Litvin '23 set a new mark; Griffin still holds Caltech's all-time marathon record.
