Griffith named Gatorade Pa. Boys Cross Country Player of Year
BUTLER TWP — Butler senior cross country runner Drew Griffith just keeps on winning — even off the course.
Griffith — who won every race but one last season — has been named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Cross Country Player of the Year for the second time in a row. He finished second in the Northeast Regional in Boston, but won the WPIAL, PIAA and Foot Locker National Championship races in 2023.
“I’m not surprised by anything this kid does anymore,” Butler cross country coach Rick Davanzati said. “Drew is just an outstanding young man overall.”
The Gatorade award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Griffith won the PIAA Class 3A race by 21 seconds and ran the Foot Locker race in San Diego in 15 minutes, 06.9 seconds. His personal-best time is 14:21, which he ran at the MileStat.com Invitational.
Griffith is ranked among the top five in his senior class academically, carrying a 4.40 grade-point average. He plans to major in aerospace engineering at Notre Dame.
His community service includes volunteering locally with the Backpack Program, donated his time to Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse, which collects and presents gift-filled shoe boxes to boys and girls around the world.
Griffith also helped spearhead a drive for the Butler cross country team to wear yellow T-shirts at the WPIAL championships to honor teammate Aiden Lutz, who died after being struck by a car earlier in the season.
“Aiden was a big part of this team and we needed to recognize him,” Griffith said. “New Balance donated some shirts with the words ‘Running for Aiden’ on them for the team to wear. That was really cool.
“At the state meet, our team and some other teams wore blue and yellow ribbons in honor of Aiden.”
Davanzati considers Griffith to be the total package.
“Just the type of athlete he is, how competitive he is, won him a lot of races,” the Butler coach said. “And Drew gives back all the time. He is what this award is all about.”
Gatorade is in its 39th year of honoring the nation’s elite high school athletes. Griffith becomes the second cross country runner to win the award in successive years, joining Patrick Anderson (2018-19 and 2019-20) of Mt. Lebanon as the only back-to-back recipient.
Griffith recently returned to the track, running with the Golden Tornado’s indoor track and field team. He will do distance events for the outdoor team in the spring as well.
“I want to go out with a bang my senior year,” Griffith said. “My goal is to break four minutes in the mile this spring. That’s what I’m shooting for right now.”
Every Gatorade Player of the Year receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade’s grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
