'It gives me more of a home feel': Pellston's Griffith to join Adrian track and field

PELLSTON – Laith Griffith was up front about it.

He had mixed feelings about a huge decision he had to make regarding his track and field future this past week. But for the former Pellston High School standout, he believes it’s the right choice.

Griffith, who had an impressive career with the Hornets as a sprinter, officially flipped his commitment from Davenport University to Adrian College on Thursday.

“I would be lying if I said I was super excited, but obviously there’s a lot of excitement to it," Griffith said. “At Adrian, I think I’m going to get a lot more of an opportunity to compete on the track come meet time compared to Davenport, because there’s a lot more depth there, so I think that aspect of it I’m going to grow a lot more as an athlete.”

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Back in May, Griffith committed to Davenport. But things changed recently when sprints coach Tra’von Phillips – someone with whom Griffith built a strong relationship during the recruiting process – left Davenport for a position at Virginia Tech. With Phillips leaving, that changed things for the Pellston speedster.

“It was a pretty big bummer because (Phillips) was a big reason I was going to go (to Davenport),” Griffith said. “He’s a very good coach, obviously, if he’s going from a Division 2 school to a D1 school in the ACC, but I think it kind of made the decision of not going there easier, because I was kind of on the fence already, but because I built such a good relationship with him.”

While he won’t be attending Davenport, Griffith is content with joining Adrian, originally his second choice when he was deciding between schools. Among the reasons was Adrian had a Pellston vibe about it.

“I think Adrian gives me more of a home feel – it’s a little smaller of a community,” Griffith said. “The campus is small, but something they’re adding now is a new indoor track facility. I believe it’s going to be a 400-meter indoor track, which will be the biggest in the world, so that’s something pretty cool to look forward to.”

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What Griffith is guaranteed is he’ll be running in college, something he's wanted all along.

“Being a student-athlete and being able to do it at the next level is definitely an opportunity, and it brings a lot of excitement, especially coming from a small school like Pellston,” Griffith said. “I know I have to set an example in a way, but also enjoy it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com . Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: 'It gives me more of a home feel': Pellston's Griffith to join Adrian track and field