Events: 400M (IN: 47.89; OUT: 47.32), 800M (IN: 1:55.29; OUT: 1:52.94)
2012
Competed primarily in the 400-meter dash during the outdoor season … Ended the campaign with a seasonal-best performance at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Crossed the finish line in 47.80 seconds for 19th place in the preliminary round of the 400 meters at the SEC Outdoor meet held at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium … Also ran the 800 meters at the SEC Outdoor meet, finishing in 29th place with a run of 1 minute, 57.10 seconds in qualifying … Also ran the 400 meters at the Louisiana Classics (49.39), Battle on the Bayou (48.13), Arizona State Tri-Meet (48.55) and LSU Alumni Gold (48.41) … A member of LSU’s distance relays during the outdoor season … Ran the third leg for the team that finished in eighth place in the 4×800-meter relay at the Texas Relays with a run of 7:37.52 … Also ran the 800-meter leg on LSU’s distance medley relay that took seventh place in the college division at the Penn Relays with a seasonal-best time of 10:01.66 … Competed in just two meets during the indoor season … Finished in sixth place in the 800 meters at the Texas A&M Dual Meet with a run of 2:05.29 … Did not finish the 500 meters at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
2011
Competed in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run as a freshman in 2011 … Lined up in both events for the Tigers at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Set a lifetime personal record of 47.32 seconds to finish in 13th place overall in the qualifying round of the 400-meter dash at the SEC Outdoor meet … Finished in 14th place in the 800-meter run at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a seasonal-best time of 1 minute, 53.66 seconds in the qualifying round … Qualified for the 400-meter field at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Bloomington, Ind. … Finished in 25th place in the first round of qualifying at the NCAA East Prelims after running 48.02 in his heat … Opened the outdoor season by winning the 400-meter title at the Louisiana Classics with a time of 47.40 … Followed with a fifth-place finish in the event at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational (47.46) … Ran 1:54.71 in his first 800-meter race of the outdoor season to take fourth place overall at the LSU Tiger Relays … Recorded indoor seasonal bests of 47.89 in the 400 meters and 1:55.29 in the 800 meters during the 2011 campaign … Placed 21st in the 400 meters at the Tyson Invitational with an indoor PR of 47.89 … Took 18th place in the college section of the 800 meters at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational with his top time of 1:55.29 during the indoor season … Finished in third place in the 500 meters at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational with an impressive time of 1:02.25 … Competed in the 800 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships, finishing in 19th place in qualifying with a time of 1:58.48 … Ran the 800-meter leg on LSU’s distance medley relay team that scored two points with a seventh-place finish overall at the SEC Indoor meet after running 10:09.16 in the conference final.
PRIOR TO LSU
One of the top middle distance prospects in the Northeast … A product of the track program at Florence Township High School … Signed with LSU with a personal-best time of 1:52.94 in the 800 meters … Set his 800-meter PR on June 4, 2009, en route to a fourth-place finish at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions … Followed the high school season by competing in the 800 meters at the 2009 Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. … Was crowned the Group 1 State Championships gold medalist in the 400-meter dash as a high school junior after setting a previous personal-best time of 48.31 at the 2009 NJSIAA Group Championships in South Plainfield, N.J. … Also won the 400-meter title at the 2009 NJSIAA Sectional Championships with a then PR of 48.32 … Has run 48.64 indoors this season in winning the 400-meter dash at the Metropolitan Coaches Collegiate Invitational at the New Balance Track & Field Center in New York … His indoor PR of 48.64 ranked No. 5 in South Jersey history and was the 16th-fastest indoor time in state history.
PERSONAL
Full name is Keith Allan Griffith … Born on Sept. 21, 1992 … Parents are Keith and Lajuan Griffith … Has two siblings, Kamilah and Kaddara … Father ran track at Eastern Michigan … Is a member the German and environmental clubs at Florence Township Memorial High School … Also involved in the school’s Big Brother Program … Majoring in general studies.