Tyler Griffin Added to Track and Field/Cross Country Coaching Staff
2/8/2017 1:47:00 PM | Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
KENT, Ohio – Kent State's Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Bill Lawson announced Monday the hiring of Tyler Griffin as an assistant coach of track and field/cross country.
As an assistant coach, Griffin will oversee both the men's and women's cross country teams, as well as the mid-distance/distance events for the track program.
Griffin will help fill the role of Mark Croghan, who is transitioning from his role as head cross country coach to Kent State Field House facility manager. Croghan is taking over as field house facility manager for Julie Gott, who is relocating after being with the university for nine years.
"We're very excited to have Tyler aboard the staff. I believe the experience and success he had at Mount Union is going to transfer well into improving our cross country and distance programs here at Kent State," said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Bill Lawson. "Tyler has been known as a tenacious recruiter and workaholic but the most important part of the interview process was the passion and energy he displayed to be a part of Kent State track and field and cross country."
Before joining the Kent State staff, Griffin spent four plus years as an assistant track & field/cross country coach at his alma mater, Mount Union, where he developed training programs for student-athletes competing in the 800m run, all the way up to the 10,000m. With Griffin's aid, the Purple Raiders men's cross country team captured three consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championships (2012-14) and were Division III National Championship qualifiers in 2014 and 2016. Mount Union's women's cross country team captured the OAC title in 2014 and qualified for the national championship that same year.
With a strong distance program, thanks in part to Griffin, Mount Union's men's track and field team captured the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championship, the first in program history. Mount Union track and field was dominant at the conference level during Griffin's tenure, winning the men's and women's OAC Championships in indoor and outdoor track and field in four consecutive years.
In his career as a student-athlete at Mount Union, Griffin was a nine-time OAC Champion, eight of which came in track and field and one in cross country in 2010. Griffin's greatest individual feat came in 2009 when he was crowned NCAA Division III Outdoor National Champion in the 1,500m run.
Griffin is now the second assistant coach formerly of Mount Union to be hired at Kent State in recent months. Last September, Tyler Mettille joined the Golden Flashes coaching staff after a stint with the Purple Raiders.
A native of Massillon, Ohio, Griffin received a bachelor's degree in history from Mount Union in 2011 and holds a USA Track & Field Level 1 Coaching Certification.
Croghan was at the helm of the cross country program for 11 seasons, in which he led the men's program to the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championship, earning him MAC Coach of the Year honors. Croghan's teams displayed an exemplary commitment in the classroom throughout his tenure as head coach. This past fall, the men's and women's cross country team's term grade point averages were amongst the highest in the Kent State athletic department, at 3.647 and 3.501, respectively.
"I want to thank Mark Croghan for all that he has done for the Kent State track and field program. Not only has he been a great coach for 12 years; he's been a great friend as well. His new role with the athletic department is a great fit for him and I'm pleased that we will still be working together closely," Lawson added.
