Although Griff Graves is only a sophomore, he competed at both the BIG EAST Championship and NCAA Northeast Regional in 2008. The Abingdon, Va. native represented the United States at the 2009 NACAC Cross Country Championship, finishing fourth overall as Team USA took home the title. This season, Graves legged out a first place finish at the Colgate Invitational. He also competed in the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, placing eighth, and in the Panorama Invitational, where he finished 11th. 

On why he chose SU:
"I picked SU because I knew that Coach (Chris) Fox was a great coach and that Coach (Brien) Bell was a great recruiter. Coach Bell really drew me in because although I was already definitely considering coming to Syracuse, but Coach Bell really knows how to communicate with athletes well and he's a great recruiter. He helped me decide that this is where I want to be. And I like it up here. It's a big D-1 school with a nice sports atmosphere."

On his pre-meet routines:
"Not really. I'm a guy that doesn't really dwell on pre-meet routines very much. I eat whatever I feel like is good for breakfast. I will listen to music on the way to the course. As of late, I've been listening to 'Anna Molly' by Incubus as my pump-up song. Before we go into the huddle, I pray on the line, but that's it."

On eating any special foods before running:
"Not really, I don't feel that there is. Coach Bell disputes with me on the fact that what you eat before the race plays into how you race, but personally, I feel like I've eaten whatever I've wanted to since I was little. I don't think it has too much bearing on me, but Coach Bell would probably argue otherwise. He's probably smarter at it than me, but I'm just hard-headed."

On his goals for the rest of the season:
"Season-wise, I definitely want to make All-American for cross country. A big goal is making All-American, but obviously the team goals are greater than what I feel like I should accomplish right now."

On playing other sports growing up:
"Growing up, I played baseball and football. Those were my two favorite sports. I also swam a ton through my freshman year in high school. I loved sports and when I was a kid, I loved to play baseball and football. But going into eighth grade year, I got really serious into running, which is pretty early. After that, I quit everything else, and just focused on running."

On his favorite Coach Fox memory:
"I think one of my favorite Coach Fox memories so far happened this year. My dad and Coach Fox are pretty good friends and Coach Fox called his cell phone after the Wisconsin race when we won. He yelled into the phone 'we expletive did it,' but it was my mom on the phone and not my dad. She thought it was hilarious so it all worked out."