Homegrown stars return for NCAAs
BIRMINGHAM — Pure chaos.
That’s how Ole Miss sophomore Griffin Riley described the moments before his leg of the distance medley relay on Friday night.
As he waited for teammate Andrew Raspo to hand him the baton, Riley tried to stay calm and focus squarely on the task at hand.
He delivered.
The Mountain Brook High School alumnus split 1 minute, 51.21 seconds in the 800-meter portion of the DMR to move his team from fourth to second with one 1,600-meter leg remaining.
“I just chilled and I knew that I had a strong kick,” Riley said. “I just used it.”
Riley’s strong showing in his NCAA debut helped propel the Rebels to an eighth-place finish in the event. The performance secured them All-America honors and provided a local highlight at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
“It’s incredible,” said Riley, who became Mountain Brook’s first Division I track and field All-American in more than two decades. “First-ever nationals, to be in Birmingham with my family and my old teammates supporting me, it’s just crazy. It’s special.”
Riley was one of four local alumni who competed at the national meet. He joined Hoover’s Brittley Humphrey, Woodlawn’s Jayla Kirkland and Homewood’s Kiara Williams.
All four were well-acquainted with the championship venue. The CrossPlex has held the Alabama high school state indoor meet since 2012. Each athlete won state indoor state titles as individuals or as part of a relay team during their prep careers.
“I mean, it definitely brings back memories,” said Humphrey, an LSU junior. “I had a really tough season, so coming here was looking pretty slim. The fact that I just made it back, it was a good feeling.”
Only sixteen athletes in each event qualify for the NCAA indoor championships. That means the field assembled in Birmingham represented the best of the best.
Humphrey advanced to the meet in an individual event, the 60-meter hurdles, and as a member of the Tigers’ 4x400-meter relay.
She finished 12th in the 60 hurdles, running 8.14 seconds in Friday’s preliminary round, and 12th in Saturday’s relay.
Humphrey said that around 30 to 40 family members and friends attended the meet. They let Humphrey know they were there.
When the meet announcer introduced her prior to her hurdles race, a loud cheer rang from the bleachers.
“I definitely didn’t want to miss the trip,” Humphrey said.
Neither did Kirkland. The Florida State sophomore said she had this NCAA indoor championship circled on her calendar since her senior year of high school.
“I’m like, ‘I have to make nationals no matter what, so I can come back and run in front of my family and friends,’” Kirkland said.
Kirkland qualified in the 60- and 200-meter dashes, placing 10th (7.33) and 15th (23.7), respectively. She said she was pleased with her efforts considering her health. Kirkland has been nursing an injury since the ACC Championships in late February.
Nevertheless, she was glad to be home.
“It feels amazing,” Kirkland said. “It all started in seventh grade, my first track meet here.”
Williams was the only local alum to qualify in a field event. The Alabama senior competed in the long jump, though she scratched on all three of her attempts.
But that didn’t define the meet locally.
Riley helped take care of that. Around 9 o’clock Friday night, he stepped on the track in his red and blue uniform as a cast of family, friends and former coaches looked on. Michael McGovern, Mountain Brook's head cross-country and track and field coach, was among them.
He watched the DMR, nervously, alongside Mountain Brook Junior High coach Randy Stephens. They were counting places to see if Ole Miss was going to hang on for eighth and secure All-America status.
Amid the chaos, Riley — and the Rebels — delivered.
“He’s done a great job of taking his game to the next level once he’s gotten to college,” McGovern said. “He’s always had the ability, and I think he’s just started to tap into his true potential since he’s gotten to Oxford.”