When East Haven’s Mike Griffith suited up for the CIAC Decathlon, he was simply focused on competing hard and placing well. However, Griffith blew away his own expectations by finishing as the overall winner of the decathlon that took place at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on June 13 and 14. Griffith posted a total of 5,915 points, which was well ahead of runner-up Devin Shelton of Tolland, who scored 5,662.

“Coach [Rusty] Dunne and Coach [Jim] Vicario thought I could win, but I didn’t think so, to be honest. I thought I had an opportunity to finish in the top 15, but they thought I could win the whole thing,” said Griffith, a recent East Haven graduate. “I told them I’d do my best, but they were the ones who believed in me.”

Griffith went out there and opened eyes early by winning two of the first three events and taking second in the other. Griffith’s time of 11.34 seconds was good for second place in the 100-meter dash and that earned him 786 points. He only placed behind Shelton, who ran 11.09. Griffith then scored 723 and 628 points with his victories in the long jump and shot put, respectively. In the long jump, Griffith, who had won the event at the SCC West Sectional Championship and the SCC Championship, recorded a leap of 21 feet-8.25 inches to beat out Shelton (20-7.75) by about a foot for first place. In the shot put, Griffith surprised many with a triumphant toss of 40 feet-6.75 inches, which was more than a foot-and-a-half better than the next best thrower in Manchester’s Philip Quaye (38-9.5).

“We knew he’d be good, but the trick is in these two days, you have to perform. [The first day], really, was a big day,” said Vicario, the head coach of Yellowjackets’ boys’ outdoor track. “Everyone was like, ‘Who is this guy from East Haven?’ He built a pretty good cushion and held on, grinding it out when he had to.”

In the other two events of the first day, Griffith finished tied for fifth in the high jump at 5-foot-8 to earn 569 points and he was fourth in the 400 at 51.96 to score 726 points. Griffith’s one-day total of 3,462 points put him 201 ahead of Shelton for the lead.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy, I’m actually doing good and winning,’” Griffith said. “I thought I’d do good in the hurdles, javelin, and long jump because I’m good in those events. I was surprised to win shot; didn’t expect that at all. It made me very confident in what I did and had me looking forward to the next day.”

When action continued the following day, Griffith continued to impress and kept his first-place position. He opened action by finishing fifth in the 110-meter hurdles at 16.11 to score 720 points and followed that up with a toss of 95 feet-7 inches in the discus to place seventh and earn 447 points. In the pole vault, Griffith finished tied for 10th at 9 feet-6.25 inches to record 333 points and he then took fifth in javelin at 143 feet-8 inches for 497 points. With a small lead heading into the final event, Griffith did enough to hold off Shelton by pacing to a 16th-place spot in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:13.31 to score 486 points and seal the victory.

“We’ve been training him for the decathlon in the past year. He had the ability to do a lot of different things,” Vicario said. “All year long, we trained him in multi events in practice. We wanted him to do everything and training in that way and he kept catching on, getting more proficient.”

Griffith knows that his all-around athletic ability was the key for him to beat out his 47 fellow competitors and win the decathlon.

“Because I’m pretty decent at every event, it helped out a lot. I didn’t have to win everything, but I did good in every event,” Griffith said. “Some kids would win an event and then not do well in the others. Since I was consistently good in every event, it helped me out a lot.”

Griffith almost competed in the decathlon as a junior last year, but was held out due to a late-season injury, according to Coach Vicario. The fact that Griffith had no experience in the decathlon made Vicario extra proud of his athlete’s victory.

“He did a great job today. He won it in an unbelievable performance. We were thrilled with how he performed,” Vicario said. “It was quite the accomplishment considering he hasn’t had the experience of competing in the event before. He focused, showed great concentration, and he just plugged. It was just a great effort and I’m really proud of him. He’s the best track and field athlete in the state of Connecticut.”

Having secured his spot in the Connecticut track and field record books in his final high school meet, Griffith said that he’s still astounded by his performance.

“This felt great. It’s a great way to end my senior year at East Haven High School. Being the state decathlon winner, it feels great,” he said. “All my hard work the past few years pays off. I’m the state champ in the decathlon and it feels amazing. I didn’t expect this at all. I’m still amazed that I won.”