Sports

Twinsburg's Garrett Crichlow Wants to Be Ohio's Top Runner

The Twinsburg track star hopes to be on the podium in Columbus this track season.

State champion.

That's the one title Twinsburg High junior Garrett Crichlow wants to hold in the 1600 Meters at the end of this track season.

"That's the ultimate goal for him this season; to be on top of the podium," Coach Sarah Kmet said of her star runner.

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Based on previous times, Chrichlow is the second-fastest of all Division I returners in the 1600 Meters in Ohio, and he is anxious to become No. 1.

Last season he smashed the Tigers record by posting a 4:16, going to the state meet where he finished seventh. At one point Chrichlow was the eighth fastest sophomore in the nation.

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“I hate waiting for the next season to start, so I’ll go very easy,” Chrichlow said of this past offseason. However, easy for him is about six miles at a time.

But if he is Superman, his coach knows all about his kryptonite.

“Garrett doesn’t like to do the little things,” Kmet joked, referring to his disdain for core workouts, a must for any distance runner.

All kidding aside, Chrichlow and his distance buddies have been working hard, preparing for the season ahead.

Not even the bitter cold and snow of winter will stop them from achieving their goal. But their coach said she does have some limitations.

“If it’s sub-zero, then I say, ‘OK, we don’t want to lose body parts,’” Kmet said.

The motivation for Chrichlow to excel this track season is strengthened by the cross country team’s success this fall.

Twinsburg had seven state meet qualifiers, finishing 10th overall. The group was led by Chrichlow who finished 8th.

“I just want to keep pushing myself to my limits,” Chrichlow said.

Kmet knows that just because he may be another year older, doesn't mean he'll automatically be faster.

“The faster you are, the harder it is to drop your time,” Kmet said.

The funny thing about Chrichlow is that if it wasn't for his parents and coaches, he might not have started his running career.

In seventh grade the middle school coach tried to get him to run, but he stuck with soccer. However, in eighth grade he gave in with the push of his parents and teammates.

“I went out for it and got good results out of it,” Chrichlow said.

While he’s a self-proclaimed “wild child”--basically a boy being a boy--Chrichlow isn’t a slouch when it comes to academics. He averages around a 3.0 GPA in the classroom and is considered by many to be a good kid.

He and his family are considering colleges like Penn State, Wisconsin and North Carolina State.

And while Chrichlow's open to the idea of running as a career, he's expressed an interest in doing physical therapy or something in the medical field like becoming an athletic trainer.

But the future can wait, for now.

Barring an unfortunate injury, Kmet assumes Chrichlow will be in Columbus at year’s end.

Last year he finished seventh but this year Chrichlow and Kmet think he could--and should--be on the podium, hopefully with gold around his neck.


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