Now in his nine season with the Broncos, Griffey has taken a nearly nonexistent throws program and has grown it in to one of the best in the MAC.
In 2013 Andrea Hiler, under Griffey's tutelage, continued her success by scoring at the Outdoor MAC Championship in both the shot put and the discus, in addition to qualifying for the NCAA Regionals in both and making the finals in the discus. During the indoor season Stephanie Negrete moved up to fourth in the WMU performance list on the weight throw buy tossing a distance of 159-11 at the MAC Championships, while Chelsea Gerbers eclipsed the 60-foot barrier for the first time in the weight throw.
In 2012 Griffey helped coach Hiler to a new program record in the discus at 172-4, shattering the previous record by Sarah Morris (also set under Griffey) at 169-7. Hiler went on to finishes as MAC Runner Up in the discus and qualify for the NCAA East Regional Preliminary Championship in bot the discus and the shot put.
The 2011 season showed progress for a young group of throwers under Griffey. While veterans Sarah Morris and Stephanie Mitchell continued to improve, both appearing at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, a group of freshman throwers saw progress. Hiler competed at both the NCAA Regional and the USA Jr. National Championships in the discus.
Griffey helped mold Irene Cooper into WMU’s ninth All-American in 2010. Cooper took third place at the NCAA Indoor Championship in the weight throw with a school-record distance of 69 feet, 2.25 inches. Cooper had never touched a hammer before arriving at WMU, in 2008 became a National Champion in the hammer throw at the USTAF Junior Nationals and qualified for the World Junior Championships in Poland. After three seasons, Cooper is already the WMU school record holder in the hammer throw with 194 feet, seven inches and in the weight throw with 65 feet, 10.25 inches and is poised to become one of the nation’s elite 200 foot club in the hammer. Griffey helped Cooper reach the 2009 Indoor NCAA Championships in the weight throw, watching her finish in 10th place and nearly being named an All-American.
In 2009 saw Griffey help then sophomore Sarah Morris qualify for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in the discus for the first time in her career. Under Griffey, Morris has turned in the second-best performance in school history in the discus with a distance of 160 feet, nine inches. Last season Morris broke the school record in the discus at 169 feet, 7 inches and scored for the first time in her career at the MAC Outdoor Championship.
In 2006, Griffey helped Kristalyn Mauch to a 10 foot improvement, extending her personal best in the shot put from just over 40 feet, to a school record 51-7.25. Under Griffey’s guidance, Mauch had an outstanding senior year, winning a MAC Championship in the shot put and then finishing in third at the NCAA Regionals, while qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
In 2005 he coached Kristi Ford to a school record in the indoor weight throw and a runner-up finish at the indoor MAC Championships. He also helped Ford to a school record in the hammer throw and a berth to the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship.
An expert technician in all the throwing events, Griffey also tutored Kari Richards to the NCAA Regionals in the discus in 2006 and helped her improve to the third spot on the Broncos all-time discus list.
Griffey’s previous coaching experience includes seven years (1998-04) at his alma mater, Hopkins High School. As the head coach at Hopkins, Griffey developed 12 conference champions, four regional champions, nine state qualifiers, two state champions, a state record holder and two junior national meet qualifiers. Under his direction, Hopkins’ student-athletes broke 14 school records in the throws, helping the program rise to the upper echelon of the OK Silver Conference. In addition, Griffey was a football assistant on the 2002 Division 6 state runner-up team.
Griffey, 35 actively competes and holds the shot put and discus records for the West Shore Athletic Club. He remains an avid power lifter.
A native of Hopkins, Mich., Griffey received a bachelor’s degree in physical education from WMU in 2004. He and his wife Cori live in Kalamazoo with their son, Michael, 7, and daughter Emma, 4.
