July 24, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - University of Miami head men's track and field coach Mike Ward has announced the appointment of former Hurricane Damon Griffiths to the position of assistant coach with the UM track and field and cross country teams.

Griffiths, who competed at UM from 1994-97, has served as a volunteer coach on the UM staff for each of the past two seasons in addition to serving as the athletic director and head coach at Bay Point High School for the last seven years. In his second stint at UM, he previously served as a volunteer coach at Miami from 1999-2002.

In 2005, he was named the High School Track Coach of the Year by the Miami Herald after leading Bay Point to the 1A Florida State Track and Field Championship. During his seven-year tenure at Bay Point, Griffiths guided the Falcons to six consecutive district championships and a pair of regional titles.

"We are extremely pleased to have Damon as a part of our staff," said Ward. "He has an unmatched work ethic, and as an alumni of this University, he has a desire and dedication to see this program succeed."

Griffiths is a former UM record holder in the 800 meters, mile run, outdoor 4x400-meter relay and sprint medley relays. He was a member of four school-record holding relay teams including the indoor 4x400-meter relay, indoor distance medley, outdoor 4x800-meter and outdoor distance medley squads. He was also a member of the 1994 Penn Relays Champion Sprint Medley team along with Eric Campbell, Braxton Cosby and Ronald Thorne. Griffiths served as team captain and was a four-year letterwinner for the Hurricane cross county team, earning All-state honors twice.