Michael Granville (born February 14, 1978) is a retired American

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

runner. He is known for being the National High School record holder in the race. Running for

Bell Gardens High School Bell Gardens High School is a public high school in Bell Gardens, California, part of the Montebello Unified School District. History The campus was built in the 1930s and 1940s. After years of development and construction, BGHS's new three story ...

he set the record of 1:46.45 in the trial round of the 1996

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local r ...

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated ...

. He went on to win the state meet the following day, but after setting the record he claims he just "dogged it." He had won the race two years earlier and was upset into second by Aaron Richburg, in a major surprise the year before. Granville also held the indoor 800 metres record (broken by Josh Hoey in 2018) and set the class record at 800 metres at all four levels of high school; 1:51.03 as a freshman, 1:48.98 as a sophomore and 1:47.96 as a junior. He is reputed to have run the race around 1:56 in 8th grade. He also won the prestigious

Arcadia Invitational The Arcadia Invitational is a high school track and field meet in the United States. It is considered the most competitive meet in the country and has been billed as the "Home of National Records". The meet is held at Arcadia High School in Arcadi ...

multiple times. Granville was trained by his father, on grass at nearby Bell Gardens Middle School, separate from the rest of his team. His father felt training on grass "makes you work harder." The 1:46.45 qualified Granville to run in the

United States Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. These events include: * United States Olympic Trials (curling) * United States Olympic Trials (d ...

, skipping his high school graduation, a few weeks later where he advanced to the quarter finals behind the previous High School record holder

George Kersh George Kersh (born March 7, 1968) is a former world-class runner and current high school running coach. High school While running for Pearl High School (Mississippi), Pearl High School Kersh broke the United States high school national records i ...

. After high school, Granville went to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

where his times did not improve. He did, however, win two

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

as a member of the school's 1999

4x400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

and

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event. U ...

teams. He retired from track in 2004. Granville now serves as the head coach of the

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two schools in the district, the other b ...

Track and Field team and Cross Country team in Palo Alto, California. He is also the owner of the G:Fit Bootcamp an outdoor training circuit that incorporates modalities like TRX, weights, battleropes, and jump ropes into a comprehensive training routine.

References

External links

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UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granville, Michael 1978 births Living people American male middle-distance runners UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from California People from Bell Gardens, California