Cross Country, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Brian DiCola
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: My teammate, Matt, and I were running the mile when we simultaneously passed a runner as he went on the inside to the left of him and I went to the outside to the right of him and we came back to each other and finished the race with PRs.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During an indoor 800 as I was catching the top runner, the commentator said, “Here comes Ruffner, trying to Ruff things up a little.”
Music on my playlist: Shinedown, Sir Chloe, Highly Suspect, Olivia Rodrigo, etc.
Future plans: I plan on majoring in biochemistry and continuing my athletic career at whichever university I attend.
Words to live by: “Fake confidence leads to real confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself nothing can be accomplished.”
One goal before turning 30: Complete one full marathon
One thing people don’t know about me: I have a collection of 34 different monopoly sets.
By GORDON GLANTZ
In the most literal sense, it was both the best of times and worst of times last spring season when Wissahickon’s Grayson Ruffner ran a personal best in the 800 at districts but still missed the cut for the state meet.
It was an emotional time, and tears were shed, but Ruffner used the disappointment as fuel for his senior season.
“It just motivated me so much for this coming season,” said Ruffner. “I tried not to let it deter me too much, because then it just gets in your head.”
Added Wissahickon coach Sean Stovall: “I said, ‘Listen, use this moment as motivation. If you do, a lot of good things are going to be coming your way.’ He told me he hung up his number from the district meet, watched the state meet and took a picture of the results.
“After the league meet, he talked to me about that, too; about how that motivated him. We were so connected. It was a sad moment. We were crying together, but we both knew it would benefit him in the future, which it did.”
After a summer of hard training, Ruffner has begun the first third of his senior season – that being cross-country – with a vengeance by taking the league title with a time of 15:49, shaving almost a minute off his sixth-place time at last year’s SOL Championships.
Said Stovall: “He wants to make everybody proud, of course, but I said, ‘Run for you. You put in the hard work.’ When I got back up to the finish line, he jumped up into my arms. His parents were crying tears of joy, taking pictures and stuff. It was just a wonderful day.
“He believed in the training, and he knew exactly what he had to do, and he achieved his goal of being league champion.”
After a strong showing at the district meet (personal record 15:35 and 13th place finish), he will be running at the state meet in Hershey.
“One of my big goals was to make the state meet,” he said. “Last year, I missed out. A couple of my teammates made it. I was a little sour about that. I have my chance now.
“My big goal is just to medal at states. It’s Top 25. Right now, I’m sitting at 26th. That’s a big chip on my shoulder.”
A Student First
Ruffner sacrificed other athletic passions – wrestling and soccer – to dedicate himself fulltime to running.
Still, he is a true student-athlete, as opposed to an athlete-student.
“He’s an exceptional student in the classroom,” said Stovall, pointing out that Ruffner has a 4.83 GPA. “He’s in a lot of advanced placement classes; a few courses to help him with college and get some college credits and everything. He’s an honor roll student.
“I wanted to emphasize that because I always tell my guys about the ‘student’ part first in student-athlete.”
With an eye toward majoring in biochemistry, Ruffner is weighing the schools that have the best fit for him, in terms of his major and as a runner.
Unless a dark horse comes into the picture, the four finalists appear to be – in no particular order - Bucknell, Gettysburg, Maryland-Baltimore County and Tufts.
“I hope to commit by the end of the year,” Ruffner said. “Most of the schools I’ve applied to offer early action (as opposed to early decision).”
An Inside Track
After giving up wrestling, which included a promising start to his career, Ruffner became a fulltime runner and placed 16th in the league cross-country meet as a sophomore and sixth as a junior.
The success was not a complete accident.
“When he first came to the school, he definitely had a good knowledge behind the sport,” said Stovall. “He was coached very well by Scott Landis.”
Ruffner feels he owes a lot to Landis, who was his middle school coach and also the coach in his winter season as a freshman.
“He was the first one to see my potential, and he completely shifted my focus to running,” said Ruffner. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I’d be where I am today.”
Although he admittedly started running cross-country to build up endurance for track, older runners on the team took him under their wing and got him more serious about it.
“He picked up cross-country in 20-21. That was the year we won our first league championship, and he got a lot of wisdom from our seniors and upperclassmen runners,” said Stovall. “He was the new guy to the sport. He actually helped us with winning and contributing. He was our fourth runner out of five, and it was excellent that he gained more knowledge of the sport from them.”
Along with the likes of Stovall and Landis – not to mention his dad and stepmom (Don and Carolyn Ruffner) and mom and stepdad (Jennifer and Tyrone Hedrick) – these mentors played a major role in his evolution.
“There were a lot of guys who kind of raised me in a sense,” said Ruffner. “I learned from them.
“I hope the younger guys are now doing the same with me. I see myself as playing a big role in leading the team. I’m one of the cross-country captains and I was a track captain last year as well.”
In particular, Ruffner has mentored first-year junior Ralph Antonucci, and the results have been tangible.
“We ran all summer together,” said Ruffner. “He was my workout partner, and he has dropped his times a good bit, even though it’s his first year running cross-country.”
Hitting His Stride
After just missing the state cross-country meet last season, Ruffner really hit his stride, pun intended, in winter during the indoor season.
“That’s when he really started to knock down at lot of his times,” said Stovall. “He actually had the fastest split in the 4X800. He ran a 55.41 at the state meet and the relay finished 10th overall.
“Outdoor, he set more personal records. He eventually dropped his split down to a 1:55.05 at the league championship to win it for us. He ran 8:01.04 that day. He qualified for districts in the 1600 and the 800, which is his race. He loves that race.”
That impressive tear ended with the aforementioned 1:56 flat, a personal best that still wasn’t good enough, at the district meet.
“He finished 11th and they only take the Top 8,” said Stovall. “That was just more motivation for him going into this season.”
Said Ruffner: “That’s right on. During last track season, I hit 1:56 flat, which is a full second under the state standard. At first, it was just surreal that I hit such a good time and still missed out. I was happy because I had just PRed and knew I gave it everything. Later on, it really hit me that I should be competing at the state level.”
Stovall is telling his younger runners to use Ruffner as an example.
“I’m telling my guys to soak it in like a sponge,” the Trojans’ coach said. “What he is doing, is what the guys before him did for him. He has given a lot of advice. During times when I’m giving my speeches, he will stop me and add a few more points and stuff like that - from his veteran experience - for the guys.
“He tells the guys (that) he didn’t always run these 15:30s and 15:40s. He gives them tips on what he has done at home, and he tries to get the guys to go for runs up at Valley Green and stuff.
“He has been a very good leader, and one who has helped the younger guys develop.”
It’s About Time
While running and schoolwork eat up a lot of his time, Ruffner does not keep himself in a complete vacuum.
He is an active member of the school community.
“I’m a member of the Interact Club at our school, which is part of the Rotary Club that helps around the community,” said Ruffner, who is also a member of the National Honor Society and serves as the co-president of the National Spanish Honor Society.
And when it comes to juggling it all and having time to breathe, Ruffner admits it’s an ongoing challenge.
“Obviously, it can get overwhelming, here and there,” he said. “I try to keep it as balanced as possible. I’ll get home from practice. I’ll stretch, shower and eat. By the time I’ve done all that, it’s 6:30. Then, I just try to get in as much schoolwork as possible without sacrificing as much sleep.
“It all comes down to spreading the work out. It’s easier said than done, and I also procrastinate here and there. It’s inevitable, but I try to limit myself. That has helped me a lot.”
