Going The Distance
By Amy Taintor
CORAL GABLES, Fla.- After four years of competing in orange and green, the road must come to an end.
Gabrielle Hesslau, senior distance runner at the University of Miami, is about to trade in her uniform for a diploma.
Hesslau has established herself as one of the best distance runners in school history, holding school records in the 3,000-meter run indoors, the 5,000-meter run outdoors and the 10,000-meter run.
She recently shattered her own 10,000-meter school record at the Virginia Challenge hosted by the University of Virginia. Her time of 35:00.31, bested her previous record by over a minute.
Hesslau has spent her four years as a Hurricane rewriting the record books, which is something she never imagined.
“I don’t know what I imagined collegiate running to be like, but I don’t think I could imagine having as much success as I have had here,” Hesslau said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
As a leader for the women’s distance program, Hesslau says her biggest motivation to do well has come from not wanting to hang up her spikes. The better she does on the track, the longer her season lasts.
“One of my motivators for making it to regionals for one of my races was not wanting my time in orange and green to end,” Hesslau said.
Hesslau has not only motivated the women she trains with every day, but also the men’s distance team.
Sean Grossman, a junior on the cross country and track team, has been inspired by his time training with Hesslau.
“She always runs so well that it motivates me,” Grossman said. “If she can do it, I have to go out there and run just as fast.”
Grossman has had an impressive career at Miami. He owns the record boards with a school record in the 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter run.
Grossman recently set the school record in the 10,000-meter at the Virginia Challenge, an event he’s worked hard to overcome.
“You go through one lap and you have six miles to go, it can be pretty daunting,” Grossman said. “There was a lot of pressure in one way but I just knew that I was prepared for it, Coach Griffiths prepared us and I need to trust my training. I’m definitely happy with it but hungry for more.”
The hunger Grossman has to be the best is what has earned him the top spot on the distance team since his freshman year. He is changing the name of Miami distance one race at a time.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve done so far.” Grossman said. “To turn the program around and make it recognizable and make people think when they hear ‘Miami distance’ is great. I think I’m starting to do that.”
Grossman has made his mark on the record boards, but those races come from the grueling 6 a.m. workouts that he challenges every day.
“Keeping positive during workouts and making people push during hard workouts when they’re tired is something small that I do pretty well,” Grossman said. “ I just want to be motivational and inspire people in some way that we can do something big here.”
Both athletes have credited their success to Coach Damon Griffiths, who has been the Miami distance coach for nine seasons.
Griffiths graduated from the University of Miami in 1997 and is no stranger to school records, setting five during his time as a Hurricane.
“I think he’s absolutely great. He’s made me believe in myself more every single year and I think that’s the biggest key in a coach,” Grossman said.
“I think he’s really good at pulling your strengths out of you and he convinced me that my strength was in distance before I even knew it,” Hesslau said.
Grossman has one more year to represent the orange and green but Hesslau’s time as a Hurricane is coming to a close. This powerhouse duo has dug marks that cannot be erased and the record books are changed, forever.
