University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Sign Ben Griggs To National Letter of Intent
4/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
University of Minnesota men’s swimming and diving head coach Dennis Dale announced today that Ben Griggs (Fargo, N.D.) has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Minnesota.
The senior from Fargo South High School won three state titles at the 2009 North Dakota State Championships. He claimed championships in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 400 free relay. Griggs dominated his individual events at the state championships, winning the 50 free by .66 seconds and the 100 by over a second. He narrowly missed breaking the state record in both events.
"We are very excited to have Ben Griggs join our program," Dale said. "What we like the most about Ben is that his best swimming is ahead of him. Since switching to the Moorhead Marlins club, he has really improved tremendously and is on the rise. He is also blessed with a great swimming frame at 6-4 that should help his development."
Griggs, a junior nationals qualifier, also competes for the Moorhead Marlins and coach Pat Anderson. He is the first North Dakota swimmer to sign with the Gopher program since 2000.
His top times are 20.53 in the 50 free and 45.65 in the 100 free (short course yards).
Griggs is the third member of the 2008-09 Gopher signing class, joining Michael McBroom (The Woodlands, Texas) and Matt Benecki (Chantilly, Va.).
