Photo courtesy of Miles Granjean
May 11, 2023
In the midst of a breakout senior season, Miles Granjean has decided to continue his track and field pursuits at the University of Iowa next fall.
Despite having previously established a niche for himself as a sprinter on Evanston’s track team, this year, Granjean opted to focus on the 110-meter hurdles, and boy have his efforts paid off. At the Minooka SmithStrong Invitational on April 15, Granjean broke the two-year-old school record in the event with a mind-boggling 13.99 seconds. The old school record of 14.01 was set by fellow Evanston Wildkit turned Iowa Hawkeye Kalil Johnson; the two will find themselves teammates once again come the fall.
With this time, Granjean cemented himself as the favorite in the event at the upcoming IHSA State Track & Field Championships; the second fastest time in Illinois this season lies over four tenths of a second back.
“After I made it to state and we placed third for the 4×400 last year, that’s when I really [decided I] wanted to pursue [track] in college,” says Granjean “I felt like I had potential, like I could do something in track and be able to take it to a higher level. I didn’t want to waste that.”
Determined to earn a spot on one of the country’s preeminent collegiate track programs, however, Granjean knew he still had much work to do in order to be able to achieve that goal. In fact, largely due to him bursting on the scene so recently, Granjean didn’t commit until April 25,, far later than the vast majority of Division I athletes of his caliber.
“Iowa is considered one of the best hurdling programs in the entire country,” says Granjean. “When I got the call from them, it was very hard to say no, because it’s an opportunity that doesn’t come very often.”
Looking ahead to his collegiate hurdling career, Granjean’s 13.99 would rank him third on Iowa’s roster so far this season and would have placed eighth at the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where Iowa’s men’s team took second overall.
On the academic side of things, Granjean looks to pursue a major in biochemistry, and hopefully attend medical school after college.
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