Arizona teen sacrifices spot in AIA 800-meter finals for friend

After Han, a graduating senior at Boulder Creek, just missed making the 800-meter final at the AIA State Track and Field Championships on May 15 by .01 seconds, he thought his high school career was over.

Han ran 1:56.08 to finish eighth at the AIA Division I Championships, putting him at No. 19 in the state. The runner ahead, Phoenix Washington sophomore Adonai Hardin, ran 1:56.07 to finish third in Division II, putting him at No. 18 in the state and just ahead of Han. Only the top 18 athletes qualify for the AIA Championships.

Then, a miracle came from an old friend.

Eric Reed and Han have been competing against each other since their middle school days at Terramar and Gavilan Peak. In eighth-grade cross-country at the district championship meet, Han won the 1.5-mile race while Reed finished second.

The two attended separate high schools, with Han at Anthem Boulder Creek and Reed going to Glendale Mountain Ridge. They both developed into top runners at their respective schools. Reed helped lead Mountain Ridge to a runner-up finish at the AIA State Cross Country Championships this past fall.

Reed was ranked No. 13 in the state for the 800 and was comfortably in the final. He was also on Mountain Ridge’s 4x800-meter relay, which had qualified, as well. Knowing he had a guaranteed spot at the state championships on a relay team, Reed opted to give up his spot in the 800, bumping his friend Han into the final.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to give to Greyson,” Reed said. “I know he worked hard for it, too. It was a pretty quick decision. I knew it was Greyson. Greyson feels like a teammate. We’ve run against each other forever. Coming off not the best race for him, I thought it would mean a lot to him more than to me.”

Even Reed’s parents, Ryan and Raychel, were confused at first.

“When I found out, I was like, ‘Eric, really?’ He was like, ‘Yeah,’” Ryan recalled. “He’s just that kid. He’s shy, but also cares about people. Humble. He’s all the things I wish I was at his age.”

Ken Han, Greyson’s father, found it borderline implausible. This was an all-state runner giving up a chance to race in the last individual race of his athletic career. Eric is headed to Embry-Riddle to study engineering and will not be competing in college.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Han said. “If you go back another year, Eric had run 1:55 and PR’d (personal record) by two seconds, came in 11th. He was in the mix with 100 meters left in that race. He had run a great race his junior year. This is his senior year. And he went crazy to qualify this year from Division I to State. He had earned the right to be there.”

After getting the message from Eric, Greyson began to shed tears.

“It was definitely a true blessing,” Han said. “I felt like I still had a lot of racing left to do. I was sick going into D-I. I really just wanted an extra chance. I even told my coach after, ‘Man, if I get another chance to race, I want that school record really bad.’”

What happened next could be found in the script of a Hollywood movie.

Han, coming in ranked 19th in Arizona, put in an all-time effort. After fading away with 250 meters left, Han then worked his way back up in the final stretches of the race, picking off six runners.

In the end, Han crossed the finish line in fourth place with a new personal best. Han went from 1:55.17 to 1:52.97, a nearly three-second improvement — a mighty feat for the 800 event. Han jumped up 15 spots in the state rankings. He smashed the school record in the process, breaking the time set by Alex Nova in 2014.

Watching from inside the track were Ken and Ryan.

The two families are connected by their Christian faith. The moment felt almost divine.

“It looked like somebody was pushing him,” Ryan said. “Like the way he was moving through the group. It’s like if God was pushing him. It’s what was supposed to happen.

“For me, God made it clear to Eric that he was supposed to give up the 800 spot, so that Greyson could go and do that. It was what I needed to hear as a parent. The selfish side of me goes, ‘Eric, you need to go run that.’ Even his coaches were like, ‘What?’ It was confirmation that he did the right thing.”

Cheering on like it was his own teammate was Eric.

“We’re looking at the times and we’re like, ‘There’s no way this guy just ran this time.’ We didn’t even believe it,” Eric said. “It was the Lord’s work. The Lord put that on my heart. There’s no rhyme or reason why I wouldn’t want to run that last race. But the Lord is working in Greyson and the Lord’s working in me. I think it’s beautiful. I think that was the Lord’s hand over that. Nothing but pure joy for Greyson.”

For Greyson — one of three triplets, with Chayce and Evan — it was the culmination of a journey that started in middle school.

“It was a full-circle moment,” Greyson said. “I just wanted to show that I was ready when the moment came.”

In a time when fights have become more commonplace at youth sporting events or when athletes are erroneously disqualified, this moment particularly stands out.

“This kind of story of sportsmanship, it’s unbelievable,” Ken said.

The ripple effects could extend well into the future.

Greyson is now on the inside track to become a walk-on at Texas Christian University, all because of the state final race.

“That kind of puts him on the map to try to walk on at TCU now,” Ken said. “Versus that 1:55, I don’t know. 1:52, that puts him in the ballpark. It at least puts him into the conversation. We’re going to give it a go, so we’ll see.”

If he does make the team at TCU, Greyson will be running for more than just himself – the spirit of his friend will be there too.

“For Eric to do that, give up their AIA state position just so their friend could run, it’s crazy,” Greyson said.