Iventichev Completing Successful HS Career

By: Derek Liberman

As Grisha Iventichev finishes up his senior year at Friends School, he will be parting with a profitable experience marked by achievements he couldn’t have compiled more impressively; his high school career was outlined by three consecutive conference championship titles.

Iventichev came to the United States from Ivanovo, Russia with his parents and twin sister in August 1999, two weeks shy of beginning fourth grade at Rogers Forge Elementary School.

“It was tough coming over in August and two weeks later starting school,” Iventichev said. “All I knew how to say was ‘cat,’ ‘dog,’ and ‘Hi, my name is Grisha, and I can’t speak English.’”

However, two days after settling in, Iventichev’s mother signed him up for a soccer league thinking it would be a good way for him to learn English.

Iventichev discovered others with similar difficulties, and he began to form mutual relationships of support with Chinese children who had just come to America as well. With the help of soccer and the friends he had developed, Iventichev became fluent in English in less than two years.

As he finished elementary school at Rogers Forge, Iventichev began looking into middle schools, the first of which was Friends. He took an initial liking to Friends and had to look no further.

By seventh or eighth grade, he was still playing soccer, but he began his transition to running.

“My dad, who was a runner, started coaching me, and we would go over to Gilman or Towson and work out together.” Iventichev believes his father was a key factor contributing to the success he has had saying, “He told me everything I know.”

With the work it takes to become as successful as Iventichev has become, a jam-packed schedule is necessary. As one season closes for him, another one begins.

“My biggest challenge right now is that right after spring track comes indoor track, and there’s no break. I never stop running,” Iventichev said. “I’m thinking about taking a week off. My friends tease me, ‘Oh, you’re taking one week off, such a big deal,’ but for me it is. I never take a break.”

Iventichev also faces the challenge of running alone. “It’s so hard to keep running,” he said. “I listen to music to take my mind off running, you know, but it’s just hard to keep going.”

His continued efforts have thrust him in the direction he needs to accomplish what he has, but he described the feeling of being the conference champion three years in a row as boring.

“I wish I had more competition, I feel like I would be better if I had better competition,” he said. The competition he refers to is the likes of what he saw in the Elite Division at the Bull Run Invitational where he and two others participated in a thrilling finish in which they all finished within three seconds of each other for the top three spots.

“I was third, and it was just like the championships and then I just out-kicked the second guy,” he said. He also took eighth place in the AAU nationals this year, proving his capability among the top competition in the country. Minus one wrong turn last year, Iventichev has been undefeated in the conference for the past two years and was named All-MIAA B Conference in cross country in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

At this point, Iventichev is greatly anticipating the next step, collegiate running.

“I definitely want to run in college,” he said. “I’m applying early decision to Dickinson. But if not, I’m looking at Mount Saint Mary’s or La Salle. It’s hard to say what my goals for the future are but right now I want to improve my time in the mile. I run it at 4 minutes and 30 seconds; I want to bring it down at least 5 seconds.”

Iventichev will do that and much more as he continues his progression and development as a phenomenal young runner.