EKU distance runner Griffin Staude was born at 3:47 p.m. on January 26, 2003. His sister, Emma, was born three minutes earlier. His brother, Kobe, was born two minutes after Emma. His other brother, Luke, arrived one minute after Griffin.
Meet the Staude Quadruplets!
All four are Eastern Kentucky University Colonels. And all four intend to be first-generation college graduates here at the School of Opportunity.
“Our parents never had time to relax,” Griffin admitted. A senior Staude sibling, Gracie (an EKU alum, Class of 2022) is three years older than the quadruplets.
“I learned to escape my crib, and then [Kobe, Griffin, and Luke] followed my lead,” Emma said. “My mom would hear one thump, two thumps, three thumps, and then a fourth thump. She eventually put hoods over our cribs.”
“I always thought it was crazy how many sandwiches my dad had to make,” Griffin said. “Five sandwiches every morning, five days a week.”
“We shared a lot,” Luke said of the quadruplet experience.
Including, it seems, their wardrobe. “Going to school, my brothers and I would always be dressed about the same.” Griffin confirmed.
The Staude Quadruplets grew up playing soccer. They all played together on the U-10 Tornadoes in Frankfort.
Eventually, though, Griffin grew to love distance running, and he excelled at it. Griffin starred at Western Hills High School, finishing as the KHSAA Class 2A cross country state runner-up in 2020.
Luke was his teammate at Western Hills. “It was always fun to go to meets in high school and watch Griffin out front.”
Griffin arrived at EKU in the fall of 2021 and has been a solid contributor to a men’s distance program that is traditionally one of the best in the country. He was named to the ASUN All-Freshmen cross country team in 2021. Last summer, he qualified for the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, racing the 5,000 meters at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
While the Staude Quadruplets possess natural similarities, “we are all still unique in our own ways,” Griffin said. “We all have our own interests.”
Griffin is a sports management major. He loves photography and graphic design, and he wants to work in the creative realm after graduation.
Emma is a Broadcasting and Electronics Media major, with a concentration in film techniques.
“It’s pretty cool how you can rent out cameras at EKU,” she said.
Emma and her friends have already made one indie film, and a second is currently being edited.
Kobe is a computer science major, with a concentration in interactive multimedia. He wants to work in the video game industry.
Luke is majoring in Applied Environments and Geology. He’s into rock climbing, and he loves the climbing wall at the Student Recreation Center. “It’s probably the best rock climbing wall at any college in the state.”
Luke also serves in the National Guard.
“Even though we are at the same school, we have enough space to all do our own thing,” Griffin said.
Still, sometimes Griffin will run into Emma, or Kobe, or Luke at the library or at Case Dining Hall, “and I’ll remember how nice it is to have them on campus, and that I can hang out with them whenever I want.”
It’s hard to find much hang out time in early May, however. Griffin is currently logging about 80 miles a week as he prepares to race the daunting 5K/10K double this weekend at the ASUN Outdoor Championships in Jacksonville, Florida.
The training is grueling, but Griffin appreciates the grind.
“Every day of training is a puzzle piece to the next big race,” Griffin said. “I enjoy the journey of preparing for that race. When we get to the race, it’s not just me out there, we’re working as a team. Which, if you think about it, can also relate to being a quadruplet.”
Griffin will race the 10,000 meters at the ASUN Outdoor Championships on Thursday night at 9:15 p.m. ET. He’ll follow that up with the 5,000 meters on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m. ET.