The Career of Donnie V

At Greenville University, there are a number of multi-sport athletes on campus. A very slim number of those athletes in two sports are in their seasons at the same time. Most of the time, the different sports separate from fall to spring. One of those unique athletes is Donovan Graydon. Graydon A.K.A Donnie or Donnie V is a junior student-athlete for Greenville University doubling in men’s soccer and track and field. Graydon’s position on the soccer team is forward. On the track & field team, Graydon competed in the 100 and 200 meter dashes last year during his sophomore year for the first time in college.

Obviously, everyone has a different role on their teams and this applies to Graydon. Currently, Graydon is on the JV soccer team and is not starting. The talent on the men’s soccer team is amazing and to get to a starting spot is competitive. Graydon, of course, brings his love for the game, energy, and inspiration to his fellow teammates. This year is his second year playing soccer for GU. Once again, he plays forward on the team, which is mostly an offensive position. Graydon didn’t just start playing soccer last year. He played for Newton Highschool a few years ago, before coming here. Graydon loves the game of soccer and loves watching it, too. He always influences people to come out and support the teams whether he knows if he is playing that night or not. Charlie Dalton on the GU soccer team said, “I like Donnie on the pitch because he has a positive attitude and he stays upbeat even when the day is not going well. He also knows how to make people laugh when they have a bad day. Also, Donnie does a good job listening to others, whether it is about soccer or not. He does what he is asked to do and asks questions later if he needs to. Graydon is a good teammate and a good person to have around.”

There is a lot of interesting things about Graydon on and off the field. Graydon is currently a junior here in at GU and is now studying exercise science. Graydon is originally from Griffin, Georgia. There are loads of talented people to come out of this town. For example, the first American woman Wyomia Tyus to win and keep a first place medal in the 100m dash in the summer Olympics in 1964 lived there. GU has been blessed to have Graydon play both soccer and track. He has not been the only one that does multi-sports in fall and spring. Jack Epley is also a soccer/track athlete that has to make the transition over to track at the end of the soccer season. The difference with Graydon is his busy schedule with his sports and study tables on top of being an RC (Resident Chaplain). It may be just a little hectic but he uses a checklist to make sure he is on schedule with everything he has coming up. Before Graydon’s collegiate soccer career began, he was a kicker for GU football team. He stood behind the starting kicker who was then a sophomore, Bradley Stubbs. After one year, he decided to try out for GU soccer team.

The transition from soccer to track was not just for fun, it was a strong recommendation from the soccer coach. It was a fast transition knowing that track had already started and as soon as Graydon gets out of soccer, he goes straight to track. His coach told him that he needed to work on his technique in running so Graydon decided to go out for the track team. Last Year, Graydon competed in the 100, 200, and also was on the 4×100 meter relay for his first season. He did not do badly at all, especially considering he hasn’t run competitively since he was in middle school. The purpose of joining the track was to get in better running condition and work on technique for soccer. Graydon says that he will continue doing track at GU because of the relationships that he has created with Russell Lamb, Mahari Holt, myself, and many others on the team. Come to check out Graydon in the JV game against Principia on October 18th @ 7:00 pm. Click below to listen to the audio interview with Graydon.