If you give a Mike a cookie…

Sophomore surpasses local eating record

Sophomore+Michael+DiFiore+recently+beat+the+cookie-eating+record+at+Grifs+Sammie+Shop+in+the+Village+at+Allen.

Parker Nolan

Sophomore Michael DiFiore recently beat the cookie-eating record at Grif’s Sammie Shop in the Village at Allen.

Hannah D'Iorio, Staff Reporter

Sophomore Michael DiFiore has tasted failure and success.

As a 10 year old, DiFiore competed in a local buffalo wing eating competition. Although he describes himself as someone who likes to eat, and eat a lot, he was unable to finish the spicy dozen wings. He only made it to the eighth wing before his throat began to swell and he was unable to breathe.

“[I] knew that I needed to come back into the game after the wing challenge, so I tried to find something that I could do,” DiFiore said.

And like Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

DiFiore did not give up. He persisted.

At the end of spring break, DiFiore plugged in his ear buds and turned on the shuffle to his workout music. But instead of using the music as motivation to push through a workout, it fueled him to get through 936 calories of sugary treats.

With 12 chocolate chip cookies and the timer set out in front of him, he knew that the moment had arrived. It was time.


Despite how “confident” DiFiore was when he arrived at Grif’s Sammie Shop for the cookie-eating contest, he knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. The contest requires competitors to eat a dozen cookies and beat the previous record time.

A lack of liquid to wash down the cookies contributed to many previous failed attempts. Junior Nick Garcia said he tried this contest back in August and was unable to finish, making it only to his eighth cookie.

“It was a lot harder than I thought,” Garcia said. “You don’t have water, and it’s a lot harder than it seems.”

DiFiore experienced the same struggles that Garcia faced. By the 11th cookie, he was ready to accept failure at not beating the previous record of nine minutes and 29 seconds. The inspiration to continue was found through his friend, sophomore Beau Iovinelli, who mentioned that DiFiore would have to pay for the cookies if he didn’t eat them all.

“I didn’t bring my wallet, and no one was going to pay for me,” DiFiore said.

This was enough to push DiFiore to victory. He finished his last cookie, finishing at nine minutes and one second…

…and then ran to the restroom to throw up.

“It was fun seeing him break the record,” owner of the shop Griffin Gurley said. “His friends were very excited when he beat it, and it’s rare to see people finish it. We’ve had 35 try it and only five people have finished it, so it’s good to change the name on the wall.”

DiFiore broke the the record for eating 12 cookies in the shortest amount of time, beating the previous mark by 28 seconds. His record has since been broken, but he still holds the second fastest time for the contest.

“I’m still humble,” DiFiore said.