Saints Mourn the Passing of Ryan Wells

Statement by Coach Mike Howard

It is with much sadness and a very heavy heart that I write to inform all you of the passing of one of the finest individuals to ever wear a Saints Track and Cross-Country uniform. Ryan Wells, class of 2005, passed around the noon hour today after a long, courageous battle with cancer. Ryan was a close friend to many of us and an absolute giant among our alumni family. Regardless of whether you had the opportunity to get to know Ryan personally or you were simply the beneficiary of hearing one of the many stories of his passionate ability to fight back, time and time again, an illness that very few gave him a chance to beat, it is very clear that he was an extremely remarkable individual.

I had an opportunity to visit with Ryan a couple of weeks ago at his family house in Canastota and our conversation that night was typical of how he approached life on a day to day basis. Despite being in intense pain from his illness and despite knowing that his time with us was limited, he was much more interested in talking to us about our teams, our families and the Syracuse Orangemen that he was about spending any time at all talking about himself. Simply put , he was a man well ahead of his time with regards to his ability to make everyone around him feel good about themselves and the life ahead of them.

As a runner, Ryan was an avid Steve Prefontaine fan and I guess, looking back at his life it is very easy to see the many parallels that their two lives followed given the number of things that he was able to accomplish before passing at such a young age. Prefontaine often echoed the motto, "To give anything less than your best was to sacrifice the gift". There is no question that Ryan fought daily, in sickness and in health, to never sacrifice the gifts that he was given in life and that triumphant legacy will forever be etched into the heart of our programs here at St. Lawrence and to all those who's life's he touched in so many ways.

Funeral services will be held at 8:45am from Campbell-Dean Funeral Home, 300 South Peterboro Street, Canastota, NY and 9:30am from St. Agatha's Church where the funeral mass will be celebrated.  Friends may call the funeral home from 1pm to 3pm and 6pm-9pm on Sunday. 

Coach Howard

KUENZEL AND WOODWARD JOIN SAINTS COACHING STAFF; TEAM IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT UPCOMING SEASON

Aug 24: Two new faces will join the Saints Track and Field coaching staff this season. Matt Kuenzel and Erin Woodward combine to bring eight years of experince competing at the collegiate level.

Woodward, a 2005 graduate of St. Lawrence, returns to her Alma Mater after teaching middle school in Miami, FL for a year. A two-year captain of the Saints Track and Field team, Woodward was the Indoor and Outdoor Most Valuable Player during the 2004-05 season. She was a 2nd place NYSCTC javelin finisher in 2004 and 2005, a 2nd place heptathlon finsher in 2004 and a member of the 2nd place finishing 4x200 relay in 2004. Head track coach Mike Howard said he was elated that Woodward decided to return to St. Lawrence.

"Erin was a classic example of a player who came in as a good high school player and left a great collge athlete," Howard said. "She worked really hard as a multi-sport athlete and I think her work ethic is something that will spread like wild fire on our team."

Kuenzel, a 2006 graduate of Geneseo was a four-time NCAA Division III National Qualifier in the shot put and finished 11th, 15th, 9th and 13th respectively. He was the 2005 ECAC Champion in the shot put and holds the Geneseo School Record in the indoor and outdoor shot put and the discus. Howard said Kuenzel will be an assest to the Saints throwers because of his knowledge of all the throwing events.

"Not only was Matt one of the most dominate performers in the state but he was also a national qualifier, so he will bring experience on a regional, state and national level," Howard said. "It is very rare that you find someone with extensive accomplishments like that who knows all of the throwing events. Not to mention he can still throw extremely well."

The Saints track and field team will come together for the first time during the second week in October. Although they return a young team and add 10 to 15 incoming athletes, Howard said their goals still remain the same.

"Our goal every year is to win the Liberty League Championship and be competitive in the state championships and send as many athletes as we can to nationals," Howard said. "That goal will not change this year."

BANAZEK 6 TH IN ECAC STEEPLECHASE

May 18: St. Lawrence University senior Kerry Banazek ran 11:32.68 and placed sixth in the steeplechase at the 2006 ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships being held at Springfield College on Thursday.

Stacy Corliss placed 11 th in the hammer throw and was the only other Saint competing in the meet on Thursday. She threw the hammer 44.93 meters.

In Friday competition, Lindsey Taylor finished15th int he 400 meters in 1:00.22 with Meghan Moore 19th in 1:00.69, Liz Ludovici was 11th in the 5000 in 18:30.19 and Lauren Chrapowitzky was 12th in the discus with a 33.59 meter throw.

BANAZEK MEETS NCAA PROVISIONAL STANDARD

May 12: Senior Kerry Banazek ran 11:03.81 in the steeplechase, just two seconds off the St. Lawrence record and below NCAA Division III Provisional qualifying standards to highlight the Saint Last Chance Qualifier at the Merrick-Pinkard track complex Friday evening.

Stacy Corliss threw the hammer 45.86 meters (150-5) to surpass ECAC qualifying standards in the meet which included competitors from the Ottawa Lions, Ottawa Track Club, Queen’s University, Hartwick and Saint track alumni in addition to current SLU competitors.

The Saints will compete in the ECAC Championships next weekend.

FEDORKA, LUDOVICI, BANAZEK HAVE TOP SAINT FINISHES ON DAY 2 OF NYSCTC

May 6: Carleigh Fedorka finished third in the javelin and Liz Ludovici and Kerry Banazek each had fourth place finishes on the track as the Saint women’s track team finished eighth in a 17-team field at the 2006 New York State Collegiate Track Conference championships at the Merrick-Pinkard Track complex on Saturday.

Ithaca College won its ninth consecutive women’s team championship with 129.5 points with Brockport second with 116.5 and Cortland third with 115. The Saints totaled 47 points in the meet.

Fedorka threw 33.04 meters (108-5) in the rain on Saturday for the top Saint field event performance of the day.

Ludovici finished fourth in the 5000 meter run in 17:50.14 while Banazek was fourth in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 11:25.10. Banazek also finished tenth with Bridget Coon finishing 11 th in the 5000.

Other scoring finishes for the Saints on Saturday included a sixth in the 100 hurdles in 15.84 by Meghan White, a sixth by Linsey Taylor in 60.65 and a seventh by Meghan Moore in the 400 meters and a fifth in the 4x400 meters and a sixth in the 4x100 meter relay. The 4x100 team included Moore, Taylor Amanda Cardoze and Libby Fellows and the 4x400 team was the same four runners with Fellows leading off Cardoze on the second leg, Moore third and Taylor the anchor.

CORLISS, COON HAVE TOP SAINT FINISHES ON DAY ONE OF NYSCTC

May 5: Seniors Stacy Corliss and Bridget Coon had top four finishes after day one of the New York State Collegiate Track Conference 2006 Outdoor Championships at the Merrick-Pinkard Track complex on Friday.

Ithaca College holds a 1.5 point lead on Brockport after day one of competition with the bulk of the finals being contested on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Cortland is third, Rochester fourth and RPI fifth in a 17-team women’s field.

Corliss threw the discus 35.30 (115-10) on her second throw of the day and it held up for third. Jen Heim of Brockport won the competition with a 39.11 meter (128-4) throw. Holly Irion finished seventh and Emily Aumand was ninth in the disc for the Saints.

Coon ran 39:10.10 to finish fourth in the 10,000 meters which was won by Autumn Swan of Hartwick, who led the race from start to finish and met NCAA provisional qualifying with a time of 36:46.86. Katie Thompson finished ninth for the Saints.

In other Friday finals for women Jessica Frank finished ninth in the hammer which was won by RPI’s Felicia Tsai, who shattered the NYSCTC record and met NCAA automatic qualifying standards with a throw of 56.34 meters (184-10). Meghan White was 12 th with a 4.64 meter jump in the long jump and the 4x800 meter relay team of Stephanie Wilkins, Chelsea Wood, Kim Keszey and Anna Kallman finished eighth.

In qualifying heats, White advanced to Saturday’s finals in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.90, and Meghan Moore and Lindsey Taylor advanced to the 400 meter finals with 60.11 and 60.47 clockings respectively.