A small stage sat on the center field line at Pepin Stadium on a cloudy Sunday afternoon where the friends, teammates and coaches of Ryan McCall spoke about the way he touched so many lives.
Now those friends will move forward by always remembering the good times. The teammates and the teams he coached will always remember the races and each race in the future will be run for a guy everybody loved.
“He [McCall] had no reservations for his life and lived his life to the fullest,” said Sarah Nelson, a senior biology major and women’s cross country team member.
Nelson knew McCall since her freshman year and told the crowd to live like McCall.
“We must learn to live in the moment like he did,” Nelson said.
Chris Catanach, a cross country teammate, is doing that every day.
“I try to repay his kindness,” the senior communication major said. “I try to see the world the way he did.”
McCall and a friend were walking home when a man jumped out near the North Boulevard Bridge and demanded money.
McCall’s friend heard the gunshots as he fled the scene. By the time the authorities arrived, McCall had passed away.
McCall was known for his contagious smile and his positive attitude. Those qualities made everyone around him feel better.
“I loved waking up at 6:30 a.m. to go to practice because he [McCall] was there,” said Michael Maerz, a sophomore sports management major. “I only wish to become half the man that he was.”
Maerz also remembered McCall for the best $5 haircut.
Greg Moore, a senior finance major, said that McCall had one of the strongest personalities on the team.
McCall’s smile and laugh were something that everyone talked about.
“Nothing’s better than walking back to your room to hear Ryan’s laugh,” said Marsid Tushe, a teammate and former roommate.
Tushe also said that he would miss the memories that they could have had.
“We all want to be like Ryan,” he said. “We promise to look after his family because we have become a part of it now.”
One of McCall’s passions was to become a coach, and he lived it by coaching the Tampa Preparatory cross-country team with Joe Ranalli.
The two grew up together and ran together during their high school years.
“I just loved the kid so much,” Ranalli said.
McCall’s brother, Kevin McCall, also ran for the cross-country team before Ryan McCall came to UT.
“It made it easy to be an older brother because the little things in life always pleased him,” said [Kevin] McCall.
Jarrett Slaven, head cross country coach, instructed both of the brothers and has known the McCall family for years.
“Ryan would come to fill his big brother’s running shoes,” said Slaven.
Slaven described Ryan McCall as loyal and dedicated but most of all funny. McCall was known to both him and the assistant coach as the “Philly Kid.”
Dror Vaknin, assistant cross-country coach, said that McCall left a footprint on this world and wanted to make sure that we do the same.
Vaknin asked both of the UT cross-country teams to run a memorial lap for McCall as “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum played.
Then it rained.
Charlie Hambos can be reached at charlie.hambos@gmail.com.