Ryan McCall/tampaspartans.com
A small stage sat right on the center field line at Pepin Stadium on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. This is 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. Those teammates and the teams that 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.”
Photo by Abby Sanford
McCall and a friend were walking home when a man jumped out near the North Boulevard Bridge and demanded money. McCall’s friend fled the scene and that is when he heard the gunshots. By the time the authorities arrived, McCall had died.
McCall, a senior exercise science major, 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 his passion 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, coached both of the brothers and has known the McCall family for years.
The team broke McCall's ran a memorial run to break the 2-minute half-mile that McCall wanted to break. Photo by Abby Sanford
“Ryan would come to fill his big brothers 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 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.
