1968 NCAA cross country champion Michael Ryan

Met Mike Ryan when he was stationed at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, and attending law school. He ran some xc races for Kettering Striders, with minimal training. Very talented guy, with many interests outside running. Short, stocky build, probably 5-6, 145.

Thanks for the link to Lindgren's bio. A couple things:

"The highest 2 week total ever is 420 by Gary Bjorkland [sic] in March of '76."

Hardly. Hitting 420 for two weeks means 30 a day. But Gerry, leading up to the US/USSR meet (first time an American beat a Soviet in the 10k), ran 1680 miles in eight weeks--30 a day for 56 days, not 14 days, and with a lot of quality.

The bio also identifies Gerry as a junior in HS in 1964. Well, he was a junior *runner* (i.e. under age 20), but he actually graduated from HS in 1964. Ryun was a junior that year.

He went to Rogers, right? I lived outside of Spokane 'til '64, and I remember that we listened to his indoor races on the radio that year. A HSer going 8:40 indoors, when LBJ was president--incredible.

Yes, you are right. i just came from the home of the man who took those pictures. he is doing quite well. he took a picture at that meet you were in, right?

best to you friend.

lease wrote:

Hardly. Hitting 420 for two weeks means 30 a day. But Gerry, leading up to the US/USSR meet (first time an American beat a Soviet in the 10k), ran 1680 miles in eight weeks--30 a day for 56 days, not 14 days, and with a lot of quality.

After reading many of Lindgren's idiotic postings here it is highly improbable that anything the man says is true. After all, he says he was on pace for a 2 hour marathon IN TRAINING.

yesstiles wrote:

His Junior year after the XC season ended, he ran a 9:09.8 2-mile at a postal meet in Woodside, CA.

Sophmore Ralph Gamez ran 9:13. There was a great photo of the two of them in that race.

Gamez' immediate future, thereafter (65-66), was to become a 2x Cal state 2 mile champ ... the first and second years of California holding the event.

I was the Assistant Track Coach at the Air Force Academy from Jan 1969 to Oct 1972 and coached and trained with Mike Ryan. Mike was the most talented runner I have ever trained with and I ran for Villanova with Marty Liqouri, Dave Patrick and others. After Mike's 2nd place finish in 1969 at NCAA XC he had invites to all of the big indoor meets but he chose to drop out of racing. When Mike trained during the 1969 XC season, he trained hard and was ready for Lindgren, but he did not run on Thursdays as that was his racket ball day. I think he idolized Gerry and ran 2nd to him because he was supposed to. I could be wrong as Lindgren was one of the great ones as we all know. I don't know why, but Mike's heart was no longer into racing. I would also like to find him as I have thought about him often.

This discussion reminds me of Elmore Banton, who won the 1964 NCAA XC title. I don't think he's ever received much recognition for being the first black dude to win cross nationals.

His feat was so "noteworthy," it only made Faces in the Crowd in Sports Illustrated:

Elmore Banton, a junior at Ohio University, became the first Bobcat ever to win the four-mile NCAA Cross-Country title at East Lansing, Mich. After leading the field of 180 all the way, he finished 50 yards in front of Notre Dame's Bill Clark, in 20:07.5.

Should be noted MSU's Forrest Akers Golf Course was covered in about 6 inches of snow for that meet, slowing times.

Coach Charlie M. Thanks for the comments about Mike Ryan. It is interesting that he suddenly lost his motivation to race. I would imagine that the Air Force Academy would have allowed him to continue to train at the top level had he wanted to do so.

Living in the Past wrote:

Coach Charlie M. Thanks for the comments about Mike Ryan. It is interesting that he suddenly lost his motivation to race. I would imagine that the Air Force Academy would have allowed him to continue to train at the top level had he wanted to do so.

Not sure about the Air Force, but the U.S. Army had an elite track team back then. Tracy Smith, for one; and some of the great milers from the mid-to-late sixties - Richard Romo, Cary Weiskopf, etc.

Living in the Past wrote:

Coach Charlie M. Thanks for the comments about Mike Ryan. It is interesting that he suddenly lost his motivation to race. I would imagine that the Air Force Academy would have allowed him to continue to train at the top level had he wanted to do so.

LITP, it is great to see you posting again. We all thought you were dead.

Mike Ryan just died of heart disease. Got an email about it a little while ago.

Email I received from Jack Leydig, another very fine runner, today.

"I just received an e-mail from Katie Ryan (Mike's wife) who let me know that he passed away last night from cardiac arrest at a Bakersfield hospital. He has not been well for some time and has been unable to attend our Old Farts reunions since he was unable to travel comfortably.

Mike finished second in the 1970(?) NCAA Cross-Country Championships to Gerry Lindgren by only a few seconds and broke 9 minutes for 2 miles while attending Wilcox High School in Santa Clara in the 60's. He went to college at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and has been living in Bakersfield for many years.

Mike ran for West Valley TC briefly in the early 1970's, and participated in the National AAU X-C Championships as I recall."

Jesse Jackson wanna-be wrote:

This discussion reminds me of Elmore Banton, who won the 1964 NCAA XC title. I don't think he's ever received much recognition for being the first black dude to win cross nationals.

His feat was so "noteworthy," it only made Faces in the Crowd in Sports Illustrated:

Elmore Banton, a junior at Ohio University, became the first Bobcat ever to win the four-mile NCAA Cross-Country title at East Lansing, Mich. After leading the field of 180 all the way, he finished 50 yards in front of Notre Dame's Bill Clark, in 20:07.5.

Should be noted MSU's Forrest Akers Golf Course was covered in about 6 inches of snow for that meet, slowing times.

Mike Ryan was the second prep to run under nine minutes for the 2M.

Ryan won the CA State Mile as a junior and was upset as a senior by a junior named Tim Danielson.

Check this out, photos of the first 40 NCAA Cross Country individual winners:

Charles "Deacon" Jones (Iowa) was the first African American NCAA Cross Country Champion.

This was certainly an ironic post. I just got the email a half hour ago from Jack Leydig. I ran the mile trials of the California State Meet in 1965. Didn't make the finals. Watched the race between Mike and Tim Danielson. Quite a race. Also, ran NCAA Cross Country Champs in 68 and 69. There is a reason that Lindgren and Prefontaine are ledgends. It was amazing that Mike as a light trainer could run with them. For runners of that generation and a little earlier. Don't put off your reunions.

And note that Mike Ryan won the bronze medal in the Olympic marathon that year (1968). But that's a different guy.

Greg, you're absolutely right about us older runners not putting off reunions! It's very sad news about Mike Ryan's passing, as I also was in the 1968 NCAA XC Championships. It was my only race with Mike, and I was very impressed when he won. I was about a minute behind! He beat some very tough runners: Steve Stageberg, Art Dulong,GREG BROCK, Frank Shorter, Dick Buerkle, etc. I remember that I did not know much about Ryan, and learned later that he was a soccer player and trained on the lighter mileage side.

Sadly, I'm learning that a lot of runners from the past are having some serious heart issues. Does anyone know more about Mike's problem; did he gain a lot of weight, etc? Regardless, it is very sad about his passing, and my sympathies to his friends and family.

Here is what I have written up about the passing of Mike Ryan. I am still trying to verify some of the facts so please feel free to correct any inaccuracies.

http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2014/02/mike-ryan-wilcox-class-65-rip.html

Mike Ryan

He passed away at 67, cardiac arrest. Saw it in T&F News. He ran at the AF Academy.

He was 2nd behind Lindgren @ '69 NCAAs XC @ VCP. Pre was 3rd in the same race as a freshman. I was there & took a pictures of Pre.

Ryan was the 2nd HS kid to break 9 minutes for 2 miles. He was shorter than Lindgren and Pre.

quote]MacFalls wrote:

Ryan was 3rd in '67, 1st in '68, and sandwiched between Lindgren and Pre in '69.

I think he got out of the AF in '75, and is a lawyer in Bakersfield now (source USAFA register of grads)

I don't know if he competed after graduation.[/quote]

So he was ROTC?[