Fare thee well, old coach and runner

As we all know, the ECAC/IC4A meet is the “end of the line” for our senior cross country runners. As such, there is always a lot of emotion at Van Cortlandt Park for their final XC race. In most cases, our XC runners have track seasons to look forward to, and sometimes even a fifth year of track as well. So while it is tinged with sadness, because it is the last XC race, it’s not the actual last race in a Marist uniform.

Pat Rynkowski is one exception to that. Pat returned for his fifth year for just this fall XC season, as he will be completing his degree requirements next month. As a result, Saturday’s IC4A meet was truly the end of the line for Pat, a loyal and dedicated team member for the past four-plus years. He will be the first to admit that there have been many ups and downs along the road, but Pat stayed the course and got to the finish line – literally and figuratively – of his collegiate running career. And he did it well, as a key contributing member to an upstart and resurgent 2015 XC team. Pat matured in many ways during his time here, and his positive influence was felt on a day-to-day basis at practice. More than anything, that’s what I will miss as an old coach.

Speaking of old coaches … it was so great to see Patrick’s high school coach, the legendary Mike Glynn of Ridgewood (NJ), make it out to Vanny to watch his final race. Like many of his former runners, Pat has stayed in frequent contact with Coach Glynn. There were times, especially early in his Marist career, where Patrick received a nice tongue lashing from Coach Glynn over the phone for various transgressions on and off the track. Coach Glynn laid the groundwork for Patrick’s success, and so it was fitting that he was here to see him through to the finish. By the way! Congrats to Coach Glynn for his upcoming induction into Armory Coaches Hall of Fame (see story here)!

Here is a picture of Pat with his brother (who ran for Coach Glynn at Ridgewood) and the truly old coach (sorry, Mike, I couldn’t resist!). Thanks to Coach Glynn for all he has done for the countless athletes like Pat through six decades holding a stopwatch in Northern New Jersey.