JT visits

It doesn’t take much to remind me that I’ve been doing this a looooong time. For those keeping score at home, the upcoming preseason (a little more than three weeks hence) will kick off my 32^nd year as cross country/track coach at Marist College. That’s a long time to be doing the same thing in the same place. This week’s reminder came in the form of the smiling face of John Lasker, Class of 1997, who was in town on Monday to tour around campus with his two daughters – one of whom is a rising senior in high school and considering Marist for her continued studies (no, she’s not a track/xc athlete … don’t worry, it was the FIRST question I asked!). Like all Forever Foxes, it was so great to see JT, who has forged an amazing career at ESPN. He has been at the Worldwide Leader of Sports for the past 23 years (also a long time!), where he now the Vice President for Programming & Acquisitions, Digital Media. JT is on the forefront of digital streaming platforms, which is the present and most certainly the future of the sports watching industry. We showed JT and his daughters around McCann and he marveled at the awesomeness of the new McCann. So much has changed. John remembers our “weight room” being a few racks in the racquetball court. The “new” weight room and gray gym was dedicated in 1997, the year he graduated from Marist. That “new” fitness area has been shuttered in favor of the current, beautiful new varsity weight room, upstairs fitness center and of course our famous “square track” and track lobby that we now call home. We’re proud of JT’s career and it was great to see him back on campus once again.