42nd Hall of Fame Induction - Graber Associates

KATIE RYAN KIERAN ’02Cross Country/Track2010 INDUCTEETom Ryan is a speedy middle distance manwho still ranks in the Top 20 Mastersaccording to Running USA. The first time hethought his daughter Kate might also be agood runner was one day when he was setto go out for a run up in Elmira, New York.He took eight-year old Kate and her brotherAlex along.“We only went for a couple of miles. I hadto pull her brother along like he had a chainaround his neck. But she didn’t bellyache atall,” recalls Ryan.Alex eventually developed into a fine runner.He and Katie had good genes for theopen road. Not only was Tom a runningwhiz, but their mother Elaine Perkins hadcompeted in the 800 as well.Katie started running competitively in theseventh grade. At Elmira Free Academy, sheconnected up with coach Andy Robyler, apractitioner of the scientific training methodsof Dr. Jack Daniels.By the ninth grade, Kate was already showingpromise. She was champion of NewYork’s Section Four, beating out studentswho were as old as seniors. She learned tacticsas well as conditioning, having the confidenceto lay off the lead and save a finalkick.Robyler said, “When I met Katie I justcouldn’t wait to coach her. I could see theease in how she ran, in how she started arace and finished a race. Her talent wasextremely untapped. My first job was towork on her speed. I knew she’d be verydangerous if she had leg speed.”Overtraining, and subsequent injury, arecommon in girls’ cross country. Robylerstates that there are more injuries per capitain that sport than in football. Katie’s highschool training was geared to avoid injury.Eagle coach Randy Thomas needed a littleconvincing that Katie had trained and competedat a sufficiently high level to make itat Boston College. But as Robyler states,“I trained her as a high school athlete,unlike a lot of programs that get every lastthing out of their athletes, and when theathletes get to college they don’t contribute.With Katie, I’m confident in saying thatwhenever she went into a Top 20 meet shewas the most under-trained athlete there.“Ryan made an immediate impact on the BCteam as a freshman, placing ninth at theNCAA District I Qualifiers. As the eighthfreshman to cross the finish line at theNCAA Championships, she posted the second-highestNCAA finish ever for a BC rookie.Thomas remarked, “When Katie arrived oncampus she was pretty raw. Initially her performancewas up and down. But qualifyingfor the NCAA as she did is extremely hardto do. She came in tired and didn’t have agreat sophomore year, but in junior andsenior she turned it on again.”“She was a great student and team leader.It’s all about attitude, and she was a toughrunner. When the gun fired, she’d get rightout to the front of the race. The kids lookedup to her. They saw her working hard and itrubbed off on them,” said Thomas.Katie reveled in the company of her teammates,runners like Hall of Famers AngieGraham, Shannon Smith, and several othersincluding Lisa MacIsaac, who co-captainedthe team with Katie in 2000. Katie remarks,“Each runner brought a particular strengthto the table. It was great being around agroup like that, all determined, fast individualstrying to make each other better yetstill have fun while doing it.”Katie’s junior year, the cross country seasonof 2000, was particularly satisfying. Shehad been injured late in freshman year, withshin splints and borderline stress fractures,and missed cross country season. The teamfinished a disappointing 28th out of 231 atthe 1999 nationals. She and MacIsaacdesigned a summer training program andkept in regular email contact with all squadmembers in preparation for the fall season.The team responded by winning the BigEast and again went to the nationals. Theyfinished fourth on a freezing cold, windyday. Katie placed 24th overall and made All-America. That was the highest finish todate by a Boston College women’s crosscountry team.Cross country was always Katie’s strengthand favorite sport, but she was a force inwinter and spring track too. She finishedsecond in the 3,000-meter run at the 2001ECAC Championship and 11th at the NCAAIndoor Championship. In addition, she rana leg on BC’s 2001 BIG EAST Champion distancemedley relay team.As a senior, she finished 39th in the NCAAsCross Country Championship and helpedthe Eagles to a sixth-place mark. Just forfun, she joined her father for the last sevenmiles of the 2002 Boston Marathon, hisfirst ever. They passed 1,792 runnersbefore crossing the finish line. Katie cappedoff her career by being named Eagle of theYear in 2002.She double majored in mathematics andmanagement information systems at BostonCollege. After graduation she worked forfive years in research and analytical capacitiesat Fidelity Investments in Boston. Shealso did some running for the BAA and competedin the 2004 Philadelphia Marathon,finishing in 3:16. Eventually, she says,she’ll run Boston.Katie is now an investment banker withSagent Advisors in Manhattan. She landedin there in 2009 after earning her MBA inFinance and Accounting with honors fromthe Wharton School of the University ofPennsylvania. While at Wharton she alsomarried her husband Kevin Kieran.At Sagent she is an associate in theFinancial Sponsors Coverage Group. Sheworks on mergers, acquisitions, divestituresand capital raising transactions withprivate equity firms and their portfolio companies.In addition to brother Alex, Kate’s familyincludes half-brother Joseph Ryan, age 12,and half-sister Margaret Ryan, age seven.33