Killingly's Ryan French poses with head coach Joe Banas.
Connecticut running lost one of its own on Jan. 2 when Killingly High junior Ryan French tragically died in an automobile accident while driving on Interstate 395 in Putnam.
French was named cross country captain this fall and enthusiastically fulfilled his role. When he was announced as captain at the cross-country banquet last year, the seniors "crowned" him with a Burger King crown, which he proceeded to wear the rest of the night and the entire way home.
"He was proud to be a captain," stated his coach, Joe Banas. "He was so helpful to the younger kids and he was unselfish".
Banas recalled the beginning of the season when freshman Shayne Bigalow began to show potential and French took him under his wing.
"He kept telling Shayne, get closer, get closer," he said.
This motivation obviously paid off as the ninth-grader eventually became an ECC All Star.
French competing in a cross-country meet this past fall.
French, himself, was an ECC All Star and All Conference in tenth-grade according to his coach. "He showed tremendous potential and I was really looking forward to big things from him."
Last spring as a sophomore, French was a point-scorer in the ECC championships for the Redmen, setting his PR of 10 minutes, 20.51 seconds for 3,200 meters and qualifying for the Class M championships in the process. He also ran an outstanding 17:14.10 for 5,000m at the Ledyard Relays.
Besides running, Ryan was a student representative to the Killingly Board of Education and a scholar athlete. He loved fishing and was a member of the Future Farmers of America.
One of his closest friends on the team was fellow captain Katie Stevens, who knew him since his freshman year. They trained together often during the summer and on long runs throughout the year. She described him by saying, "He was loving and so happy. He wanted to know everything about running and he was passionate about helping the team. He was such a role model. "
"The team is supporting each other right now and we are dedicating our runs for the rest of the season to Ryan" Stevens said.
French with members of the Killingly cross-country team.