FARGO—North Dakota State head men’s track and field coach Don Larson lost more than a former athlete earlier this week. He also lost a friend.
Former Bison track standout Ryan McGlynn, 41, of Grand Forks died Tuesday near Mayville, N.D.
“We will dearly miss our good friend Ryan,” Larson said Thursday. “That will be a pretty empty void here. I lost a very good friend.”
Inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013, McGlynn holds both the indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault at NDSU. The nine-time All-American from Stephen, Minn., won the 1996 NCAA Division II indoor pole vault national championship, clearing a school record 17 feet, 4½ inches.
Bison women’s track coach Stevie Keller was teammates with McGlynn during Keller’s first two years in the NDSU track program.
“He was the guy that took me under his wing,” Keller said. “He was a guy you went to and a great leader on the team. Everybody looked up to him. He was such a sincere person. He was always positive.”
Both Larson and Keller remained close friends with McGlynn after he left the Bison, often getting together for hunting trips. Larson remembers one time when coming back from a hunting trip that McGlynn asked for a pen.
“Then he writes a check out for an endowment scholarship,” Larson said. “He has a been a very loyal supporter of Bison track and field,” Keller added.
In 2009, McGlynn was elected president of the North Dakota Agricultural Association. He was a regional manager for WinField, a chemical and seeds products distributor. “He was a great role model and a great leader, a great family person,” Keller said.
From: http://www.inforum.com/sports/3896322-bison-track-coach-mourns-loss-former-star-athlete-mcglynn
