TRAVERSE CITY -- Joe Piane has had time to think about it.
But the veteran Notre Dame track and cross country coach is still trying to grasp how his former All-American runner, Ryan Shay, collapsed and died Saturday morning during the Olympic Marathon Trials.
"Why?" he asked. "Why did this happen to a young, apparently healthy, vibrant young man?"
It's a question that an autopsy this week failed to answer.
A vigil was held Thursday night in Central Lake, where Shay won 11 state championships during a decorated career. Funeral services will be held Sunday.
Shay, who was 28, later became an NCAA champion under Piane at Notre Dame. He still holds two school records.
"If every kid I've had competed like Ryan Shay, we would be national champions every year," Piane said. "I don't know if he was the most gifted runner we've ever had here, but he was the most tenacious. Nobody outworked him."
Shay, who resided in Flagstaff, Ariz., with his wife Alicia, trained for nearly two weeks in the South Bend area in anticipation of last weekend's marathon.
"Flagstaff is at altitude and Ryan wanted to do two weeks of training at sea level," Piane said. "My wife and I have this little cottage that's 20 minutes from South Bend. So Alicia and Ryan stayed there. He came to our practice on Friday (eight days before the marathon) and spoke to the team. That's why it's such a shock. He was just here."
Piane, who will deliver one of the eulogies at the service, took the news hard -- and so did his 12-year-old son, Nick.
"Nick's known Ryan his entire life," Piane said. "To be very candid, Ryan was his first idol.
"My son, he can be a little mischievous. After I heard what happened, I put my arm around him and said, 'Nick, we've got to talk.' He said, 'Am I in trouble? What did I do wrong?' I said, 'You didn't do anything wrong.' Then I explained what happened at the Olympic Trials. There was an eerie silence. He said, 'Ryan's dead?' I said, 'Yes.' He laid his head on my lap. He was speechless, devastated."
That afternoon a local sportscaster came over to interview Piane. After the interview, Nick turned to the sportscaster and said, "Ryan was my friend, too."
Shay was also Luke Watson's friend -- a teammate and roommate at Notre Dame.
"I'm still in shock. I think a lot of people are," said Watson, now an assistant coach at Notre Dame. "It's been hard to come to grips with this."
Watson said the two always enjoyed "re-living" their days at Notre Dame.
"When you spend that many miles running alongside someone in pursuit of a similar goal, you get to know them pretty well," said Watson, who broke Shay's outdoor 5K school record. "You share a lot with them, they share a lot with you.
"I'll miss having that great training partner, great friend to talk to -- even though a lot of times Ryan would run so hard you couldn't talk because you were trying to keep up with him. I'll miss that, too. He ran the same all the time -- fast and hard."
Shay was a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame. He was also an Academic All-American. He had a dual major in economics and computer applications. Before his sudden death, Shay was considering law school or studying to become a chiropractor.
"Intense is the first word that comes to mind," said Watson, describing Shay, who turned to distance running after leaving Notre Dame and became a national champion. "That applied off the track as well as on. He took to his studies with a passion. And if there was a political debate, or an intellectual discussion, he always wanted to be part of it. He always had an opinion. He was intense there, too."
In honor of Shay, Notre Dame cross country runners will wear his initials on their jerseys at Saturday's NCAA regionals in Bloomington, Ind.
Piane said runners at Rutgers, a Big East rival school, will wear black ribbons Saturday as a tribute to Shay.
Piane's not surpised. He said the running community is like a close-knit family and when something happens to one of their own everyone rallies around.
"If you go to the funeral, you're going to see a who's who of American distance running," Piane said.
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