High school Ryan Shay attended
Central Lake High School in
Central Lake, Michigan, home of the Trojans, from 1993 to 1997. He won every cross country meet he competed following the third meet of his freshman year (1993), including four consecutive Class-D
MHSAA Lower Peninsula (LP) state cross country meets from 1993 to 1996. He was a three-time consecutive Class D MHSAA LP state champion in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs from his sophomore through senior track seasons (1995 through 1997), and also won the Class-D MHSAA LP state title in the 800-meter run as a sophomore. He was also his class valedictorian.
Collegiate Shay continued running as a student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1997, majoring in economics and competing in both cross country and track. He was a 9-time
All-American while competing at Notre Dame. Shay was the first Notre Dame runner to win an
NCAA individual title, winning the 10,000-meter run at the 2001 NCAA outdoor meet in a time of 29:05.44. Shay also competed during the
2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, finishing 15th in the men's individual race. Shay finished in 23rd place in the 2004 Men's Olympic Marathon Trials. ==Death==