Marty Shea Geissler
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Sport:
Cross Country |
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Year
Graduated: 1985 |
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Year
Inducted: 1999 |
Marty Shea Geissler could run and run and run all day. Then
when she was done, and her competition was left in the distance,
she could run some more.
"She could run all day," said Terrier distance
coach Bruce Lehane who coached Marty during her final three
years at B.U. Her coach her freshman year, and the person
who recruited Marty to B.U. was Joan Benoit Samuelson, who
knows a thing or two about running distances.
"Marty's strong suit was her stamina," continued
Lehane. "She was also tremendously enthusiastic. She
loved to run and to train."
These qualities are still very evident today, as she works
as a personal trainer.
As a Terrier, she ran both the 5,000 and the 10,000-meter
runs. As a senior, she won the latter at the Greater Bostons,
while she was second in the former. As a freshman and junior,
she won the New England 10,000-meter event, while she won
the Greater Bostons as a freshman and junior. As a sophomore,
she became the first Terrier to qualify for the Nationals.
Even with these impressive credentials, her best sport was
cross-country.
She was the team MVP her freshman, sophomore, and junior
years. Her junior year, was her best season as she won the
first ever Greater Boston Championship title, the New England
cross country title and went on to earn All-America honors.
Then, her senior year, she repeated as the Greater Boston
winner.
She continued running after graduation and qualified for
the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters and in 1996
won the World Duathlon Championships in Ferrara, Italy.
"Marty would wear the competition down and then put
on a final surge in the long races," said Lehane. "She
could run 10 or 20 miles at a time and not blink an eye."
