Photo by Dave Foley
Kris Eggle, 28, from Cadillac, Michigan, a National Park Ranger in Organ Pipe National Park, was fatally shot by a drug runner in an ambush on the Mexico United States border on August 9. That cryptic news bulletin stunned the community of Cadillac and the hundreds of people around the country that had known Kris. More than five hundred attended a memorial service for Kris in Arizona and an even greater number filled the high school gym in his hometown for a service on the 17th of August. Those gathered included dozens from his graduating class, teammates from his high school cross country and track teams, and friends he'd made in the National Park Service. Among the many who spoke to the assembled mourners was high school track teammate Paul McMullen, who told of the example Kris set for others by noting, "He set the bar."

Several of his running teammates from the University of Michigan including, his coach Ron Warhurst, attended. Ninety-year-old Kermit Ambrose, revered track and cross country coach and pivotal figure in the development of the Michigan Interscholastic Track /Cross Country Association was also present. Ambrose had known Kris as a counselor at his Wolverine Camp. For the funeral procession to the cemetery, Cadillac's main street, US 131 was closed for a half-hour.

The huge tribute paid Kris was ironic because Kris was not a person that sought attention. During the years in high school when I coached him, despite being the teams' number one runner and two-time All State cross country runner, he was always thinking about the other guy's welfare. As team captain for three years, his quiet leadership inspired his teammates. Although I coached more talented teams, none exceeded the 1992 team's third place finish in the State Meet. That year Kris was a senior and just before the meet he talked to his teammates and they all then proceeded to run the best race of their high school careers. A year earlier in the State Meet Kris faced a much different challenge. The first time I saw him, near the mile mark, he was running with the lead pack. When I next saw him he was dropping back and looking like he was suffering. By race's end he finished in 105th place. When I approached him in the finish chute all he could say was, "I let the team down; I ran terribly."

Later I learned that at about the mile point, as the lead group cut close to a tree rounding a curve. Kris, being the tallest in the group, slammed his forehead into a low hanging branch. He staggered, almost fell, and then gamely kept running. However Kris offered no excuses that day; he never would. He was always thinking of the other guy.

He was the consummate competitor who ran every race as hard as he could, but then in the finish chute he'd turn and embrace the runner just behind him and congratulate anyone who had beaten him. On the team he spent time encouraging every runner -- especially those who ran the slowest.

He was a caring person who made the rest of us feel good about ourselves, and made us all want to be better people.