Hall of Fame
Samuel Paris ’59 – Class of 2000
A Passion for Running…
The legendary Coach Dominick Patrick Hughes developed a legion of athletes who came to share his love for running. The sport would play an important role in many of their lives. But none would embrace it with more passion than a young man he coached at Eastwood High in the early 1950’s.
He went on to a stellar career wearing Green and Gold. In four years of cross country competition, he was a key part of teams that won three Collegiate Track Conference and three Middle-Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association championships. In a memorable “challenge” meet with Holy Cross decided by a single point, he closed more than 200 yards in the final mile to win the day for Le Moyne.
In Track, he competed in an array of distances and finished second in the 1956 CTC indoor 1,000-yard competition. He anchored outstanding relay teams. In his time on the Heights, the Dolphins won championships in the CTC two-mile competition twice, the CTC distance medley, the Penn four-mile, the Washington Star one-mile and the Quantico relays.
The passion he brought to the athletic competition was matched by that for his chosen career. He earned his Doctor of Medicine at the University of California, California College of Medicine; interned at Los Angeles County, University of Southern California; and returned to Syracuse for his residency in Family Practice at St. Joseph’s Hospital. A long list of honors and recognition is typified by his 1996 selection as “Family Doctor of the Year” by the New York State Academy of Family Physicians.
Running and medicine have merged to make him a strong advocate of the therapeutic benefits of exercise. In publications ranging from Readers Digest to The American Medical News he has espoused the benefits of prudent, yet rigorous activity.
This advocacy is not confined to abstract theory. It is central to his life. Since completing his first Boston Marathon in 1971, he has participated in more than 200 Marathons and Ultra-Marathons. In 1983, he ran the Boston Marathon with 25 patients who had recovered from heart attacks; and since 1973 more than 50 of his own cardiac patients have run marathons.
In 1972, he completed an 86 mile run at an average speed of almost 8.2 miles an hour. In 1980, he ran in the “Philadelphia Great Race” – from Philadelphia to Atlantic City – finishing third overall, and the first man over 40 years of age to complete the run.
For his competitive success in cross country and track at Le Moyne; for his ability to effectively blend athletic experience and professional career; and for demonstrating the passion required to advocate – and act upon – strongly held views,
Samuel Paris ’59 is inducted to the
Le Moyne College Athletic Hall of Fame
February 5, 2000
