Notre Dame Honors Student-Athlete's Memory with Race

To this day, Colleen Supinski is very much a part of the girls cross country team.

"We constantly talk about Colleen," Coach Art Corrigan said. "I'm so proud when I talk to them about her. The kids listen. They all know who she is, even though they may have been 5 or 6 years old when it happened."

What happened is something that Corrigan and the nation will be reliving Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on America.

The 1992 graduate of Notre Dame High School-Green Pond in Bethlehem Township worked as an associate trader for Sandler O’Neill & Partners L.P. The 27-year-old Hoboken, N.J., resident and Easton native was on the 104th floor in the World Trade Center's south tower when the attacks occurred.

"I remember vividly going to my mailbox at school and hearing the news, like it was yesterday," Corrigan said.

On , Corrigan said, he knew about the attacks and that the World Trade Center was hit, but didn't realize that Supinski, a 1996 graduate of Susquehanna University, worked in the towers.

Then, a half-hour before cross country practice, Corrigan found out just who his students were talking about when they discussed someone from their school dying in the attacks: It was Supinski.

These days, the school sponsors the annual Colleen M. Supinski 5K run/walk.

The run will take place on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 9am at Notre Dame High School, 3417 Church Road. Check-in time is between 7:30am and 8:45am, with a race day entry fee of $30.

Proceeds benefit the Colleen M. Supinski Foundation Inc. supporting scholarship and varied philanthropic purposes.

On her World Trade Center remembrance biography, Supinski is described as someone who reached out to make a difference in the lives of others.

"She was a great motivator, who cared deeply about her family and friends, and lives in the memory of the people who knew her. Her family, her Kappa Delta sorority sisters and other SU friends, her hometown community in Easton, her Manhattan friends, her Wall Street and other business colleagues, her high school and SU cross country and track teammates, those she met while studying in Aix-en- Provence," the site states. "All are forever blessed for having known her and experienced her warmth."

Supinski was a Special Olympics volunteer, a member of Students Against Drunk Driving, and the chair of Hoops for Hope, a cancer research fundraising program.

For Corrigan, Supinski is forever in his heart.

"She was a sweetheart," he said of the girl who ran on his team for four years. "She wasn't the greatest athlete in the world, but she always gave 110 percent and did everything possible to improve every year."

Corrigan and his team will attend the run and help out.

"It always brings back memories," he said. "It's great to have the race. It's sad in a way, but it keeps alive the memory of her. We'll have a few laughs and we'll cry. It's a tough time, but it's a good time."

For information about the run, visit: http://www.cmsfoundation.net/RaceReg.html or email at 5kRunWalk@cmsfoundation.net.