Both runners and walkers paused for a moment of silence in memory of a residence hall assistant who was shot and killed nine years ago before they began the race held in his honor.

Jay Severson, a graduate student and Wiley Hall counselor, was killed by another student in 1996 after he found drugs in the student's room.

"Jay was a Christian man, and he was out to help every resident," Wiley Hall residential life manager Denton Sederquist, who organized the event, said. Sederquist was on staff at Wiley when Severson was, and knew Severson well. "He'd give you the shirt off his back."

[continues 301 words]