Former Bentley track and cross country coach Barry Harwick knew the perfect way to describe Kathy {Fitzgibbons) Reagan, a standout for the Falcons from 1985-89. Picture the runner that sprints to the finish line and collapses from pure exhaustion seconds after the race.
"That was Kathy," said Harwick, who coached at Dartmouth following his time at Bentley. "She gave everything for herself and for her team whenever she was out there."
During her time at Bentley, Kathy did more than her share. She finished her career with six school records ranging from the 800-meter run to the mile, was second in the Northeast-10 cross country championships in 1988 and was Bentley's first-ever All-New England honoree in all three seasons of running - cross country, indoors and outdoors.
"She was versatile,” said Harwick. "A lot of people don't appreciate how difficult it is to be an athlete for three seasons in a row. Kathy was really the complete package.”
But that's not all that made her special.
While she had a knack for toeing the line and running side by side with some of the best athletes in the country, Kathy also was adept at hitting the books and excelling in the classroom.
"You always talk about kids being a good role model and that fit her to a T,” said Harwick. “The women’s program was really just getting started back then and she and a few others were instrumental in making the program a success.''
Her list of academic achievements is just as impressive as the ones she piled up on the track and includes the 1989 Edward J. Powers Scholar Athlete Award, a spot on the GTE Academic All-America's third team and the distinction of being just one of four Division lI athletes named to the NCAA Special Student Advisory Committee.
"You're forced to prioritize," explained Kathy, who made the Dean's List every semester that she was at Bentley. "I was able to juggle various things, that was always a strengh of mine, and it carried over to my post-college career." "I never would have expected to break five minutes," she admitted. "It took a lot of determination. 1 really took it seriously and I definitely wanted to compete."
That desire to compete, coupled with-a desire to maintain a solid grade point average, made Kathy Reagan one of Bentley's all-time special student-athletes.
"I think it's great," added Harwick of Kathy’s honor. ''In addition to all she achieved in the classroom and through running, she was an even nicer person at a time when the team really needed that."
Her son, Dan, played on the Bentley men’s basketball team from 2017-21.
