Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Athletics

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Russell Snyder was a member of the Embry-Riddle men's cross country and track and field teams from 2007-11.
 
Snyder garnered at least one academic or athletic honor in each of his four seasons with the Eagles. In cross country, he was named an All-Conference performer four times after finishing among the top seven overall in four consecutive conference championship meets.
 
In 2009, after helping the Eagles to their fourth straight conference title, Snyder was part of a Blue and Gold squad that recorded the program's best finish at an NAIA National Championship. He crossed the line in 22^nd place in a time of 25:43. That performance helped the Eagles to a fifth-place finish and secured All-America recognition for Snyder. ERAU also earned the NAIA Team of Character Award that season.
 
As of his induction, Snyder ranks as the fifth-fastest cross country runner in program history, and holds the program's 19^th fastest time (24:44.50).
 
Snyder also excelled on the track as a distance runner. He won multiple All-Conference honors in his four years of competition and was an All-American in the 3,000m at the NAIA Indoor National Track & Field Championships in 2010.
 
Snyder exemplified the Eagles' "Student-Person-Player" model. He was named to the Academic All-Conference teams three times each for cross country and track and was a three-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete. In 2010-11, he was awarded the Steve & Vicky RIdder Scholarship, which recognizes individuals with a commitment to academic achievement, campus and community involvement, personal holistic growth and a drive to excel in sport.
 
While at Embry-Riddle, Snyder worked as a tutor for the Software Engineering and Academic Enhancement programs, and was a grader in the Software Engineering department.
 
After graduation he was selected for USA Triathlon's post-collegiate training program and helped organize races and events with the Olathe Running Club in Olathe, Kansas. He also helped his brother recover from a war injury that left him blind, and his brother has since become a two-time Paralympic gold medalist in swimming and was selected as the 2016 U.S. Paralympian of the Year.
 
Snyder earned his bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from Embry-Riddle in 2011 and is currently the Principal Software Engineering for Red Owl Analytics in San Francisco, California.
 
"What impressed me the most though about Russell as a student is how often I saw him tutoring, helping others and leading group projects. He not only cared about his own success, but also cared about his classmates and teammates being successful. He lifted them up as well and made them better through his help and instruction. He found the time to not help himself succeed but to help others."
Mike Rosolino
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach (2001-present)
 
"Russell is one of those rare individuals that can make a team reach for greatness. His insightful ability to read his teammates and get them to rise to a challenge has been demonstrated numerous times at critical moments. The first time I saw this was at the 2008 NAIA Cross Country National Championship. Russell was running the race of his life. He was passing teammates that he had never beaten and instead of continuing on with his individual quest he decided to motivate his teammates. If you can picture a racer offering encouraging words to his teammates at five-minute mile pace (8k), that would be Russell. For our team that meant we had three runners finish in a great position instead of just Russell. I believe Russell's actions cost him an All-American slot, but our team ended up finishing seventh, which was far greater that what was expected of us."
Peter Hopfe
Assistant Cross Country/Track & Field Coach, Embry-Riddle (2005-present)
 
"In my mind, the purpose of a hall of fame should be to inspire future generations to greatness. Incoming freshman should be able to look at its members and think to themselves 'Wow, if I can be anything like that person I won't be doing half bad'. At Embry-Riddle, greatness in athletes has always been defined by the student, person, player philosophy. If you're looking for a role model to inspire more people to embrace this philosophy, Russell is hands-down your guy."
Zachary Kraus
Embry-Riddle Cross Country/Track & Field (2010-13)