AePi to host 5k run Sunday
Marshall Spevak and Matt Wanetik planned to be roommates this year. About two weeks after they had signed a lease for an apartment on Comstock Avenue, Wanetik, Spevak’s friend and fraternity brother, died while studying abroad in Strasbourg, France.
‘He was the ultimate friend, such a caring, compassionate kid,’ said Spevak, a senior political science major.
In Wanetik’s memory, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity will host its second-annual 5K race Sunday. Wanetik was a junior international relations and political science major and AEPi fraternity brother when he died suddenly Oct. 3, 2008.
The Wanetik family and AEPi set up a memorial scholarship in Wanetik’s name that is open to SU students. The money raised at the race will go toward the scholarship foundation. Members of Wanetik’s family, who are coming to SU for the race, will announce qualifications for the scholarship at the 5K.
Students pay a $15 entrance fee for the race and will receive a T-shirt made for the event. They can compete in a singles race or a 5-person relay. Students can compete in both races, but only need to pay the entrance fee once. The winners of each race will win a gift certificate from a local business. The race will start at the AEPi fraternity house located at 208 Walnut Place.
Wanetik started the 5K run for AEPi in 2007 to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The fraternity brothers felt that it was fitting to put the race in Matt’s name, said Alex Pomerantz, AEPi’s philanthropy chair and senior public relations and finance major.
‘I remember when he was organizing this race for the first time,’ Pomerantz said. ‘No one knew how big it would get. I guess it’s fitting that we hold the event in his namesake.’
AEPi President Jim Simmons, a senior communications and rhetorical studies major, said that the race will not only benefit the fraternity, but the SU community as well.
‘It’s a really personal event for us and we’d really appreciate the support from the community and get groups of kids that will just run,’ Simmons said.
Spevak said he strongly supports the scholarship fund in Wanetik’s name.
‘It’s something to keep his memory alive. Something for the students in the place that he loved,’ Spevak said. ‘We want to do all that we can to keep his memory alive here.’
Published on September 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm
