Distance & Dedication
Reggie Reynolds, a senior at Muncie Central High School, is May’s Student Athlete of the Month, sponsored by IU Health. Known as an outgoing leader with a sense of humor, he is willing to step up and volunteer for what needs to be done. He does have a serious side when it comes to performing his best during cross-country and track meets as well as band competitions.
As a long-distance runner, he has found his niche competing in the 1,600-meter, 4×800 relay and 5K events. These events range in distance from half a mile in the relay he runs during track competitions to three miles when he runs the 5,000-meter in cross country. Reynolds runs an average of 40 miles a week and trains year-round. There are days when he runs twice, once before school and then again after school.
“It makes it easy if you have teammates to do it with you. At the beginning it can be intimidating and scary for freshmen. Initially, it’s good to start with low mileage of 15 to 20 miles a week and then build up to it,” Reynolds says.
Reynolds’ hard work paid off his senior year. In cross country, he ran a personal best of 17:15 this September at the Marion XC Invite 2025, held at Indiana Wesleyan University. At sectionals, he placed 38th out of 87 runners and the entire team qualified for regionals. At regionals, Reynolds earned a solid 178th place, competing against the best 247 runners from surrounding high schools in the area.
Unfortunately, during fall break he fell while training and sprained his ankle. It made postseason running difficult, but he is recovered now and in shape for track.
“Cross country and track are good sports because of the sense of involvement. Everyone is all going through the same challenge. You need to have mental strength to go the long distances. My best moment competing was in my junior year. In sectionals I was seeded sixth for the mile run. I ended up placing in the top three and qualified for regionals. I cut my time from 4:50 to 4:40,” Reynolds says.
Reynolds has been a member of Muncie Central’s marching band, Spirit of Muncie, since he was in middle school. His instrument is trombone, and he is the low brass section leader. In addition, he is in the top band at school, the Muncie Wind Ensemble. It’s no surprise that his favorite class is band — wind ensemble.
“My mom is the Muncie Central color guard director and my dad used to be a band director. I love band because it is super welcoming, accepting and we all earn success together. Since I’ve been a part of Spirit of Muncie, we have won two state championships and have been runner-up twice. We always place at state! Band practice goes on all summer long and we participate in six contests a year,” Reynolds says.
Reynolds is active in other school organizations as well. He is vice president of National Honor Society, historian of Student Council, and one of four class officers elected from the student body. As a class officer, he is the voice for fellow students and communicates their concerns, interests and wants to the teaching staff and administration. He is also active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and participates in its leadership program.
In the future, Reynolds plans to attend Indiana University East. He will double major in education and business. There he will join his older brother on the cross-country and track teams.
“I’ve had some great moments and memories with my teammates. I’m grateful to my coaches who stuck with me. They put time into me so I could be the runner I wanted to be. Work ethic goes a long way. You must have patience and stick with it. It can be challenging, and it would be easy to quit; if you have a bad race or bad performance in the band, you can second-guess yourself. You must have confidence, or you can’t do as well as you really can,” Reynolds says.
