Little Miami’s Reynolds and Patrick Go 1-2 in Division I State Cross-Country Race

Little Miami senior Ryne Reynolds won the Division I boys state cross-country championship on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park, breaking the tape in 15:01.4 — and junior teammate Ian Patrick crossed right behind him in 15:10.7 to give the Panthers a 1-2 finish at the top of Ohio’s biggest race. The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Columbus Dispatch both reported the Little Miami sweep of the top two places, and OhioVarsity’s championship results list Reynolds first and Patrick second as well.

For Reynolds, the title completes a climb that has been building for a year. The Enquirer reported he finished third at state last fall; on Saturday he moved up two places to become a state champion. The Dispatch reported the same 1-2 order, with New Albany’s Austin Benedict third in 15:11.6 behind the two Panthers from Morrow in Warren County.

The duo had been signaling this finish all postseason. Little Miami Local Schools reported that Reynolds and Patrick entered the postseason ranked first and second in the Podium Watch Division I state rankings, finished 1-2 at the Eastern Cincinnati Conference Championships — Reynolds in 15:29.9 and Patrick in 15:41.1 — and repeated the order at the Troy Regional, where Reynolds won in 15:02.3 and Patrick was second in 15:12.4. The Panthers’ boys team finished fifth at the regional to reach state for the third consecutive season, the district reported.

The result also reorders the Southwest Ohio distance hierarchy for next fall. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Mason’s Logan Mix finished seventh and Milford’s Henry Newman eighth, but both finished behind a pair of teammates from the same school — a rarity in a championship race that draws the best runners from every region of Ohio. Reynolds and Patrick did not just win and place; they repeated, at the state meet, the exact 1-2 order they had produced at their conference championship and again at the regional, according to Little Miami Local Schools’ account of their postseason.

Greater Cincinnati depth showed behind the champions, too. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Mason’s Logan Mix finished seventh and Milford’s Henry Newman eighth, giving the region four of the top eight finishers in the Division I race, which went off at 10:40 a.m. Saturday as part of the OHSAA state championships at Fortress Obetz.

Both champions saved their best for the last race of the season. Little Miami Local Schools reported Reynolds won the Troy Regional in 15:02.3 and Patrick was second there in 15:12.4; a week later at Obetz, on the state’s biggest stage, Reynolds improved to 15:01.4 and Patrick to 15:10.7, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer and The Columbus Dispatch. Shaving time at the state meet, when the field is deepest and the pressure highest, is the mark of a pair that peaked exactly when its season demanded it.

What we know — and what we’re still waiting on

What we know: Reynolds is the Division I state champion in 15:01.4, Patrick the runner-up in 15:10.7, with both times confirmed by the Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch and OhioVarsity’s championship results; Reynolds improved from third at state a year ago, the Enquirer reported; and the pair arrived at Obetz ranked first and second in the state, according to Little Miami Local Schools. What we are still waiting on: any announcement of Reynolds’ college plans — none was reported in the coverage of the state meet — and the official All-Ohio honors that follow the championship weekend.

Fortress Obetz has hosted the OHSAA state cross-country championships since 2020, and Saturday’s meet was the 98th annual boys and 49th annual girls state championships, according to OHSAA meet information reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. On a course that has become the proving ground for Ohio’s distance runners, Reynolds and Patrick delivered the day’s clearest statement — two runners from the same Warren County school, clear of a field drawn from every corner of the state.

What happens next: the state meet ends the cross-country season. Reynolds closes his high school cross-country career as a state champion in his senior year, while Patrick, a junior, returns next fall as the top returning finisher in Division I and the early favorite to defend the Panthers’ place at the front of the state meet.

Photo: Rcalhoun, CC BY-SA