Reed is an All-American again
Published 6:00 pm Saturday, June 8, 2002
It was a busy weekend for Ryan Reed.
Last Saturday, Reed, a 1997 South Whidbey High School graduate and a Pacific Lutheran University senior, used his best at the last, running to second place in the NCAA Division III 3,000-meter steeplechase at Minnesota’s Macalaster College, earning his third All-American finish in three seasons.
By 1 a.m. Sunday, Reed was back in Washington, having caught a red-eye flight out of Minnesota to make it back for his own graduation ceremony at PLU, which was scheduled for that afternoon. Still fresh in his mind was the information he had to cram the week before as he took his final exams before leaving for the start of the national track meet Thursday.
Yet, somehow, everything worked out almost perfectly, except for that 0.32 seconds that separated Reed and steeplechase winner Justin Easter at the finish line.
“It was pretty crazy there at the end,” Reed said of his final week of college and NCAA athletics.
An eighth-place finisher in the steeplechase last year and a 10th-place finisher at last fall’s NCAA cross country championship, Reed finished his career at PLU as one of the school’s most talented runners ever. His steeplechase time at last weekend’s meet, 9:02.34, is a new school record, while his status as a three-time All-American and eight-time varsity letter winner earned him a three-way tie with two other PLU athletes for the school’s Man of the Year in Sports award earlier this spring.
And, thanks to Reed and three other PLU track athletes who also made All-American, the school men’s track team placed eighth at the NCAA meet.
As he started settling into post-school life this week in the Tacoma apartment he shares with college buddies, Reed finally had a little time to think about the past few days. The standout moment for him was that steeplechase final.
A contender in the race for the second year in a row, Reed managed the hurdle, barrier and water jumps almost perfectly to position himself in sixth place going into the final lap Saturday. Kicking the final half of the lap, he made up more than 20 meters on Bates College athlete Easter before the eventual race winner even knew Reed was charging. Had the race been even a few meters longer, the outcome might have been different, Reed said.
“Another 20 meters and it would’ve been pretty close,” he said.
Fortunately, that race is not the end for Reed’s collegiate running career. PLU’s athletic rules allow him to compete through the summer, something he is going to give almost all of his post-graduation attention because he still has a few races to win. He said he wants to better his 3:55 mark in the 1,500 and shave a few seconds off the 14:57 personal best he set in the 5-kilometer last season. The way things are going, it should be pretty easy to do.
“I’m in better shape now than I was when I ran that time,” Reed said.
A communications major while at PLU, Reed said he probably will not make a serious run at the job market until late September. He will train on his own and with his former PLU coach, Brad Moore, to prepare for the summer’s meets.
Because he is still technically a member of the PLU track squad, Reed can still set new school records during his extended final season. If he finds a really fast pace and cuts 16 seconds off his NCAA time, he could even qualify for the United States National Track and Field Championship in the steeplechase — although he admits this is unlikely this season.
Reed said his career plans are to work in sports communications.
