By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Two recent Northern Kentucky high school graduates won national titles in the men’s and women’s 2000-meter steeplechase at the AAU Junior Olympic Games on Wednesday at Drake University in Iowa.
Competing in the 17-18 age group, Sidney Reagor of Campbell County won the women’s event for the second consecutive year and Kyle Mastin of Simon Kenton finished first in the men’s race.
Steeplechase is an arduous distance event with hurdles and water barriers on each lap that runners must clear. It’s not an event in Kentucky high school track meets so neither of the Junior Olympic champions have much experience competing in it.
Reagor, a member of the BCK Track Club, completed the women’s steeplechase in 7:41.72. She crossed the finish line almost 14 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. Last year, she won a final sprint to the finish line to take the title.
“I think there was a lot more pressure this time,” Reagor said in an interview posted on the milesplit.com website. “I just knew I had to stay out there with the other girls and make sure I didn’t lose anyone and just run my race.”
There were two heats in the men’s steeplechase event. Mastin won the gold medal with a time of 6:12.79 that was nearly 10 seconds faster than the top finisher in the other heat.
“I knew I was going to have to push it for time being in the first heat,” Mastin said in his interview posted on milesplit.com. “Instead of hanging out with the first pack and then taking off at the end, I just took off each lap and just tried to get faster each lap. And the fourth lap, I gave it all I had and looked at the time and knew I had a pretty good shot of winning. But it was really nervous watching the next heat.”
Reagor and Mastin were Class 3A regional champion cross country runners in high school last fall. Mastin went on to place sixth in the large-school boys state meet. At the Class 3A state track meet, Mastin was runner-up in the boys 3200 run and Reagor was on the Campbell County girls 4×800 relay team that placed second.
They’ll both continue their running careers in college. Mastin was recruited by Northern Kentucky University and Reagor is headed for Kentucky Wesleyan University.
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