MOUNT AYR SEES STATE SUCCESS
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Ryce rules the blue oval
Adds three more state championships to his resume
One of the top Iowa boy’s track runners of all time saw his high school career end at the 2024 state meet.
There, Mount Ayr senior Ryce Reynolds (center above) added three more state titles to his career total to cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats. Reynolds won the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and anchored the Raiders sprint medley relay team’s win. Reynolds became the first to win both the 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles three times. Reynolds won state titles in both events in 2022, 2023, and now 2024.
Reynolds would set two new school records in the 400-meter dash and 200-meter dash. He was also the runner-up in the 200-meter dash.
In the 200-meter dash prelims on Thursday, May 16, Reynolds ran out of heat number three. His seed time was 22.49. In the prelims he had the second best time at 21.85 to qualify for the finals.
Also qualifying for the finals were Baylor Speidel from Lisbon, Isaiah Johnson from George Little Rock, Cast Emgarten from EHK-Exira, Dylan Brumm from Saint Ansgar, Tyler Fuller from Madrid, Zach Thornburg from East Mills, and Caden Oswald from Coon Rapids-Bayard.
Speidel had the top prelim time at 22.03 while Johnson was third behind Reynolds with a time of 22.38.
Reynolds had not ran a 200-meter dash event at state or at the Drake Relays. Now he has.
“It’s a great way to start out the state track meet. It is the first time I have ran the 200 at state or the Drake Relays. To come out and run that hard, I attribute it to the great weather and the good Lord looking over me. I am looking forward to the final Saturday,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds thought that he could even run faster in the finals of the event.
“I think I can get there quicker. Being around the guys in the race pushes you forward and I think I ran a good race,” he said.
In the 400-meter on Thursday, Reynolds cruised to a state title in a time of 47.90. That was a new state record, breaking his own record, and No. 4 all-time in Iowa. Isaiah Johnson from George Little Rock was the runner-up in a time of 49.57. Johnson’s time was No. 16 all-time in Iowa.
Reynolds won the 400-meter hurdles on Friday in a time of 51.68. That time was the fastest in the nation this year according to MileSplit Outdoor Rankings. It was also No. 6 all-time in Iowa. Reynolds shattered his own state record that he set at last year’s state meet.
Saturday saw Reynolds join teammates Tate Dugan, Jackson Ruggles, and Preston Fleharty in the sprint medley relay. Reynolds anchored the team to a state championship in a time of 1:32.66. Lenox was the runner-up team in 1:32.90. The event began in 2017 and Mount Ayr has been close before, but the Raiders finally claimed the state title in the event. The winning time by Mount Ayr ranked No. 2 all-time at Mount Ayr. Reynolds had a closing anchor leg time of 46.7 to help with the win.
In the 200-meter dash, Reynolds placed second to Baylor Speidel from Lisbon with a time of 22.05. Speidel won in 22.03, a 0.02 difference. The Raiders distance medley relay team placed 21st at the state meet on Friday. The team of Preston Fleharty, Garrett Walter, Jackson Ruggles, and Adan Trujillo ran to a finish in a time of 4:29.60.
The Raiders 4×400-meter relay team ran in the prelims of the event on Friday afternoon. There, the team of Preston Fleharty, Tegan Hill, Adan Trujillo, and Jackson Ruggles placed 18th in a time of 3:34.46. That time was a two-second drop off their seed time.
The team did not make the finals but captured the fifth-best time in the event this season for the relay.
Reynolds will take his talents to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California next year and compete in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) with schools Duke, North Carolina, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. Stanford will join former Pac 12 member California and SMU (Southern Methodist University) this fall after another round of conference expansion.
The Raiders will graduate eight seniors from this year’s team in Dalton Barnes, Ashtyn Benesh, Colton Dredge, Preston Fleharty, Brayden Hale, Tucker Knox, Aidan Murphy, and Reynolds.
The Raiders will have eight juniors that will be seniors next year in Willie Baker, Derek Jones, Rylan Larsen, Brock Shaha, Adan Trujillo, Trevin Victor, Garrett Walter, and Kash Wasteney.
Mount Ayr athletes had great successes this spring on the track and on the golf course. At the Iowa State Track & Field Championships last weekend, Ryce Reynolds took two individual track titles in record fashion and helped the Raider 800 meter relay team, which included (l-r) Tate Dugan, Jackson Ruggles, Preston Fleharty and Reynolds (bottom) to a first place finish. Aubree Shields (above right) took second in the high jump for the Raiderettes. Meanwhile, Mount Ayr golfer Jaylee Shaffer (above left) qualified for the state golf championship. Shaffer set a host of records this season for the Raiderettes.
