Shaped By His Father’s Legacy, Arkansas’ Reuben Reina Jr. Shines After SEC Win

Reuben Reina Jr. stepped off the track Saturday following his win in the men’s mile at the SEC Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, and found a familiar face staring him down – his father, Reuben Reina Sr., the University of Arkansas track and field legend.

“My dad says it,” said Reina Jr., 21, who was also second in the men’s 3,000 meters and the distance medley relay at SECs, “winning championships is what makes you a great runner.”

Only now it was the son, in his first major championship in a Razorbacks jersey – finishing a taut thriller in a time of 4:03.02 – turning the page and setting the stage for what may be to come at the NCAA level.

With a wide smile from ear to ear, Reina Sr. wrapped his arms around Reina Jr. and made it last.

“He’s made a big breakthrough this year,” Reina Sr. said. “It’s great to see. The kid has worked hard for a long time, had a lot of setbacks with injuries and illnesses and sicknesses and things like that. I’m just glad to see him healthy and finally reaching his full potential.”

The History Of Arkansas Legend Reuben Reina Sr.

Stories of fathers and sons are long in track and field, with legacies creating valleys between one generation to the next. The Gregoreks, Centrowitzs and Culpeppers are among the most notable. Sometimes the only way to pass them is to win an Olympic gold – which is something the younger Centrowitz accomplished in 2016, earning a win in the men’s 1,500 final in Rio as his father watched on.

Those legacies certainly live on in Arkansas, too.

Reina Sr. was one of the most successful distance runners in Razorbacks history, a member of the U.S. team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, a two-time NCAA indoor champion at 3,000 meters and an eight-time All-American in cross country. As a prep, he also won a 1985 national championship and left his native Texas as one of the best in high school history.

His son arrived at the University of Arkansas in 2021 with talent, for sure, and with three state titles to his name, but unlike major high school stars with cross country championships or sub-4 mile performances and national records, Reina Jr. undertrained before his jump to college.

“He’s not a kid that ran a lot of miles in high school,” said Reina Sr., who raised his family in Springdale, Arkansas, roughly 10 miles from the Fayetteville campus. “So he was never like a lot of the best kids in the country that were running mega miles and doing these incredible workouts.”

History suggested that was a smart move, though, and Reina Jr. finally flipped a switch in 2023. Cracking the sub-4 mile barrier for the first time last year, he built on that frame heading into his redshirt junior season in 2025.

Following a disappointing cross country season, which saw Reina Jr. finish 13th at the SEC Championships but 229th at nationals, he brushed it off with a personal record time of 13:41.76 for 5,000 meters in December and then a school record in the mile just a month later, surpassing Reina Sr. for the first time.

Arkansas’ Reuben Reina Jr. Breaks Through In 2025

On the stage that saw him break four minutes for the first time, Reina Jr. returned to the Arkansas Invitational to run 3:55:40 – tying a school record that had stood since 1977. His father had run his best of 3:57.08 in 1991, a full 34 years earlier.

“I always expected more out of myself than what I’ve really done,” Reina Jr. said, “and that’s just because the guys I train with are high level athletes, 800 meters through the 10K, and I have the opportunity to work with them different days of the week.

“I’ve always seemed to hang on …but the breakthrough has been just keeping at it every day and knowing it’s going to come at some point.”

Two weeks later, Reina Jr. did it again, surpassing his mile marker with a time of 3:53.95. The performance was an outright school record.

Then he ran a personal best time of 7:44.92 for 3,000 meters.

But the NCAA is also at a critical inflection point, with records not lasting very long nowadays. Before 2020, Reina’s mile best would have sat somewhere in the top 10 performances in NCAA history.

In 2025, though, it’s just outside the top 25 and ranked 17th going into the NCAA Championships this month in Virginia Beach, Virginia – meanwhile, the top 16 athletes at the distance qualify for each distance at nationals, though athletes may also choose to run other events, thereby opting out.

The Future For Arkansas Athlete Reuben Reina Jr.

Reina Jr.’s goal, naturally, is to earn an opportunity to win a national championship.

“The goal is to make the final,” he said. “And once you’re in the final, what do you want to do? Get last? No. So I’m going to put myself there in any race to win, and that’s the goal. You have to be there with a lap to go, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Reina Sr. says he can only be impressed at this point.

Perhaps his remaining championships and record efforts – including efforts of 7:43.02 for 3,000 meters, 13:24.78 for 5,000 meters and 28:31 for 10,000 meters – are short on time.

“He’s a little bit of a late bloomer,” Reina Sr. said of his son. “But he’s grown up last year – (literally), the guy grew three inches last year. So he’s still growing and developing and now I think it’s all coming together for him.”

While Reina Jr. may not be chasing his father’s legacy, there’s no doubt he’s at least trying to honor the man who shaped him.

“He’s taught me everything, from when I first started running in seventh grade to hear,” Reina Jr. said. “He was one of the best because he knew how to win races and be in big races.”