Reuben Reina Jr. follows father’s footsteps and furthers Reina legacy

Fayetteville, AR (KNWA/KFTA) – The Reina family name has been synonymous with Arkansas track and field for 40 years.

Reuben Jr.’s sister, uncles, and parents all ran for Arkansas. His father, Reuben Sr. was an eight time All-American and multi-time national champion for the Hogs.

“It means so much just to be able to talk to anybody in my family and they get it, they know what it means to accomplish certain things, school records, times, championships, it just means a lot to have people like that around me,” Reina Jr. said.

For his father, it’s been a joy to watch his son follow the same path he did at Arkansas.

“He has a lot of respect for the family name I guess you could say and the tradition we have with the Running Reinas,” said Reina Sr. “I think he’s very happy to be a part of that and he wants to show that he can contribute just as well.”

Reuben Jr. is contributing and then some this indoor season for Arkansas. The redshirt junior tied the Arkansas program record in the mile in the first meet and in the second broke it. The record stood for 48 years before Reuben broke it.

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