Mathematics curriculum coordinator and cross country coach Reynold Middleton was recently inducted into his high school’s athletic hall of fame and continues to incorporate lessons he learned in his athletic career into both teaching and coaching cross country.

Middleton graduated from Northeast High School in 1981 and in his time there he proved to be an award-winning cross country athlete, winning the State Championship in 1979. Northeast started in 1914 and in honor of the recent centennial celebration, an athletic hall of fame was created.

“It’s been a little over 100 years and this was the inaugural class where they just created the athletic hall of fame, so they went through to try and figure out who could be automatic qualifiers,” Middleton said. “What they decided to do was take anybody that had won a state championship.”

All selected inductees were honored Oct. 7 at the high school as a sort of reunion and ceremony. Each state champion since the school’s beginning was commemorated.

“As far as his talents go, he was known across the Kansas City area as one of the top talents when it came to running. That goes back to several years before he started high school and continued until college,” Middleton’s high school classmate and teammate Gary Wheeler said.  “I can remember seeing shoe boxes full of recruitment letters he received from colleges and universities from all over the country; his talent on the track combined with his academic talents certainly did not go unnoticed.”

However, these accomplishments did not affect Middleton’s mentality, as he maintained an admirable meekness in the way he carried himself, according to Wheeler.

“Back in high school, Reynold was very laid back and didn’t want to draw attention to himself while on the track but always carried himself in a positive fashion,” Wheeler said. “He let his actions and his performance on the track speak for him. I think you could say he was a model scholar and athlete.”

Middleton learned many valuable lessons from his time as a high school athlete that he continues to carry with him in his life.

“Running cross country was good because a lot of lessons I learned there I still apply today as far as goal-setting and just understanding how to work hard and that nobody’s going to just give you anything,” Middleton said. “So, I think any kind of competitive sport or competition teaches those types of things and I’m glad I did it and I still benefit from the experience even to this day.”

Middleton has taken these lessons even further, incorporating them into his coaching style for the cross country team.

“He pushes us to run harder and push through pain,” senior and cross country athlete Ally Crumb said. “There’s an infamous workout called the rectangle where he says we will feel like we are dying but it teaches us our tolerance for pain and just how much farther we can actually go; a lot of his workouts are centered on feeling pain but moving through it.”

Middleton’s coaching style has proved effective in his 18 seasons of serving as head coach, bringing home multiple state championships and wins for the team.

“As great a runner as Reynold was, I think he is at least that talented as a coach. He has guided several athletes and teams to state championships and has been named Missouri coach of the year more than once,” Wheeler said. “To me that is a true ambassador of the sport. There are lots of athletes with talent, but it is what you give back to the sport that is truly your legacy and he has done that in a great way.”

Middleton’s focus on the values of pushing through difficulty and hard work has also been central to his teaching methods, according to junior and cross country athlete Brenna Richart.

“He tries to relate some of his lessons in math to cross country by saying that we have to practice or study to get better,” Richart said. “He really likes to push us so we can do our best but he also knows we have our limits. He wants us to succeed in the classroom and at cross country.”

From high school to the course to the classroom, Middleton strives to pass on important values from his own experience that, he hopes, will help his students and athletes to succeed in all areas of life.

“I just try to instill the same types of things that I thought were important and to teach the girls, to just to do your best, that’s all you can ever do,” Middleton said.