Connor Reed racing his way back to the top
MASSILLON, Ohio – It hasn’t been an easy road to becoming one of the top cross country athletes in Stark County, Ohio, but Connor Reed isn’t letting anything hold him back. Not even ACL reconstruction surgery that cut his freshman season short and threatened to bring his young career to an early end. Just 9 short months after undergoing reconstructive ACL surgery, Reed has led the Perry Panthers to state for the first time in over a decade and a half.
Connor Reed’s success is coming on the heels of a devastating 2020 freshman season that was cut short due to COVID-19 and the ACL injury. He was one of the top freshmen in the Federal League, one of the toughest leagues in Stark County’s Division I sports scene. He even went so far as to set the all-time record for best finish in Perry’s history – as a freshman! He went on to garner a 7th place finish at the Federal League championship in cross country and the sky was the limit for Reed.
Then, devastation struck in Oct. of 2020. After COVID quarantining measures kept Reed from competing at the district finals, Perry failed to qualify for state. Luckily for Reed, he’s a two-sport athlete and had the upcoming basketball season to look forward to. Just before the start of the 2020 basketball season, however, Reed tore his ACL and missed his entire freshman season on the court. Since his return in 2021 to the track, Reed has picked up right where he left off from a season ago.
It was a long and difficult journey back to competition and it wasn’t until August that Reed was able to resume training with the rest of his squad. Fortunately, there haven’t been any setbacks. He started out as the number four runner on the Perry team but has worked his way all the way up to number two on the depth chart. Along with his older brother, Cooper, Reed and the Perry Panthers finally have a chance to compete for a state title. It’s the first time since 2005 that Perry’s cross country team has made it this far, and it’s due in no small part to the performance of sophomore star and overcomer, Connor Reed.
Along with helping his team qualify for state, Connor also qualified to compete individually, along with his teammate, Kyle Woods. Reed helped Perry to a fourth-place team finish and earned a 20th place finish for himself. He’s the first sophomore ever to qualify for state for Perry High School. A few other honors that Reed has earned in his young career are two First Team All-Federal League Honors and a First Team All-Stark County selection. Not bad for a young man who wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to race again.
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