Rylee, Reagan Ritzhaupt broke their mom's longtime record in the 4x4

COLUMBUS - Kendra (Ketterman) Ritzhaupt never wanted to see her school record in the 4x400 relay fall.

Part of the Colonel Crawford state championship team in 1990 that would follow up with two more titles, she, along with Michelle Stuckman, Christi Laughbaum and Michell Auck ran a 4:03.97 in preliminaries that year before going on to finish as state runner-up in the event.

"When we went through it, times were so much slower back then than they are now," Kendra said. "And we got second at state running that. I went to state in the 4x2 and 4x4, we won in the 4x2."

She never wanted to see it fall. Until last year when her twin daughters, Rylee and Reagan, started running the mile relay.

"They got a love got the 4x4 and they were both doing well," Kendra said. "Reagan didn't get in until regional finals last year and they went 4:06. I thought — oh my gosh it's going to happen — that's when it really started to kick in that the were going to do this.

"And then they didn't."

The twins, alongside Mira Holt and Gabby Roston, not only missed out on breaking the school record last spring, they were .27 seconds off the final qualifying spot for finals.

"It was such a motivator for them," Kendra said. 'They'd go to the track over the summer, they worked on it. It was cool because they pushed so hard to get mom's record, and I wanted that for them."

At the Division III Heath regional meet, the quartet achieved their goal at long last clocking in at 4:03.94 for a regional title and a return to state. In both races at state, prelims and finals, the 4x400 dropped time to a 4:03.17 then a blistering 4:02.40 to finish fifth and earn All-Ohio honors.

"The first time it was three-hundredths of a second, they barely beat it," Kendra said. "(Saturday) was just icing on the cake because they're a second-and-a-half faster than I was."

She had to tap into some ancient technology, but Kendra knew exactly how to motivate her twins.

"I have a VHS tape and I made them watch it," she laughed. "Not all the time, I don't strap them down and make them watch it."

Mom even dug into old editions of the Telegraph-Forum this season.

"I pulled out my old scrapbooks with newspaper clippings and it showed we were running a 4:07 at regionals," Kendra said. "Then we got the record at state semis … I used that as motivation and it was just the best feeling to see them break that."

Reagan recalled it vividly.

"I remember last year before the state meet she had us watch her film and said, here's what you need to do," Reagan said. "She kind of bragged about herself a bit, so now we can do that to our kids."

The twins can brag about doing it in more difficult conditions, too. In 1990 when Kendra's relay set the record temperatures were in the low 70's. Last weekend, Reagan and Rylee had to run prelims and finals in 90 degree heat.

"We all did a really good job preparing for this weather because we knew what it felt like last year," Rylee said. "Hydrating was really important.

"It definitely feels good, I've been thinking about it for a long time."

With all four girls returning on the 4x4 relay and a whole season's worth of practice, the twins envisioned mom's record being shattered — not besting it by the blink of an eye.

"We knew we'd keep dropping time because we thought we were going to demolish the record and go 4:02 right away," Rylee said. "But it felt good to have it, then keep dropping time."

"At regionals we weren't even fully tapered yet, so we knew it could only get better," Reagan added.

Cementing their legacy at state was a picture-perfect ending for the twins. They also have a state championship under their belt having been part of the team that edged out Margaretta last year.

"It feels really good," Reagan said. "It's like a once, or twice, in a lifetime opportunity. To go out with a bang is really cool."

Kendra, shocked her record stood as long as it did, couldn't have been any happier to see it fall.

"How in the world did this hold, why am I still up on the board?" she laughed. "I didn't understand that because kids have gotten so much faster, all of it. But the 4x4, to get four girls to run the 400 is hard enough. It's not an easy race at all, four girls that want to do it and have a good time at it.

"I just love that my girls embraced it. They loved the race, but they were also chasing me … I pray it holds for another 33 years.

"I was cheering them on, it couldn't have been any better."

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