Schuckman: Monroe City’s Reinberg wins battle with time to create memorable moments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Time became Timia Reinberg’s adversary.

That’s an unfair fight. Time always wins because you can’t slow it down and can’t you speed it up. It plays at its own pace, which is always the same pace.

“It means I had all day to just sit around there and wait,” the Monroe City sophomore said.

Scheduled to perform in a dance recital at 7 p.m. Saturday in Monroe City, Reinberg needed all of the events during the Class 2 state track and field championships to start and finish on time. For the most part, they did.

The biggest challenge Reinberg faced in her fight with the clock was the medal ceremony. When you win a state championship and stand atop the podium, you can’t just slip away undetected to save yourself a little time.

After Reinberg won the state discus title with a throw of 38.5 meters — 126 feet, 4 inches — at Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium and posed for celebratory pictures, she hustled to the car with her family and made the 90-minute dash for home.

“I got there at 7:03 probably,” Reinberg said. “And I had to change real fast.”

In fact, she finished getting ready on stage.

“In the complete darkness,” Reinberg said.

That sacrifice was worth it.

“Of course it was,” Reinberg said.

Although the day did leave her a little frustrated.

“I just really wanted to throw,” Reinberg said. “I was getting impatient.”

So she took care of business out of the gates. Reinberg’s best throw came on her first attempt and gave her a 1.18 meter advantage over Butler’s Kylee Dubray. No one else in the field threw farther than 35.25 meters.

“At first, I thought it kind of slipped,” Reinberg said. “But I felt my arm cut across my chest so I knew it would be pretty good. It didn’t really matter off the release.”

Although the distance put her in the top spot, there was still a twinge of disappointment.

“I was kind of like, ‘Aww,’” Reinberg said. “I really wanted my 40 (meters), but I’ll take it. Another girl in the first group threw 37 meters, so I couldn’t let that one slide.”

Reinberg’s second throw was 37.25 meters and her final throw was 36.51 meters, but no one else came close to beating her. Dubray didn’t throw any farther than 32.22 on any of her final five attempts, while Lathrop’s Autumn Nichols hit a pair of 35-meter tosses on her final two attempts.

That’s when she became a state champion.

“It felt good,” Reinberg said of standing atop the podium. “I honestly was just thinking about my dance recital.”

The 90-minute drive home was the opportunity to digest all that had just happened.

“I was posting some pics,” Reinberg said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, I actually really did that.’ It was coming into my head and I was just taking in the moment.”

The recital went almost as smooth.

“I did mess up some,” Reinberg said. “But it wasn’t a big deal.”

That’s because time didn’t win. Reinberg did. She participated in both events and made them both memorable.