After beginning collegiate career as a walk-on, Reinhardt departs for Ducks’ program to complete NCAA eligibility with five America East individual titles and Northeast Regional cross country championship

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Reigning NCAA Division 1 Northeast Regional cross country champion Hannah Reinhardt, who completed spring final exams earlier this week at Albany, confirmed Friday she is transferring to Oregon for the 2020-21 school year to compete in track as a graduate student-athlete, in addition to pursuing a Master’s degree in Advertising and Brand Responsibility.

“As much as I have loved being at UA, I have been training alone — no training partners — for the better part of three years and I feel that was always something that put me at a disadvantage. Yes, you can train solo and do well, but with a teammate you can be pushed further than your limits and having company is something I longed for,” Reinhardt said. “So, I went into the portal just to get to know other programs and coaches and see what was out there. Ultimately, it came down to what would be the environment where I would be able to grow as both an athlete and a student and I have found that at Oregon.”

Reinhardt wasn’t able to take any official visits to potential graduate schools as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, thus when she leaves for Oregon, it will be her first trip to the state.

“When I go out there to move it will be my first time,” Reinhardt said. “But my brother has lived in Oregon for the past four years while studying at Oregon State, so I’ve had second-hand experiences through him.”

Reinhardt earned national recognition in October for an article she wrote on the America East Conference Web site about growing up in foster care and her struggles with mental health and how running became a sanctuary for her.

She arrived at Albany as a walk-on and became a two-time America East cross country champion, in addition to winning the Northeast Regional title in the 6-kilometer race in November at the University of Buffalo and becoming the program’s first female athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division 1 Championships since Silvia del Fava in 2013.

Reinhardt placed 99th in her NCAA finals debut Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind., in her last collegiate cross country race.

“I actually went into the transfer portal in early February,” Reinhardt said. “Unfortunately, I had my first-ever stress fracture this winter and it took me out of the large portion of winter track. Once I got the diagnosis, the notion of transferring started to form. I got injured at the point in the season that would make it possible for me to potentially compete in late-season outdoor track. However, as the injury lingered throughout the winter, I knew that I wanted to do everything to fully heal it and not make the mistake of rushing back into training and ground running to just show up to some outdoor meets.”

Reinhardt, who boasts personal bests of 4:24.05 in the 1,500 meters, 9:21.05 in the 3,000 and 16:06.02 in the 5,000, will have outdoor track eligibility in 2021 for the Ducks after the NCAA Division 1 Council made the decision March 30 to provide an extra year of competition for seniors competing in spring sports.

The NCAA announced the cancellation of all winter postseason and championship events March 12, along with the entire spring athletic schedule.

Reinhardt is also seeking a medical redshirt to allow an extra season of indoor track competition at Oregon, since she only raced in three meets this past winter for Albany.

“I have seen so many teammates and friends rushed back from injury to run at a certain meet or just to rush fitness and in more times than not it has made their injuries linger or just show up in a different form later on and that was not something I wanted to do,” Reinhardt said. “That being said, I talked with both my coaches at UAlbany about applying for a medical redshirt for indoor and then just redshirting outdoor as well so that I could potentially come back for my fifth year. They were both on board, and during this time I also told them that I wanted to enter the transfer portal just to see what was out there. Nothing changed in regards to my opinion of UAlbany, I just got a change of perspective.”

Reinhardt captured America East indoor titles last year in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, in addition to winning the conference indoor 5,000 championship in 2018.

She also competed in the NCAA East Regional in the outdoor 5,000 the past two years, along with placing second at the conference outdoor meet in the 1,500 last season and runner-up in the 10,000 in 2018.

Reinhardt is the second high-profile distance athlete from a mid-major conference in less than a week to transfer to a Power Five program after Delaware senior Michaela Meyer, who qualified to compete in the 800 at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships, decided to transfer to Virginia to complete her collegiate eligibility.

— Theresa Juva Brown contributed to this story