Caroline and Corinne Reina got hooked on to running at a young age.

The 13-year-old Caroline started training when she was five as part of the “Grif Fun Run” which is hosted yearly at Griffin Elementary School in Katy. She didn’t realize how good she could be though until she started training with the Katy Blazin Red Track Club over the summers two years ago and shortly after her sister Corinne joined and both found a passion for the sport.

Over the past two years, Caroline and Corinne have gone from relative newcomers in the track scene to among the best in the region in their age groups, and both reached one of the highest levels you can get this summer when they qualified for the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships which are being held this week.

“It was just a great feeling,” Caroline said. “For me and my sister to both qualify was amazing and I beat someone who was fourth in the nation and she’s an amazing runner so that just made me feel really happy and confident too.”

Both Caroline and Corinne are distance runners and both qualified for the junior Olympics in the 1500 meters while Caroline also qualified in the 3000 meters. Both Caroline and Corinne have put in lots of time and hours to get to this point and the results have come with it as both have continued to improve to reach such a high level and both of them and their parents credit Katy Blazin Red with helping them excel at such a young age.

“The cool thing about these two is that when they first came in, I’m not too sure they liked it. But little by little they could see the fruits of their labor and it made it worth it to them. Now I don’t even think their parents have to drag them out of bed,” said Katy head track and field coach Jim Pat Darcey, who runs the Katy Blazin Red Track Club. “They started off their first year at the club having fun and it develops into something that they want to do, they have that determination. Now they push themselves and practice with the elite kids and you can see them growing. We just don’t want to push too hard because we want them to enjoy it and keep running in high school as well.”

Caroline has been setting records at Beckendorff Junior High over the past year and she continued to do that in junior Olympic qualifying, becoming the No. 1 qualifier from the Gulf Coast Region for both the 1500 and 3000 meters and beating some of the top runners in the 13-14 year old age group. Caroline ran 4 minutes, 54 seconds in the 1500 meters and 11 minutes, 8 seconds in the 3000 meters.

Corinne has been making her own mark, the 10-year old won two different state championships last summer in the 9-10 year old age group and has been a top ranked runner this year as well, qualifying for the 1500 meters for the 10-11 year old age group with a time of 5 minutes, 27 seconds.

“I wanted this so bad and I’m so excited,” Corinne said. “I just kept trying to push myself an think ‘the more steps I take the closer I get.’ Going to nationals is a really big deal so I’m just really excited to go up there and be a part of that competition.”

The competition will be held at Texas A&M University, which makes it even more special for the entire family. Both of Caroline and Corinne’s parents, Jeff and Velda Reina (who is also a runner), went to Texas A&M and to see their children compete in College Station will be a special moment for them.

“As soon as we saw the national meet was going to be in College Station this year, we marked our calendars,” Jeff said. “I think it’s been a driving force in their training, having the opportunity to compete on that stage. They’ve never run on a track that big and I think they both have ambitions to go to A&M and compete at that school, so it’s just been cool to see that drive them.”

The duo will compete throughout the week as they try to qualify for finals and further, but no matter the finish, for both parents it will be a proud moment to see their children on that track.

“We’re both unbelievably proud. They put in so much work and effort on that track and it teaches them that work ethic that they’ll need in life as well,” Jeff said. “They’ve given so much to this and you can see the reward and them growing mentally and physically. It’s just the coolest thing as a parent and it will be an awesome moment when we see them on that track in College Station.”