When Riley Reid’s senior season hung in the balance, he was motivated by the fear of disappointing his teammates.

He had his own goals too, of course. But his best friends were counting on him, shin splints or not.

So Reid fought through the pain that, for a while, he thought would prevent him from running at the state championships. Instead, he peaked at the end of the season, leading his team to a district title and runner-up finish at state.

The Preston High senior is the 2019 All-Area Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

“He’s a competitor, and he was a good leader for our team,” Preston coach Tyler Jones said. “He always seemed to step up on race day ... especially those big meets like district and state. Just huge for our team.”

The trials and triumphs of Reid’s senior season align with his role as team captain and Preston’s team motto, “Family.”

Shin splints kept Reid out of practice for weeks in the middle of the season, and his race results bear out the timeline of his injury. He broke 17 minutes only once in the first four meets of the season, running a season-worst 17:22 at the Cache Box Invitational.

Reid didn’t hold himself out of any meets, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be healthy enough — or fast enough — to make it to the state meet at the end of the season. As Preston’s No. 1 runner, his absence would affect the whole team.

“That is pretty much what kept me going,” Reid said. “I was like, ‘I need to get back so we have a full team and we’re all quick.’”

With remedial help from a local doctor, Reid’s shin splints subsided. He was back at full strength for the Preston Invite, two-and-a-half weeks before the state meet. He won the Preston Invite in 16:05.3, his best time of the season by 14.5 seconds.

His next race was the 4A District 4-5 championship. If there were any doubts about Reid’s status, he vanquished them there.

Reid blistered the course in a personal-best and school-record 15:30.8, using a late kick to edge Jerome’s Kobe Yost by 1.1 seconds for the championship. He’s the first Preston boy to win a district title since the school jumped from 3A to 4A in 2004. His winning time ranks fourth in 4A and sixth across all classifications this season.

Nine days later at state, Reid clocked a 15:39.9 to place fourth, his best-ever finish at state. Teammates Sam Jeppsen and Edison Leffler trailed in sixth and ninth, respectively, giving Preston enough low-point scorers to claim the second-place team trophy. It was Reid’s third all-state finish and the second-straight runner-up finish for the Preston boys.

It was a bittersweet moment for Reid, as the state meet marked the end of his Preston cross country career. The team’s familial camaraderie extended beyond the course, but cross country is what initially brought them together.

“Me and my team were like family, so being done is kind of hard,” Reid said at the state meet. “We’re there for each other all the time. We’ve done everything together.”

Reid may have more cross country ahead of him, but he’s undecided. He holds an offer from Utah State University, but may take a year off — or longer — and go to technical college.

He knows any future cross country teams he’s a part of won’t quite be the same.

“(Since) leaving my team, I just haven’t really wanted to run very much,” Reid said. “I don’t really like running except for when I’m running with my team.”