University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA
Reynaga, Olree ‘Get It Done’
May 02, 2026 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Before Friday night, no Georgia runner had ever run the mile in less than four minutes. Now, after two strong finishes over the final 200 meters by Matias Reynaga and Ryan Olree, there are two.
"It feels great, to be honest," Reynaga said. "We wanted to break four (minutes), that was the goal, and I'm really happy to get it done."
As the kickoff event to this weekend's Torrin Lawrence Memorial track meet, the women's and men's mile races were held under the lights at the UGA Track & Field Complex. The plan for the Georgia men was simple: have as many guys as possible break four minutes.
Five Bulldogs were in the men's field of 19 racers, and Reynaga won the race with a time of 3:59.28. Olree was right on his heels, placing second at 3:59.74. All five Georgia runners set personal bests, with Will Aitken posting a 4:01.70 and finishing sixth, Oliver Smart came in seventh at 4:01.79, and Conner Rutherford ran 4:03.84 to place ninth.
"It's good that the Dawgs won. It's good that they broke four (minutes), and it was a great atmosphere," said Adam Tribble, Georgia's distance coach.
After the women's race, in which Georgia's Anastasia Nilsson placed third with a time of 4:46.55, the men lined up for their shot. On hand was a pace-setting rabbit, Aidan Ryan of the Atlanta Track Club, who ran out front for the first 1,100 meters to give the guys the best possible shot at breaking four minutes.
Once the gun sounded to start the race, Reynaga was right behind Ryan, and he stayed there.
"I wanted to be up in the front no matter what, and I did a good job on that," Reynaga said.
After Ryan stepped aside, Reynaga was alone in front, and he crossed the start-finish line after three laps right at 3:00. The pace then slowed a little over the next 200 meters after Reynaga stumbled a bit, at which point a runner from Alabama challenged for the lead, and it looked like breaking four minutes was out of reach. It wasn't.
"Matias did a great job. He was up there the whole time, and when he got tripped up a little bit on that last lap, he did a great job of not panicking," Tribble said. "He ran the guy down, and then he had a fantastic close."
Both Reynaga and Olree showed that they had plenty left in the tank, making up time over the final turn and down the homestretch to both break the four-minute barrier for the first time.
"I think everyone grows up kind of dreaming of that sub-four-minute mile," Olree said. "I mean, you've heard it before, and it's kind of this big accomplishment. It's just exciting to do it. I've known I could do it for a long time now, but being able to put the number up there is definitely really exciting."
For Olree, who was a few meters behind Reynaga for much of the race and found himself closed in among some other runners on the last lap, it took a lot of work to finish as well as he did.
"I think with 200 meters to go, I kind of got boxed in and had to shove my way out. Me and Coach talked before about how we knew not everything is going to be perfect going into it, and there was definitely going to be some adversity, so I was already expecting it.
"I heard (the announcement over the P.A. of) 3:30-something around there with 200 to go, so I was like, OK, I got to hammer this out. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, you know, I'm not going to worry about it not happening. I just knew I had to kind of hammer it out."
Hammer it he did. It was a sweet moment for both men in and of itself, but especially so after they both nearly broke the barrier during the indoor season. At the USC Invite meet at South Carolina in February, Reynaga set a school record with a time of 4:00.24 while Olree ran 4:01.59. This time, after their strong finishing kicks, they stand alone at Georgia with their mile times beginning with the number 3.
"I'm really happy for those guys," Tribble said. "You only get to do that once for the first time, and that's a really special thing — especially after the indoors. It's probably good that they didn't do it indoors, because now it makes it even more special to do it here and share it with a lot of people."
Staff Writer
Before Friday night, no Georgia runner had ever run the mile in less than four minutes. Now, after two strong finishes over the final 200 meters by Matias Reynaga and Ryan Olree, there are two.
"It feels great, to be honest," Reynaga said. "We wanted to break four (minutes), that was the goal, and I'm really happy to get it done."
As the kickoff event to this weekend's Torrin Lawrence Memorial track meet, the women's and men's mile races were held under the lights at the UGA Track & Field Complex. The plan for the Georgia men was simple: have as many guys as possible break four minutes.
Five Bulldogs were in the men's field of 19 racers, and Reynaga won the race with a time of 3:59.28. Olree was right on his heels, placing second at 3:59.74. All five Georgia runners set personal bests, with Will Aitken posting a 4:01.70 and finishing sixth, Oliver Smart came in seventh at 4:01.79, and Conner Rutherford ran 4:03.84 to place ninth.
"It's good that the Dawgs won. It's good that they broke four (minutes), and it was a great atmosphere," said Adam Tribble, Georgia's distance coach.
After the women's race, in which Georgia's Anastasia Nilsson placed third with a time of 4:46.55, the men lined up for their shot. On hand was a pace-setting rabbit, Aidan Ryan of the Atlanta Track Club, who ran out front for the first 1,100 meters to give the guys the best possible shot at breaking four minutes.
Once the gun sounded to start the race, Reynaga was right behind Ryan, and he stayed there.
"I wanted to be up in the front no matter what, and I did a good job on that," Reynaga said.
After Ryan stepped aside, Reynaga was alone in front, and he crossed the start-finish line after three laps right at 3:00. The pace then slowed a little over the next 200 meters after Reynaga stumbled a bit, at which point a runner from Alabama challenged for the lead, and it looked like breaking four minutes was out of reach. It wasn't.
"Matias did a great job. He was up there the whole time, and when he got tripped up a little bit on that last lap, he did a great job of not panicking," Tribble said. "He ran the guy down, and then he had a fantastic close."
Both Reynaga and Olree showed that they had plenty left in the tank, making up time over the final turn and down the homestretch to both break the four-minute barrier for the first time.
"I think everyone grows up kind of dreaming of that sub-four-minute mile," Olree said. "I mean, you've heard it before, and it's kind of this big accomplishment. It's just exciting to do it. I've known I could do it for a long time now, but being able to put the number up there is definitely really exciting."
For Olree, who was a few meters behind Reynaga for much of the race and found himself closed in among some other runners on the last lap, it took a lot of work to finish as well as he did.
"I think with 200 meters to go, I kind of got boxed in and had to shove my way out. Me and Coach talked before about how we knew not everything is going to be perfect going into it, and there was definitely going to be some adversity, so I was already expecting it.
"I heard (the announcement over the P.A. of) 3:30-something around there with 200 to go, so I was like, OK, I got to hammer this out. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, you know, I'm not going to worry about it not happening. I just knew I had to kind of hammer it out."
Hammer it he did. It was a sweet moment for both men in and of itself, but especially so after they both nearly broke the barrier during the indoor season. At the USC Invite meet at South Carolina in February, Reynaga set a school record with a time of 4:00.24 while Olree ran 4:01.59. This time, after their strong finishing kicks, they stand alone at Georgia with their mile times beginning with the number 3.
"I'm really happy for those guys," Tribble said. "You only get to do that once for the first time, and that's a really special thing — especially after the indoors. It's probably good that they didn't do it indoors, because now it makes it even more special to do it here and share it with a lot of people."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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