The "Running Ritchies" have expanded beyond the Tallmadge and Walsh Jesuit cross country and track and field teams.
There is a Ritchie associated with the high school cross country teams at Copley, Lake Center Christian and Olentangy Berlin this fall.
Three district meets this weekend across Ohio will have a Ritchie involved.
Josh Ritchie is the Lake Center Christian boys and girls coach; his wife, Jeannie Ritchie, is an assistant coach; and their children, junior Gianna Ritchie and freshman Levi Ritchie, are on the high school team. Josh's brother, Shannan, is the girls coach at Olentangy Berlin and their sister, Sharon Rodriguez, is an assistant boys and girls coach at Copley, where her son, Antonio, is a freshman runner.
The Ritchies held a partial family reunion of sorts on Sept. 7 during the Walsh Jesuit Pat Ritchie Cross Country Invitational . There was some sun, several clouds and more than 1,500 runners competing for high schools, middle schools and youth teams in 16 races.
Pat Ritchie is the meet manager for the invitational that started as the Tomahawk Run in 1986. The school changed the name of the meet in 2017 after Pat retired from teaching and coaching at WJ.
Pat Ritchie, a 1972 Tallmadge graduate and 1976 University of Akron graduate, said being part of meets is "fun." His wife, Patty, helps the meet go smoothly and sells T-shirts for Ritchies Sporting Goods, a Tallmadge store that has been in the family since 1979.
"I feel fortunate that I was able to make that a part of my career," Pat Ritchie said of coaching cross country and track and field teams at Walsh Jesuit. "Not only was I a teacher, I was also able to coach. I still stay involved in the sport. For 37 years, I was the cross country [coach] here, and then by putting on this meet is really our way of giving something back to the sport. ... Grant Conzaman, the first athletic director that we had here when I was here, he was all for this. He allowed me to start the meet and it has continued to grow."
Retired Walsh Jesuit teacher and coach Pat Ritchie is the oldest of Rosemary and Pat Ritchie's 16 children
The "Running Ritchies" started with Rosemary and Robert Ritchie, who raised a family of 16 children in Tallmadge. Pat Ritchie is the oldest of the 16 children. He turned 70 on July 15 and ran 70 minutes on his birthday at Goodyear Heights Metro Park in Akron.
The other children after Pat are Nate, Teresa, Rose, Roberta, Shawn, Erin, Colleen, Noreen, Shannan, Kathy, Kelly, Sharon, Cecelia, Eathan and Josh.
"Josh was born on Rose's 16th birthday and Nate and Pat were at Akron as student-athletes," Erin Ritchie said. "They would not leave for their [cross country] meet [at Southwest Missouri] until they found out what he was. ... Nate was born on my mom's birthday. Roberta was born one day after my dad's birthday."
Rosemary and Robert raised their 16 kids in a five-bedroom house in Tallmadge. Bunk beds, baby beds, cribs, cloth diapers and bottles were commonplace in the house.
"It was fun growing up in our family," said Erin Ritchie, a 1980 Tallmadge graduate.
"We belonged to the West Penn track club and would travel over there on the weekends to run in the winter. It was a lot of fun because we all go to run together. ... They had an indoor track club. We went with the Heideman's."
Pat and Nate were state qualifiers on Tallmadge's boys cross country team in 1971. Nate, who is two years younger than Pat, was a three-time state qualifier in both cross country and track and field and earned multiple All-Ohio honors. Their sister, Rose, competed in the state's first girls track and field meet in 1975 and their brother, Shawn, was a state qualifier in cross country in 1979. Rose and Shawn graduated from Tallmadge.
Shannan Ritchie and Josh Ritchie ran at Walsh Jesuit and were coached by their brother Pat. Shannan graduated in 1985 and Josh graduated in 1993. Rose coached at Walsh for over two decades.
Shannan was on Walsh's state championship cross country team, coached by Pat Ritchie, in 1984. Shannan and Josh were multiple-time state placers in cross country and track and field. Erin's son, Tony Howkins, was a state placer in cross country and track and field, and her sons, Noah Howkins and Joe Eby, were also state qualifiers. The Howkins brothers and Eby graduated from Walsh.
Shannan ran at Ohio University and Josh ran at Wisconsin and Ohio. Their sisters, Sharon and Kathy, ran at the University of Akron.
Josh is a three-time winner in the high school Tomahawk Run and his nephews, Tony Howkins and Noah Howkins, each won the high school meet once. Josh's daughter, Gianna, won the junior high meet in 2021.
Gianna was a state placer in track and field in 2023 and 2024. Pat's son, Walsh graduate Porter Ritchie, was a state placer in swimming. Sharon's daughter, Copley graduate Gabriella Rodriguez, was a state qualifier in swimming.
Shawn and Josh run the Ritchies Sporting Goods store in Tallmadge. Erin works there now and a majority of the siblings worked at the store in the past.
"I didn't know any different," Josh Ritchie said. "Running was something that we did, and I followed along with what my brothers and sisters did. They trailed the path and I followed along. ... It was something that we enjoyed doing. It was a healthy habit and we had natural abilities, so we took that and we were able to use our God-given talents."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA cross country: The 'Running Ritchies' continue to make an impact in Akron area
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