4 Year Varsity Athletes: Winter Season

By: Krissy Hetherington

Being a 4 year varsity athlete is a big commitment here at Redwood and is looked up to by many. To be able to say you played on varsity freshmen to senior year is a great experience and leaves so much room for learning and growing in the programs. It challenges athletes to step up to the next level and play against the best teams all over the valley. Here are a few of the outstanding 4 year varsity athletes for this winter season.

For girls basketball, after going two years undefeated at Green Acres Middle School, Clarissa Chavez, Sabrina Gutierrez, Kalista Gamez, and Savannah Surfus joined the Redwood squad as freshmen on varsity and haven’t looked back since. A big accomplishment that all 4 girls can share is splitting WYL with Hanford their first year. They have all advanced into playoffs every year too and are currently in the middle of their quarterfinals.

Chavez said, “4 years go by fast and if you want to get better, it’s never too late to start but you can’t waste a second on the floor or take any time for granted.” She plans to play for COS next year and says her biggest accomplishments would be leading the team as a captain and being an example. Gutierrez said her biggest takeaway would be, “We should take the program a little more serious because in the end, you don’t get a second chance at Valley.” She does not plan to play past high school but some of her favorite memories include secret santa and winning a WYL patch her freshman year.

For Boys Soccer, Alexis Cabrera has competed on varsity all 4 years and has many big accomplishments under his belt that he plans to take with him past high school. He said his biggest lesson that he will take with him from being on the team is “Soccer is a team game and sometimes you can’t do it all on your own. My biggest takeaway is that I felt some people weren’t as passionate about the game as I would have liked them to be.” He had a successful last two seasons of high school soccer scoring 26 goals junior year and 21 senior year. Last year, he was able to help lead his team to being Valley Runner-up and next year, he plans to play soccer for Fresno City College who has recently gone on to win a state title.

Leading her team in one of the most successful sports run in all of Redwood history, Jill Nelsen has had a very successful 4 years on Varsity Girls Soccer. She has been a part of the 8 year in a row WYL Championship streak, won went to Valley freshman and sophomore year, and won for DII in her second year. She has had to play many different positions but, she said “my biggest takeaway from being a four year is learning and understanding the value of team, the fact that we are a family.” She is planning to play soccer at Cal State East Bay and further her education in kinesiology. Some of her biggest accomplishments include, “being a four year is being a four year starter, contributing to WYL wins, valley, and being able to be a all star since sophomore year and representing Redwood at the all star game. also, being able to play for these four years on varsity which gave me the opportunity to play at the next level.”

Jarron Sullivan for Boys Wrestling has achieved a lot for the school and has led his team highly ranked in the valley proving to be a top competitor in every match. He said his biggest takeaway from being on the team is that he learned to never quit, “you can always do better, and have to say that you are never going to lose.” His favorite memory and overall feeling was when he would win matches through the hard times especially when you really need that win, “like how this year, we were seen to lose to Mt. Whitney and we came together as a team and won our matches to pull out a win.” He is undecided where but plans to wrestle past high school because it means so much to him. His biggest accomplishments include, ” This year when I was ranked in valley which is so hard to do, I’m proud of myself and coaches for how much better I’ve gotten over the years.”

Girls Wrestling is unique and different from these other sports because the official Girls team separate from boys was started 3 years ago. So technically, there aren’t any 4 year but Alondra Rivera was on the Boys team until the Girls team was officially started. She struggled bewteen Mt. Whitney and Redwood because she was involved in the NED program but she helped lead Redwood to it’s three year WYL title.

Tags: 4 year varsity, redwood girls basketball, redwood high school, redwood rangers, Redwood Soccer, sports