By: Krissy Hetherington
334 days. You read that right.
334 days since Redwood has competed in sports and on February 10th, 2021, the Boys and Girls Cross Country teams were able to bring home the school’s first win in over 11 months.
“It was a real special day for me because I knew how much it meant to the members of our team and their families. A big part of our lives was returned to us and I just felt so grateful for that. Our team was doing what we love to do, so that was a perfect day for me.”
Boys and Girls Cross Country Coach, Tony Ramirez
Although the meet didn’t look like a traditional start to the season, Redwood was able to triumph over Lemoore in the team’s first dual meet of the 2021 season.
Both girls and boys teams have been conditioning since October waiting for a glimmer of hope for a season and 5 months later, they got their wish.
The Redwood Girls team swept the first 8 places proving to be a top contender in League this year.
They are also reigning League Championships for the past 4 years, since 2016. The Boys team are chasing their seventh consecutive League Championship.
Coach Tony Ramirez also adds, “I was expecting full effort and fun- I wasn’t let down. Everyone raced like a champion…I’m excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds and I’m just so grateful for this season and to be coaching this team!”
CIF has recently announced that fall sorts will not be having a Section Championship and potentially no official WYL Championship meet since there can only two teams per race.
So instead, both the girls and boys teams will compete in 5 dual meets with the other teams in the West Yosemite League. The team with the best record in League is deemed the winner.
Team Captain, Peter Nunez, ’21, took first place in the meet for the boys.
Peter Nunez, ‘21, finishes with a strong kick to take first place in the first race of the season
Nunez agreed it was weird to compete again for the first time in almost a full year but he’s grateful for the sense of normalcy.
He said “I felt good about my performance but not so good about my time.”
Fortunately, Peter and the team have 5 more meets to makeup from the rusty start to the season.
Nunez added, “I remained hopeful during these last few months by reminding myself that I’ve trained for years for this final, senior season, and even if we didn’t get to compete it wasn’t meaningless.”
His goals for this season include winning the WYL Championship and being named MVP.
For the girls, Team Captain and 4 year Varsity runner, Victoria Nino, ’21, placed first.
Victoria Niño, ‘21, ends her first race with a strong lead.
Both the girls and boys teams have been conditioning since early October and finally saw some competition after weeks of mileage and workouts without a guaranteed season.
She claims sticking through conditioning after all these months was not easy.
“Thee were moments that I wanted to give up and focus on other priorities, but it would’ve been hard to just let go of something that I love so much. What kept me going was imagining myself in college running in D1. I know all the training that I’ve done will pay off.”
Victoria Nino, ’21
Nino said, “Conditioning has helped me a lot and the workouts have adjusted and changed over time to better my training. I also focus on my at-home training followed by recovery…’Practice is a 24-hour process,’ Coach always tells us.”
Her plans for her senior season include running a PR in the 5k and taking the title back for Redwood as WYL Girls Champions.
Coach Tony Ramirez has been coaching the Redwood Girls Cross Country and long-distance group for Track since 2017.
This year he took on the role of coaching both the Boys and Girls Cross Country teams.
He says, “I won’t lie, all the COVID rules seemed a bit overwhelming in October and I had my hands full during the transition to coaching the boys, too, that’s for sure. It’s been quite the journey for our first year as a combined program but I’m so proud of the team for handling this so well. Given the circumstances, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Head Coach, Tony Ramirez gives the team a post-race talk and to celebrate the team’s victory on Wednesday
Having 5 months of straight conditioning without any competition took a toll on not only the athletes, but Coach Ramirez’s coaching style.
“It’s been such a roller-coaster ride. Being a purple tier sport, I had to keep the team near race shape but there’s a fine line to a breaking point, too. This has been the longest season ever! I’ve had to be flexible with training and remember the big picture- we go into Track next and that ends in June.”
“I hope that all the kids realize how committed and how resilient they’ve been under these circumstances. This hasn’t been ideal but it’s a real positive when you can succeed when you are faced with a little adversity.”
Boys and Girls Cross Country Coach, Tony Ramirez
Since there are so many travel restrictions and guidelines teams must follow, the season is already cut down to 5 dual meets and a single invitational in comparison to the usual 10-12 meets per cross-country season.
Despite this, Coach Ramirez has never lost hope and has remained positive for the team.
“I miss pasta nights, team breakfast after Saturday morning long runs, and I definitely miss taking the team to out-of-area meets like Stanford and Woodbridge,” he says. “But the mindset of our team and the team culture itself really dictates our goals every year. We’re champions and want to work hard to remain a high-level program and I really look forward to being a part of that process.”
Both teams have two meets coming up this week including a dual meet with Golden West at Ridgeview on Wednesday and participating in the Golden West Invitational on Saturday where they will both face-off against Porterville High School.
Go rsh
From. The class 81