High Speeds with Brandon Andrade

By: Tayler Frings

Andrade has been dedicated to running track and field for 8 years and has committed to a full ride scholarship from CSU Bakersfield to continue his love for the sport.

He decided join track because of his admiration for his older brother Aaron Andrade who also ran hurdles. His high school coach Banks has helped him push towards his goals and also been a comfort to him when he gets stressed about track.

Andrade loves track for several reasons, “…the rush of the race, the sound of the crowd, running under those stadium lights. Something about it makes you forget about the world around you.”

His main events throughout his high school running career have been the 300m hurdles with a PR of 37.64 seconds and 110m hurdles with a PR of 14.54 seconds.

During his junior season, he placed 6th in the state finals for the 300m. He also placed top 3 at the competitive meets Arcadia and the Mount Sac Relays.

Andrade trains 6 days a week for 3 hours, dividing his practices between running at Redwood and his traning partner from outside of school.

He likes to consult with his college coach for different workouts, which range from weight training, running workouts, stretching and even understanding what to eat to enhance his performance.

Andrade would describe his main motivation as “proving people wrong, but also proving [himself] wrong.”

He goes onto say, “I’ve never been a genius in terms of academics [or any other sport] I’ve played…but after my freshman year of track I saw that with [dedication and time] I could be one of the best.”

Andrade expressed that “people mistake my dedication as cockiness, so I tend to [try] to show them that what [has been] believed of me trying to act better was actually me working my hardest.”

Andrade is nervous to think that this time next year he “could have world class athletes in the lanes next to [him], but also gives [him] a rush of excitement to know that [he] deserves to be in that race with them.”