Molly Collins, ’19, was crowned this year’s Homecoming Queen on September 14th, 2018 during halftime of the Redwood vs. Atascadero game in Mineral King Bowl. Three words for the night: Fans went crazy! And by crazy, I mean CRAZY.
When all of the names were being announced to take their places on the podium, Collins received the loudest and proudest cheers plus the whole student section seemed to be shouting, “Molly, Molly!!” With a big, bright smile on her face, Molly took her spot on the stage and her escort, Tristan Wendall, stood in front with a box that held either a single blue balloon or two silver balloons that would declare her Hoco Queen 2018.
The countdown began and as she lifted the lid and the two silver balloons flew up, she was beaming with excitement. The crowd went crazy as they recorded and yelled out their support towards her. Valisity Vargas, ’18 and last year’s Homecoming Queen, handed down her sash and crown to the new 2018 Queen.
Molly Collins, ’19, had this to say about winning Homecoming, “It feels amazing! I feel so loved and I am so excited, happy, and honored to be Homecoming Queen. Thank you so very much to everyone that voted for me! Thank you for giving me this amazing experience, it is something I’ll never forget.”
Tristan Wendell, ’19, escorted Molly and seeing her expression as she opened her box felt priceless, “I was so excited and happy for her, and to see it actually happen before my own eyes, it was just an unreal moment for me to witness. It was awesome to see and hear all the love and the support from the crowd too with them cheering her on and all! I think she’s just the sweetest thing when it comes to treatment and consideration of other peers. She goes above and beyond as a person, and that’s why she’s our Homecoming Queen!”
Some of her team who wore shirts and helped spread the word to vote for her gave their opinion towards why she deserved it:
“Molly is hands down one of the sweetest people ever and is a friend to everyone, her Redwood spirit has been unparalleled since her freshman year whether it be her involvement around campus or dressing up on dress up days…She is the literal embodiment of ‘bleeding blue.'”
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“She is very well rounded, super sweet, and just an overall amazing and beautiful person. She’s very involved at Redwood and she’s nice to everyone she meets.”
-Halle Arellano, ’19
The girls could not contain their excitement once they saw Molly had won. Waymire said, “Honestly, I was screaming and just so excited for her!” and Arellano described it as, “As she was opening it, I had this feeling that it was going to be her and as soon as I saw those balloons, I screamed and cheered as loud as I could for her but the whole time I was nervous for her too.”
Krissy Hetherington
Krissy ('21) is a senior and this is her third year as Editor in Chief. She has been in Journalism since beginning of freshman year and has a strong passion for sports journalism. Outside of the Gigantea, Krissy is a part of the Cross Country, Basketball and Track teams. She is also in her third year as an intern writer for the Sun-Gazette. You can reach her by email at krist.he0076@vusd.us
Tags: homecoming, homecoming queen, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, visalia ca
Great article Krissy!