Running Away With Greatness: Redwood Girls Track Break School 4×400 Relay Record At 66th Annual Mt. SAC Relays

On Saturday, April 18th, Graycie Serpa ‘26, Blake Duncan ‘28, Addison Schultz ‘29, and Emma Crisp ‘29, broke a 21-year-old standing school record at the 66th annual Mt. SAC Relays. These four talented individuals, and their Coach, Gabbie Sugg, look back at this history-making triumph.

By: Fabian Anguiano

Being a part of a team that broke a school record is a big achievement; to be part of it as a freshman is a whole other one.

Addison Schultz, ‘29, says it was, “Really exciting to accomplish this as a freshman because there is so much to look forward to in the future. I hope to continue to set records and do it alongside my team.”

Schultz shares that the team’s reaction to them breaking the record was, “We felt super proud and very happy for each other because we all accomplished our individual goal, and therefore we accomplished our whole team goal,” says Schultz.

To add to being a part of a team that made school history, Schultz also broke her personal record, and she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support and encouragement of her team. They have made track fun while challenging each other at the same time.

Schultz does not believe that they could have done better, only that next time they could do it on their home turf.

On what this meant to the team, Schultz says this set the stage for, “What is expected out at track, our coaches have maintained a competitive and professional culture while keeping things fun. I believe this has been the atmosphere of practices, which then reflected onto our race this week,” says Schultz.

To Schultz, this was really exciting; she originally was not going to do track. Though she surprised herself and is eager to see what the future holds.

Her goal for the rest of the season is to get under one minute in her split in the 4x400m, she hopes to improve in her other events.

Schultz’s goal for the team for the rest of the season is for them to continue to work hard, keep improving, and to have fun while doing it.

Senior Graycie Serpa, ‘26, said that for the team to break the record was, “Really nice, we’ve been wanting four, which was the school record, for a while now, because it’s a big accomplishment for all of us,” says Serpa.

Serpa feels like their hard work contributed to them breaking this record because they put in the work at practice, and did the work they needed to do. They knew that if they put in the work, they would get the times.

As an individual, Serpa feels like she did, “Pretty good, I think I did my part well. Since I am the fourth leg, I think I finished it up for us.”

The only thing Serpa believes she could have done better is that she could have pushed a bit more at the end.

To the team, this was a big accomplishment for all of them, as all four of them are soccer girls, so they are all really close already, so it was really exciting for them.

For Serpa, being a part of a team that breaks a school record is nice, knowing that they have the potential to break more in the future.

Serpa’s goal for herself for the rest of the season is to get into the fours, to make it to state, and to place at state.

Serpa’s goal for the team for the rest of the season is for them to keep doing well and to keep working hard.

Blake Duncan’s, ‘28, reaction to them breaking the record was, “Very excited, and I felt accomplished with my team. I love working together with them and finishing on the line,” says Duncan.

Duncan believes that their hard work contributed to them breaking the record because they work really hard at practice and make sure to do the right thing in order to win.

As an individual, Duncan feels like she, “Worked hard and was able to give a good effort to contribute to my team.”

Duncan does not believe she could have done anything better, as she tried her hardest.

To the team, according to Duncan, it showed that they are dedicated to winning and trying their best.

To Duncan, what it meant to be a part of a record-breaking team is, “I’m glad to be part of Redwood and part of the track team, and to contribute to bringing more school records,” says Duncan.

Her goal for the rest of the season is to PR in her other events, and to keep putting 100% percent effort.

Duncan’s goal for the team for the rest of the season is to keep 100% effort and work together on every relay and event.

After they broke the record, freshman Emma Crisp, ‘29, was, “Excited, we’ve been looking for it for a while, and it was nice that we accomplished our goal,” says Crisp.

Crisp believes that longer distance workouts are what helped them run the 400 faster.

Crisp believes that she did well and that everyone ran fast splits, which contributed to them going sub four.

Crisp believes she could have done better by cutting, “In better, other than that, I think it was good.”

Her goal for herself and the team for the rest of the season is to beat El Diamante, as they ran the same time as them, and to get better at other events.

The mastermind coaching these three talented young ladies is Coach Gabbie Sugg.

Coach Sugg was not surprised that they broke the record, but she was, “Super excited to see those girls, their hard work pays off. It was a 21-year-old standing record that had been there since 2005, so it was very surreal to see that fall, and even more so the fact that we had two freshmen on that team, a sophomore, and a senior. It is just really wild to see just such young talent come and accomplish that in their first season.”

Sugg believes that the key to their success was a lethal combo of talent and hard work. They are a talented group of individuals, and they are consistently showing up and putting in the effort.

Sugg believes that they competed the best at Mt. SAC. It is great to see their athletes show up in a race like that and just get after it. To Coach Sugg, that is brave, courageous, and inspiring.

Coach Sugg believes that they gave the best they had at Mt. SAC, though Sugg believes that if they keep showing up, they will, “Continue to do better, with more time, and more compounding sessions. I really believe that we are to continue to get faster and break this record even later this season.” 

To coach a group of individuals that broke a school record, to Coach Sugg, is sweet. Seeing them pour out their best effort shows that everything is coming together.

Coach Sugg’s goal for the girls for the rest of the season is for them to break their own record later on as they near championship season. They’re going to get their strength tested, but Sugg believes that they are going to overshadow that.

Sugg’s goal as a coach for the rest of the season is to keep the girls, “Focused and excited about championship season. We’ve been working out since pre-season and as early as January. Just getting them excited to see the fruits of their labor in championship season,” says Sugg.

Tags: Breaking record, gigantea, Gigantea athletics, Redwood, redwood athletics, sports, Track & Field, visalia ca