Redwood Cross Country Runs Their Way to the Top

By: Sophia Rexhepi and Erik Rico

Visalia, CA-On Satuday, September 16th, Redwood Cross County competed in the Redwood Invitational at Ridgeview Middle School. Both Varsity teams came home with the wins as well as JV and Frosh Boys.

The runners were to report by 7 am, with Shafter, Mission Oak, Mt. Whitney, and Exeter as the other teams competing against the Rangers. The temperatures were perfect conditions for running, with slightly cloudy skies and a high of 86 on the day.

Hunter Skoglund, ‘25, is a 3 year varsity runner for the boys team. Skoglund came away from the race very satisfied, saying, “I think I performed pretty good, I got a big PR (Personal Record) by 30 seconds.” 

Skoglund is also proud of how the team as a whole has performed so far, saying, “Its been going good, we’ve only had 2 meets so far, but we’ve won both of them by a pretty good gap.” 

Although Skoglund makes the 5,000 Kilometer (5k) run look easy, he knows the race will be a challenge from start to finish. He shows his mentality throughout the race when he says , “In the beginning I’m telling myself its not going to get any easier, and that I just have to keep going no matter what.” 

Thomas Rasner, ‘25, is another boys Cross Country varsity member. Like Skoglund, he ran a huge PR in the Redwood Invitational, but his PR was by just over a minute. Rasner and Skoglund worked together throughout the race, with Rasner saying, “Last meet I think I performed pretty good, we had a good teamwork with Hunter, and it just came down to the last 100 meters.”

Both the runners have been side by side throughout the first 2 meets this year, with Rasner beating out Skoglund in the first meet by half a second and Skoglund coming out on top at the Redwood Invitational by .1 second.

Rasner explains the friendship between the two runners as great teamwork, saying, “If someone else gets a better time than you, then you have to outperform them. Running together just helps improve each other.”

Miranda Rojas, ’25, is on the Varsity Cross Country team and has been running since 7th grade. Rojas came in first place at her meet.

Rojas says, “Something I did to prepare for this meet was to try not to think about it…I just have to be in the moment and just run.”

Rojas says that, “I was running alone for most of the meet so I had to try my hardest to make sure I was pacing myself.”
Grace Hyatt, ’25, is on the Varsity Cross Country team and has also been running since her 7th grade year.

Hyatt says, “I wanted to make sure I had a good nights sleep before the race. I also made sure I didn´t eat to much before my run to avoid feeling sick. It gets really hard especially on the last mile you really have to stay mentally strong.”

Hyatt always makes sure to stay motivated in her races, Hyatt says, “I always think about how far I’ve come in the race and how I can’t give up… I got one of the worst side stitches in my time racing this past meet and I had to just continue on despite the pain.”

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