Redwood Track Practices For the First Time in Almost a Year

By: Dominick McCormack

All sports’ seasons have been very different this year from the past years because of the pandemic.

Edgar Jaurrieta, ’21 has been on the track team all 4 years of high school. After the first week of practice, Jaurrieta felt good. The team is feeling strong even though they had a lot more athletes come out in the past years. “Having fun with my team and having the best season ever while battling the pandemic,” are a few things Jaurrieta is looking forward to this season. He feels that this year is going to be harder to keep the energy high since they only practice two times a week.

Since the past seasons, they would practice 4-5 times a week. Jaurrieta misses going into the season after just winning Valley. He misses hanging out with his buddies at practices and meets also getting bigger, stronger, and faster while doing so. He claims “It was a home away from home but now we have to leave by a certain time and stay six feet away from our teammates.

Daniela Carlos, ’21 is another 4-year track competitor. She feels the first week of practice was pretty intense, “after not working out for a couple months it was genuinely tough.” Carlos is most looking forward to competing in meets again. She started last season off really well and can’t wait to keep progressing in her event. She says that this year is different from the last because we can’t practice everyday or ask help from our peers. Also, the fact that the past year’s athletes were able to hang out with friends and have communication and connection with one another. “The feeling I had before I would compete in my event, and seeing my team cheering each other on during the 4×100 and the 4×400” is what Carlos misses the most from past seasons.

This season will be Christopher Shin’s, ’22 third season with the Redwood Track and Field team. Shin will be a 4-year competitor by the end of his high school career. He feels like the first week of practice went well, but it was difficult on his body because he is transitioning from football into track. Shin is most looking forward to “the meets, especially the big ones, so I can run well in front of colleges and get some recognition.”

Shin has noticed that he has gotten a lot stronger from the last season. He is also faster since he has been weight training all of off season. Shin misses the shape he was in before the season got cut short, as well as the Seniors that graduated last year. He says, “We had a good group of guys that we could’ve won another Valley Championship with.”

Alysa Betiong, ’22 is a sprinter as well as a long jumper at Redwood High School. This is her third year of competing for the Redwood Track team. After completing the first week of practice, Betiong feels like it went well. Although practice was slow, it was a lot of conditioning.

Betiong is looking forward to competing in long jump again. She says, “I’m working to get a scholarship, so this year will be interesting to see what happens. When asked what’s different about this season from previous seasons, Betiong explained how the athletes have to practice while wearing masks. She says it’s different, but believes it is helping build endurance.

What Betiong misses most is competing in the 4×100 and long jump. She also enjoyed meeting new people at meets and traveling to different cities with her team.

Coach Roebuck, one of Redwood’s Track coaches, plans to keep everyone safe at practice during the pandemic. To do that, they follow the district’s several safety laws. There are multiple pods consisting of 15 athletes. They stay in the pods all practice. The workout days are staggered that way not everyone is practicing at the same time.

Athletes also are required to wear masks at all times. When asked what he is most looking forward to, Roebuck said “Watching our student-athletes compete, and to be interacting with our students and to be able to provide an outlet for our track team to thrive.”

Roebuck was nervous to see how the first week would go with all the new rules and requirements. But once everyone was back on the track, it felt like being on the track is his new sense of normal. The first week went well according to Roebuck. He says, “Our athletes are pushing themselves to great lengths and I respect the way our team is handling the adversity of this situation.”

It’s a different environment from the past years right now since there is around 70 kids on the team. In the past years, over 200 students would go out. There are more and more students coming out each day and Roebuck feels we will have a solid team with the work ethic and dedication the athletes have. The season this year will consist of many dual meets, that way the tracks aren’t overcrowded and unsafe.

Redwood and many other schools in the Central Valley are in for a crazy year for track, given if there will be a season. With the practicing schedule cut short and a late start in the season, it will be tough for the Rangers to still be the powerhouse they usually are. From what our athletes and coaches have said, it sounds like they will have a pretty solid team when the time to compete comes.

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