Redwood’s Road to Success: Dominating the EYL Championship on the Track

On Friday, May 3rd, the Redwood Rangers raced at Golden West High School to obtain their eighth consecutive EYL title.

By: Reese Huerta

On a sunny Friday, May 3rd, the Redwood Boys and Girls track teams headed to Golden West at the Gropetti Stadium to race for another East Yosemite League (EYL) title. Although there were challenges, Redwoods track teams proved their deserving spot.

Thomas Rasner, ’25, competed in four events and ended up placing in the 4×400 relay. He mentions saving his energy for this relay by not burning himself out within his other races. When talking about his races he says, “I did pretty well. I was just preparing for the 4×400 so I didn’t wanna go all out in my other races.”

Rasner describes the feeling he had when achieving a personal record in the mile as “really nice.” He says, “Creating new records makes us build confidence for Valley by seeing how much faster we can go. My goal is to place so I can get into masters for each of my events, not basing more off time, but more off pace.”

A lot of preparation goes into big races like EYL and especially Valley on May 10th. To prepare as a team Rasner discusses the changes made in practice to strengthen every runner. He says, “To prepare the week before Valley we usually tapper down so we don’t do as many hard workouts. We also drink plenty of water and don’t eat bad food.”

Alisha Hassan, ’25, had a specific goal before going into the race. She says, “My main goal was to three step in my hurdles which I did do, but I didn’t do it as much as I wanted to. I also wanted to PR (Personal Record) and I ended up having a more consistent time.”

Hassan has been doing track since third grade and started doing hurdles in fifth grade because she had to be a certain age.  She says, “this year EYL was really good because our hurdle squad was much bigger. My freshman year the team was much smaller, this year there was actually a group and the fact that we did really well was really nice.”

Zack Vargas, ’26, set a high standard for the EYL meet in hopes to gain a personal record in the mile. He says, “My thoughts before racing were to go out and run the best race of my life and to break 4:30 time in the mile.”

Vargas followed his previous time with a personal record of four minutes and twenty-two seconds and third place in the 1600 meter. He says, “I personally think I did an outstanding job. I could have kicked a bit sooner than I did to have caught up to the second guy.”

Vargas and his teammates put it all on the line and definitely gained from all the hard work they put into each race. He says, “EYL was a great experience as a team, especially with a lot of young athletes. Everybody went in and focused on what our goal was.”

Ariana Lopez, ’27, had a really great experience at EYL and even gained a personal record under her belt. She says, “At EYL we had good times, good personal records, and good attitudes throughout the meet.” Before going into the race we were confident because we knew we put a ton of hard work into this race, we know how to apply our skills.”

Since Lopez was injured for half of the season she recalls EYL as her “half” of the season instead of the “end” and she felt like she proved herself despite her setback. Lopez looks back on a happy memory of the meet, and she says, “Zack, a sophomore, ran a four-minute and 22 second mile and placed 3rd and it was crazy and so was the emotion during the race. The happiness you feel for your teammate is like no other.”

Reflecting on the end of the meet Lopez knows her team gave it their all. She says, “Everyone puts in so much work. No matter if they ran distance, did pole vault, or even the sprinters, everyone wanted the EYL title so badly. You can see the work that everyone put in, especially throughout all the hard track workouts.”

Every hard practice, extra hour, and goal has accumulated into accomplishments through the team and themselves. Reflecting on their hard work and dedication, the Redwood Boys and Girls track teams fulfilled their season with perseverance and ambition.

Tags: rangers, Redwood, Redwood field, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, redwood sports, Redwood track, redwood track and field, rhs, rhs track, visalia ca