Walking through the halls at Redwood, it is easy to recognize athletes from their game day attire. But some students participate in unique sports unaffiliated with the school.

Sebastian Medloff

A normal week for sophomore Sebastian Medloff, a 16-year-old champion fencer, consists of hopping on a plane on Thursday, competing throughout the weekend, and then returning to his normal Redwood classes on Tuesday.

He regularly flies to Europe for competitions or across the country to compete in various events, ranging from minor competitions to the 2016 Junior Olympics held in Ohio.

“My goal is the Olympics, of course,” said Medloff. “I am already on the national team for the U.S.”

Medloff first fell in love with fencing when he was eight years old after seeing a commercial for the sport on T.V.

He instantly felt the desire to look into fencing, and still remembers the moment when he told his mom he wanted to be a professional fencer.

Medloff and his family quickly found the closest fencing facility, San Francisco Fencers’ Club, where he has been practicing ever since.

Five days a week, he makes the 30-minute drive to practice with his fellow competitors and train with his coach from Ukraine.

Although Medloff knows of only two other students who fence at Redwood, he still feels that there is a large fencing community in the Bay Area. He is also surrounded by his peers at Redwood who all encourage his endeavours.

“It’s really hard trying to keep up with schoolwork a lot of the time,” Medloff said. “But I’m making it work. It’s worth it.”

Grace Walker

At 12 years old, Walker had huge dreams of success. She was determined to be the best  horseback rider in the state.

Walker worked tirelessly through her middle school years and inched closer and closer to her goal. By the time she was 13 years old, she was ranked 11th in California.

“I qualified to go to this big show in Kentucky called ‘Pony Finals,’ but I sold my pony by the time the show came around,” Walker said. “ I couldn’t get another pony, so I wasn’t able to compete.”

At a young age, she was already presented with promising options for her future.

She first discovered her passion for horseback riding at five years old after a friend invited her on a ride.

As a little girl, her love for horseback riding overpowered any fear of the horse itself.

Although Walker’s schedule is time consuming, she still continues to ride due to her love of the sport.

Currently, she is riding competitively but only gets to practice a few times per month.

“During school you’ll probably be riding three to four times a week and five to six times a week over the summer,” Walker said. “You’ll hear from a lot of horseback riders that your social life is very nonexistent because you’re at your barn so often.”

Even though the rigor of horseback riding limits the social life of many riders, the close-knit riding clubs and frequent competitions allow the athletes to form close bonds with those who share their common love of horseback riding.

Although Redwood’s horseback riding community is large compared to that of fencing, she feels that her peers don’t fully affiliate the sport with students in the area.

“There’s a huge community of horseback riders in Marin,” Walker said. “Most of them go to private schools, but I know three other girls here at Redwood who ride too.”

According to Walker, having a united team like that of other sports at Redwood would be impossible due to the diversity of riding styles.

There are various types of horseback riding, including dressage, western, and hunter-jumper. Each style, rider and barn have specific trainers. Riders have the opportunity to pursue different styles of riding, but very few choose to mix them.

“It would be so cool to have everyone competing together,” Walker said.