Recently, the Bark took a look at some of the top athletes on the track team and how they stack up against school record-holders.
Zach Cooperband
Event: 200 m
PR: 22.34 seconds
Redwood Record: 20.9 seconds
Redwood’s top sprinter, senior Zach Cooperband, has been working to beat the current school record for the 200 meters – 20.9 seconds – for the past four seasons, and said that his goal is to break the record before he graduates. Also the fastest Redwood 100 meter sprinter with a time of 11.14 seconds, Cooperband has also set a goal to beat the current school record of 10.6 seconds. Cooperband also recently finished third in the 100 meter sprint at the MCAL championship with a time of 11.39 seconds.
Lindsay Hendrickson
Event: Long Jump
PR: 17’ 0”
Redwood Record: 19’3”
Junior Lindsay Hendrickson is Redwood’s top girl long jumper and second best triple jumper, and has proved her versatility by also competing in the girls’ 100 meter race and 4×100 meter relays. Currently MCAL’s third best triple jumper, Hendrickson surpassed 35’ 4 1/2” with a jump of 35’ 6”, placing her on the MCAL top 10 list of all time for girls’ triple jump. Hendrickson, who achieved her personal goal for the triple jump has also set her goal in the long jump to surpass 17’6” by the end of the season.
Megan Bordes
Event: 1 mile
PR: 5:07
Redwood Record: 5:04.8
Even though senior Megan Bordes is new to the track, years of training have left her at the top of MCAL for the one mile after only one season. With a personal best of 5:07 in the one mile, Bordes will be running for the Golden Bears at the University of California, Berkeley next year.
After transferring from Saint Ignatius at the beginning of junior year, Bordes quickly found a respected spot in Redwood running. Running 2.2 seconds behind the school’s fastest time, Bordes said that her main goal is to set the new school record with a time better than 5:04.8 for the mile.
Frederick Huxham
Event: 1 mile
PR: 4:15.63
Redwood Record: 4:10.8
Junior Fred Huxham, Redwood’s top long distance runner, recently placed second at the MCAL championships with a time of 4:17 in the mile, less than one second behind Division IV state champion John Lawson of Drake.
Although Huxham started to run at the early age of five, he only began training intensively once he reached high school. Huxham has since become the fastest distance runner at Redwood in both the mile and two mile, and is currently closing the gap on the school record for the mile, 4:10.8.
Pierre Hicks
Event: High jump
PR: 5’10”
Redwood Record: 6’10”
Senior Pierre Hicks is currently one of MCAL’s top high jumpers, behind Branson’s Taylor Watlon and Justin-Siena’s Marcus Armstrong-Brown, who is the current MCAL leader with a jump of 6’4”.
Hicks also competes in the triple jump and has a personal record of 43’10 3/4”, which he reached at last week’s MCAL championship meet.
Brian Hunca
Event: 300 hurdles
PR: 40.8 seconds
Redwood Record: 39.8 seconds
Senior Brian Hunca runs both the 110 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles, but has set his goal to beat the school record in the 300 meter hurdles, his better event. Hunca said that he believes taking one second off of his time is definitely achievable by the end of the season. Hunca uses track as a way to gain speed and strength while he looks forwards to playing football at Kenyon College this fall.
Alexa Bacchus
Event: Triple Jump
PR: 36’ 4 1/2”
Redwood Record: 38’ 2 3/4”
Throughout high school, senior Alexa Bacchus has progressively shown her dominance in jumping events. Bacchus, who won the girls’ triple jump in MCAL during sophomore and junior year, recently recorded a personal record at last Saturday’s MCAL championship meet where she finished second with a triple jump of 36’ 4 1/2”. This jump gave her the fourth best girls’ triple jump of all time in MCAL.
In addition to the triple jump, Bacchus competes in the high jump, long jump and – as of last weekend – the girls’ 4×400 meter relay. She will attend Wesleyan University this fall to compete in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump.
