Redwood track and field defeats Branson and San Rafael ahead of major races

Matthew Marotto
April 6, 2023

Preparing for the start of the boys’ varsity one-mile race, Redwood athletes toe the line.

In the ninth week of Redwood’s track and field season, the team participated in a meet against Branson and San Rafael at the College of Marin.

Heading into an important stretch of late-season meets, including the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championships and other invitational races, namely Arcadia, next week in southern California, many athletes were looking to set personal records in the optimal weather conditions.

Racing the one and two-mile events, senior Tawny Strotz was eager to strive for her goals at the meet while also noting the meet’s value in trying to qualify for MCALs.

Anticipating the sound of the starting gun for the girls’ varsity one-mile race, Redwood athletes prepare to sprint.

“To run at MCALs you need a certain qualifying time and this meet is a really good one because it’s towards the end of the season [and] there’s not that many chances left,” Strotz said.

Even with its long-term importance, this meet offered a chance for many athletes to enjoy the competition and pursue personal records.

“It’s a good one to run hard [at] and really go for the time, not for the competition,” Strotz said.

Similar to Strotz, junior Colby Tribolet found this meet to involve an element of intra-personal and intra-team competition unique to the tighter, local format, partially attributed to Branson and San Rafael’s smaller team sizes.

 

Running through the finishing 100-meter straight, the girls’ varsity race main group chases athletes off the front.

Before the start of his one-mile race, Tribolet had formulated his strategy to qualify for MCALs.

“My strategy is to start off easy. I know my pace [and] I’m going to try to maintain that pace and then kick around the last 200 [meters],” Tribolet said.

Completing their second lap, varsity athletes, from right to left, Daegan Cutter, Ethan Werner and Jonah Momsen pass the 800-meter mark.

Strotz also went into the one-mile event with a set approach designed to optimize her exertion during the race.

“If I’m feeling good, I go faster, and if I’m feeling bad, I go slower, but I usually try to [have a] negative split, which means I start off slower and end up faster,” Strotz said.

With tactical preparedness and physical readiness, the efforts of both Strotz and Tribolet, along with all of the team’s participating athletes, contributed to a Redwood victory, which can be viewed here.