Now being a month into the track and field season, Ripon High had its first home meet in over a year on April 1, 2026. After a loss to Hughson the prior week, Ripon High came in with a search for victory against Orestimba high school and Ripon Christian. After a hard night of work, RHS was able to get their first victory of the season for both RHS boys and girls. 

  For the RHS boys, they won with an impressive score of 109 to 26 against Orestimba and a 121 to 13 point score against Ripon Christian. Juniors, Andrew Shaw and Liam Wohle, headlined the sprinters throughout the day as both placed top two in the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. Meanwhile, both varsity boys relay teams were able to dominate both Orestimba and Ripon Christian, as Ripon’s varsity 4×1 had a three second gap from R.C(Ripon Christian) and a five second gap from Orestimba. The RHS 4×4 team was also able to achieve first place, as they got an overall time of 3:51.98, placing them 15 seconds ahead of Orestimba, while R.C had no 4×4 team to compete in this dual meet.

For the girls team, an abundance of athletes were able to achieve P.B’s(Personal Best’s) for themselves, and take home the victory for Ripon High. They beat Orestimba with a score of 81 to 45, and R.C with a score of 105 to 24. Senior, Kaiya Kroutil, was the highlight of the girls team, as she not only placed first in both the 400 meter dash and the 200 meter dash, but she also broke the Ripon’s girls all time 400 meter time that was previously held by her. The new record is now set at 57.83 seconds. 

Kroutil said when asked what contributed to her success in the 400, “I’ve been through a lot of struggles, injuries, and a lot of mental blocks… I had to really mentally prepare myself. I had to make sure I was eating right, drinking right.”

Sophomore, Cheyann Roberts, was also a major contributor to the girls victory over R.C and Orestimba, as she showed her talent on both the track and in the pits. Roberts was able to get first overall and P.B, in both the 800 meter run and the varsity high jump. She attained an overall time of 2:36.09 in the 800 meter run, while also jumping for a 4 ‘6 in varsity high jump.

While there are still areas the team can improve, the team showed many people their potential and what they can offer to the TVL. With the loss last week against Hughson, Ripon will need to be perfect for the rest of the season to win the TVL in 2026.