School: Redwood High

He's qualified because: Came within 4 1/2 points of delivering the first Central Section track and field team title in school history and the city's first since then-Visalia High won in 1947 when the Rangers placed second to Buchanan in the Grand Masters. They finished fourth a year ago.

He said it: "The thing I learned from [Ziraldo] is everything in track is mental. The competition's mental; if you're mind's right, you'll do good." -- Rangers junior Dillon Root

When Randy Ziraldo took over Redwood High's track and field program in 2005, 13 years after assisting at Cal, he heard a certain drum beat in Visalia. And it was directed north.

"Everybody talked to me about Clovis this and Clovis that," he says. "I said, 'That's nice, but how come we're not as good as they are? Why can't we be as good as the Clovis schools?'

"It was like they're on a separate level, and I don't agree. They have a nice situation, but if we take a bunch of kids and work out hard, we can do good things."

Not only have things indeed become good at Redwood, they've reached near historical proportions in the boys program.

Taking not a "bunch," but only six athletes to the Central Section Grand Masters meet, the Rangers scored 70 points to finish in second place -- coming within 4 1/2 points of the first Valley track and field team title in school history, which also would have been the first for their city since then-Visalia High won in 1947.

And, for that, Ziraldo is The Bee's boys track and field Coach of the Year.

Buchanan captured this season's boys crown with 741/2 points, for all the Bears' talent and depth, they probably needed a freak mishap by Redwood to escape with the big plaque.

"Worst feeling I've ever had had in my life," says Idarre Coles, a Bee All-Star.

It was Coles who dropped the baton two steps out of the blocks as the lead leg of the Rangers 400-relay team to begin the meet.

Seeded tied for third at 42.46, they would finish 14th at 45.37.

A third- or fourth-place finish would have scored six or five points. And Cal-bound Coles is smart enough to do the math.

"I have no idea what happened," Coles says, "other than as soon as I was given the baton before the race, it didn't feel the same, my fingers didn't stick to it; it felt like a different texture."

Ziraldo, who rarely has a negative word to say, will have none of Coles' blame.

"You can't blame it on the stick," the coach says. "Things happen, and who cares? That's like when they talk about the dropped pass in the end zone. Yeah, but how many hundreds of plays were run before that. We knew we had a good chance of winning [the team title], and there's nothing to be sorry about. I'm very proud of the boys."

Even at the conclusion of the meet May 22 at Buchanan's Veterans Memorial Stadium, neither Buchanan nor Redwood knew who won because of some late tallying in the team standings.

And Ziraldo, once again, the positive preacher, says only this: "How many other teams were down there waiting to see if they place first or second? So we should feel good about it."