With the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) track season coming to an end, there is a particular athlete that shined throughout every meet with her impressive talent and her hard work. Bennett Rodman ‘26 has been a critical athlete in the Foothill Tech’s track and field program, as she placed high in all of her many events.
Rodman started her track and field journey nine years ago where she started out running for the Ventura Tigres Youth track and field team. Although Rodman was not just a track and field athlete, she also participated in various other sports such as volleyball, soccer and tennis.
Rodman grew up in a running family, “When I was growing up, I would go and run with my dad and now that my brother goes to high school he has joined the track and cross-country team as well.”
She relates track and field to her family, as her family is her biggest inspiration, “Both my mom and dad have helped me get my many track seasons, taking me to meets and supporting me throughout my running journey.”
Rodman has many impressive personal records (PRs) in which she is a top competitor in each of them. Her high jump PR is 5’2”, pole vault PR is 9’9”, 100-meter hurdles PR is 18.12, and 300-meter hurdles PR is 52.15. Rodman is only a sophomore, so she is looking to overtake school records in high jump and pole vault, while progressing her times and jumps altogether.
Some of her goals for next year are to focus on her individual events instead of running back-and-forth to a variety of different events where she couldn’t focus on one, which led her to struggle when trying to PR.
Rodman is planning on competing in college, “I’d especially like to compete in pole vault and high jump in college, but I’m planning on doing hurdles as well.”
Rodman relates her success in high jump to her coach, “I have known him for around nine years since I did Tigres when I was younger, and I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without him.”
Impressively, Rodman was the only girl to move onto CIF finals from Foothill Tech. She moved on from league finals to CIF preliminaries in high jump and pole vault, and she moved onto CIF finals in high jump. She spoke of her experience, “I can’t believe I’ve made it this far and all the guys that made it to finals with me this year were all really nice people and finals was just a great experience overall.”
As Rodman continues on in her high school track and field career, she speaks about what she enjoys the most, “My favorite thing about track is probably the social environment and all the people you get to meet and work with while you train and go to meets.”
The whole track and field community, every one of her coaches and teammates, are eager to see Rodman grow and succeed. Mason Borkowski ‘24 stated, “In all of the athletes that I have seen grow, Bennett has shown the most commitment and tenacity for the sport.” Everyone believes in her and knows that she can be great if she keeps up her passion and hard work for the sport.
