Wyatt Ruby got into hurdling by chance.
He first started competing in the hurdles in middle school, but didn’t fall in love with the event right away. So much so that he even thought about quitting.
But when Ruby attended a College of the Sequoias club track program later that summer, Giants head track and field coach Kenny Jackson heard about a young Visalia athlete who was a hurdler.
Because the team didn’t have a hurdler at the time, and Ruby had some experience, Jackson pulled his parents aside and basically told them, “If you want one-on-one coaching, you should consider hurdling.”
Jackson had recently helped tutor former COS standout Quincy Hall — a two-time California Community College Athletic Association 400-meter hurdles champion.
Hall would go on to win the gold medal in the 400 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Today, under the leadership of Redwood track and field head coach Isaac Leppke, Ruby has helped revolutionize hurdling at Visalia’s largest high school, becoming one of the state’s elite hurdlers while setting the school record in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.71 seconds on May 1 at the Reedley Invitational. That mark, as of May 27, is the eighth-fastest time in the state this year.
“I got one-on-one training when it came to hurdles,” Ruby said. “It gave me a huge advantage heading into eighth grade, and it gave me a sort of a base to work off with when I started going with Leppke because he was able to build off what I already had.”
Ruby is one of nine Rangers, along with Jazmaine Stewart (triple jump, long jump), Graycie Serpa (400 meters), Jordan Powell (shot put), Austin Alcantara (triple jump), Luke Sanchez (4×400 relay), Jairus Brooks (4×400 relay, 200 meters), London Butler (4×400 relay) and Troy Harris (4×400 relay), who will compete at 106th CIF State Track & Field Championships on May 29-30 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
“He’s special,” Leppke said of Ruby.
Ruby is into extreme sports, like skateboarding, BMX, and even parkour.
That’s a big reason why the hurdles drew Ruby to that race.
“That’s Wyatt,” Leppke said. “You will see him going through campus on a skateboard or a bike, or just doing crazy stuff. His extremeness in those kind of sports and activities, that definitely makes him a fearless hurdler. I tell all my hurdlers, ‘To be a hurdler, you have to be fearless. You have to want to drive and break through the hurdle every single time.’ I always tell him, ‘It’s you or the hurdle. Either you go through the hurdle, or the hurdle takes you.’ That’s kind of the mentality I have set for him, a very aggressive mentality to the hurdles, and I think his lifestyle and what he does fits that perfectly.”
Ruby concurred.
“I think it’s honestly the skater mentality,” Ruby said. “The no fear, or in the face of fear, just having that confidence and that trust in yourself that your body is capable of doing it. Your mind is telling you you shouldn’t do it. That you’re afraid. That it’s a dangerous thing. That you can hurt yourself, but you know, physically, you are capable of it. That if you pull it off right, there really is no risk. It’s worth it.”
That approach has transformed Ruby into one of the state’s finest.
Only a junior, he captured this season’s 110-meter hurdles title at the 2026 Central Section Masters Championships on May 23 in Clovis. He also won the 110-meter hurdles championships at the East Yosemite League Championships and the Central Section Division I Championships. He came in second in the same event at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational, one of the state’s premier in-season meets.
What drives that success?
“Perseverance,” Ruby said. “I want it, and I chase it. When I see the people in front of me, my goal is to catch up to them and be the best that I can, using them to push me. I just keep pushing myself even when I think I can’t go any farther.”
Ruby credited his track accomplishments to his family, including mom, Danelle, and connecting with Leppke — a former three-sport Dinuba standout who won the 2016 Central Sequoia League’s 110- and 300-meter hurdles championships and Central Section Sequoia-Sierra Division II title in the 110-meter hurdles.
Leppke went on to play college football at Wyoming and Fort Lewis College before arriving to coach and teach at Redwood in 2022.
Leppke learned how to run the hurdles from former Dinuba star and state qualifier Xavier Jones. Jones hurdled in college at Fresno Pacific University.
Leppke shared his personal experience running the hurdles and training with Ruby, and by the time the ladder was a sophomore last year, Ruby took flight.
At the start of the 2025 season, Ruby ran the 110-meter hurdles in 16.47 seconds.
His time at the end of the year? 14.01 seconds. That led to a sixth-place finish and a state medal at the 105th CIF State Track & Field Championships.
His personal best time that season was 13.93 seconds
In a span of nearly three months, he shaved about two-and-a-half seconds off his time.
“You never see that,” Leppke said. “He was running 16s at the beginning of the year, his sophomore year, all the way to 13.93, which is unheard of. I’ve never seen that before, and he did that as a sophomore. This year, he’s approaching 13.7s.”
How was that possible?
Because of Leppke’s dedication, spending countless hours working with Ruby.
“It’s been awesome,” Ruby said. “He’s an elite-level coach. I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it, pretty much, weren’t exclusively for him. He’s done the brunt of the work, tuning everything and giving me all the time and resources that I need.”
Ruby is a familiar name at Redwood.
His grandpa, Ken Ruby, is a 1985 Redwood grad and former Redwood boys’ basketball head coach who led the Rangers to back-to-back West Yosemite League championships in 2017 and 2018.
Ruby’s dad, Brian, played water polo at Redwood and is also a Rangers alum.
Now, Ruby is continuing that family sports tradition. He also helped Redwood win another East Yosemite League track and field team title this year.
“It’s kind of an honor,” Ruby said of extending the family legacy.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: ‘Skater mentality’ fuels Redwood hurdler Wyatt Ruby’s state gold chase
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
