Isaac Leppke knew he wanted to become a coach when he was a three-sport standout at Dinuba High School.
Playing and competing under head coaches Kevin Scharton (football), Jeff Schofield (basketball), and Lucas Lichtenwaldt (track and field), they helped lay the foundation for Leppke’s coaching.
After graduating from Fort Lewis College in Colorado, it was his Dinuba connections that landed Leppke his first coaching and teaching position at Redwood High School in Visalia in 2022.
Rangers athletic director Michael Wright, who coached Leppke in football when he was at Dinuba, reached out to the former Emperors’ 6-foot-4 quarterback about possibly helping coach football and track, specifically the hurdles, where Leppke excelled as a senior in 2016, winning the Central Sequoia League’s 110- and 300-meter hurdles championships. He also claimed the 2016 Central Section Sequoia-Sierra Division II title in the 110-meter hurdles that same season.
So when Leppke, who went to college to become a teacher, got the call from Wright, his coaching career took off.
Today, Leppke has continued Redwood’s excellence and winning tradition as the Rangers’ first-year head track and field coach. This season, the Rangers won both the boys’ and girls’ East Yosemite League championships.
Leppke also coached football, spending last fall as Redwood’s offensive coordinator at the junior varsity level. With Leppke calling the plays, the Rangers JV team posted an undefeated 10-0 record, including a perfect 5-0 mark in EYL play while averaging nearly 34 points per game.
“It’s worked out perfectly,” said Leppke, who played college football at Wyoming and Fort Lewis College as a receiver.
Leppke has played a role in elevating Redwood’s track and field program.
In March, the Ranger boys won the Central Valley Classic team championship at Clovis North, placing first in the 20-team field that also included standout programs like Bakersfield, Clovis, Clovis North, Turlock, Liberty-Bakersfield, Clovis West, and Arroyo Grande. The Central Valley Classic is one of the section’s top in-season meets.
In that meet, the Rangers received individual gold-medal performances from Wyatt Ruby (110-meter hurdles) and Austin Alcantara (triple jump).
That success continued in April.
Redwood swept the 2026 Don Kavadas Tulare County Championships in Exeter, winning both the boys and girls team crowns in the 10-team competition.
Eleven different Rangers won a first-place individual medal at that meet in Troy Harris (200 meters), Jairus Brooks (400 meters), Ruby (110-meter hurdles), Luke Sanchez (300-meter hurdles), Alcantara (triple jump), Tori Ochoa (100 meters), Garycie Serpa (200 and 400 meters), Blake Duncan (800 meters), Camila Esquivias (100-meter hurdles), Mia LoBue (pole vault), and Brynne Amundson (long jump, triple jump).
“We’re constantly working with them behind the scenes, so to see them succeed and see all that work behind the scenes pay off for them, it’s just absolutely awesome,” Leppke said.
Leppke has helped tutor Ruby into one of the state’s top hurdlers.
Ruby, a junior, won a state medal during a breakout sophomore year last season, placing sixth in the 110-meter hurdles.
This year, as of May 21, Ruby’s mark of 13.71 seconds currently ranks as the seventh-best time in the state in the 110-meter hurdles.
Leppke has coached Ruby in the hurdles since his freshman season.
“He’s so smooth,” Ruby said of Leppke. “I think he’s doing an excellent job. Just the team, the atmosphere of the team. It has went from, we’ve all seen a little separated before, but now that he’s come in, and he’s hired a lot of really good coaches, like Gabby [Satterlee-Sugg] and T.J. [Sugg]. They have turned the distance crew into a group that was previously quiet and close together into a team that is now more open, giddy, and joyful. Everybody is just like so much more positive and connected. It’s been awesome. I love it. It’s exactly like a family.”
As of May 21, Ruby is among a handful of Redwood athletes who are ranked in the Top 10 in the section in their respective events. He is No. 1 in the section in the 100-meter hurdles at 13.71 seconds.
On the boys’ side, Jairus Brooks has the section’s ninth-best time in the 100 meters this season at 10.74 seconds. He was a state qualifier as a freshman last year.
Luke Sanchez, Redwood’s starting quarterback this past fall, ranks fifth in the 300-meter hurdles at 38.70 seconds.
Alcantara is the section’s premier triple jumper. His launch of 46 feet and 5 inches leads the section.
For the girls, Serpa is ranked eighth in the 200 meters (25.08 seconds) and third in the 400 meters (55.05 seconds) among the section’s top sprinters.
Jordan Powell is ranked third in the section in the shot put (41 feet and 11 inches).
LoBue ranks fourth in the section in the pole vault (10 feet and 8 inches).
Jazmaine Stewart, a two-time state medalist, has the top section marks this season in the long jump (19 feet) and triple jump (39 feet and 2 inches).
“I think coming over from Dinuba to Redwood, I’ve always heard Redwood is a true Division I school, and back in the day, they were winning D-I Valley championships,” Leppke said. “This and that, but to now be a part of that, and see Redwood come back to that prominence and be a true Division I school now, especially in track. We have multiple kids who are leading the section. I think that’s really cool and shows that Redwood does have the capability to be D-I and does have the capability to compete with the higher programs. The Clovis schools. The Bakersfield schools. It’s pretty awesome.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Isaac Leppke makes impact as first-year Redwood track and field coach
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
