Hannah Rachel Reantaso is a junior at Glendale High School. She is 16 years old and is from Dallas, Texas. She moved to Glendale, California in October of 2012 and at school, she is on the track team, specifically participating in the shot put.
In her free time, Hannah likes to read books and play video games on her PC, and she also enjoys playing the piano and the trumpet. She claims, “I just have a passion for reading literature and I also have a passion for music.”
Hannah has been competing on the shot put team for about 2 years now. She chose to be a shot put thrower, because in her freshman year, the soph-frosh team needed more throwers, and Hannah also believed that she would be a good fit for the team.
The head coach for track is Coach Bailey, and Hannah describes him as being pretty witty, and he tends to reference a lot of jokes from SNL and Spongebob Squarepants. Coach Madaryan, who likes to be called “Coach Avo”, also coaches shot put, and he has been doing so for about 6-9 months. Hannah says that he is very nice and pushes his athletes to work harder every day.
Despite their season being cut short, Hannah says the 2019-2020 track season was pretty good. She claims that the most challenging thing about being on the team was being the only girl as a freshmen and also striving to work hard every day. She recalls, “It’s kind of hard being the new kid, especially when it’s your first year and you have no idea who to go to.” However, making new friends, and going to get food at track banquets and meets, were the highlights of her shot put experience.
This year Hannah looks forward to her team having an entire season without facing any obstacles. She also feels positive that spectators will get the chance to watch them compete. Following the opening of GHS in October for a few students, her coach says that they will be determining soon whether or not they will be going back on campus for conditioning.
Hannah will also get the chance to become captain for the shot put team. Her responsibilities would include guiding the rest of the team during conditioning and also making sure the other athletes are always trying their best. She teases that she has to be “tough on them a little bit” and “give them a little tough love.”
She advises that if “you’re really up for the challenge, if you’re really up to the pressure and if you’re willing to make a commitment”, then you should try out for the track team. To any incoming shot put athletes, she wants them to know that having dedication and feeling like you “have the potential to throw far,” are the key expectations of being on the team.
Hannah says that she would love to continue competing in the shot put in college, and if she were to choose, she would want to apply to some UC or Cal State schools. But if not, she would like to major in political science or go into the medical field.
She also feels pretty optimistic about the future, as she believes that the covid-19 pandemic will eventually have an ending. Hannah adds that everyone should do “what you love, live your life the way you want it, and never stop persevering in life.”
Yesss, Hannah! We are proud of her and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the shot put team.
