LEARNING CURVE
MEDFORD TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW
Raiders working lots of new talent into lineup
A program that has prided itself on consistently being competitive and relatively deep, the Medford Raiders enter the 2022 track and field season in an unusual position.
While both the girls and boys teams start the year with rosters numbering in the low 20s –– enough to enter athletes in most events –– rarely have the Raiders started a season as inexperienced as this group is.
For third-year head coach Shawn Sullivan and her staff, the youth and inexperience aren’t necessarily bad things. For them, it will be exciting to watch both teams grow, learn and improve this season and in future seasons.
Sullivan said Wednesday the coaches are already seeing things happen through two-plus weeks of practice and the season’s first two indoor meets, last Thursday’s lengthy Wausau West Early Bird that lasted into the wee hours of the night and Tuesday’s boys meet in Marshfield. The girls who aren’t gone on school band and choir trips will be at Marshfield today, Thursday. Both teams will send available athletes to UW-Stout’s Large School Northern Badger Invitational on Friday.
“We have some great athletes,” Sullivan said. “They have great work ethics and great attitudes, which is what it takes to be successful. Track is a mentally tough sport just as much as it’s a physically tough sport. It takes both.”
The girls showed glimpses of what they still have and what they’ve gained with a solid fourth-place finish at West Thursday. The boys were a little closer to a full roster on Tuesday and took second in the 10-team Marshfield meet. Those results are good signs that the Raiders have the potential to still be competitive in their regular-season meets and, eventually, the Great Northern Conference and post-season meets.
“That meet at Wausau lasted a long time, but nobody complained,” Sullivan said. “Everyone was still into it and excited to run at 10:30.”
The girls have just one experienced senior, sprinter Sophie Brost, who was part of Medford’s state-qualifying 400-meter relay team last June. Sophomore Jaylin Machon was also part of that 11th-place relay as was junior Bryn Fronk. Fronk was going to be a major piece of this year’s sprint squad, but a basketball knee injury has knocked her out for the season. She’ll still be around, however, filling a manager role with Serena Breezee and helping out wherever she can.
“We’re looking forward watching her race next year,” Sullivan said. “That’s a tough one. It’s always tough when a multi-sport athlete like Bryn goes down. It’s tough on every program.”
Brost still gives the Raiders a capable leader in the sprints. She has been on several All-GNC relays in her career. Machon got off to a good start Thursday with a second-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles and by clearing 8-6 in the pole vault. Junior Brooke Rudolph will be another multi-event athlete the Raiders will be counting on for points. She’ll likely step into a spot on the 3,200-meter relay, which has a strong state-qualifying tradition going. She ran the 300-meter low hurdles last spring and can do some long jumping too.
Sophomores Meredith Richter and Ella Daniels and freshman Ella Dassow should be able to score well in the mid- to long-distance races. Richter started her year with a 400-meter win at West, while Daniels won the 1,600-meter run and Dassow won the 3,200-meter race. Richter was on the 3,200-meter relay team that finished sixth at state last June. All three, along with Rudolph, were mainstays on the state-qualifying cross country team in the fall. Daniels also pole vaulted as a freshman.
Junior Alyssa Brandner returns after finding a role last year at 400 meters, running that individually and as part of Medford’s 1,600-meter relay team. The returning sophomores all showed potential last year and should build off of that experience. Brenley Beran is a solid sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. Lindsey Klapatauskas is the team’s top returning shot putter and can fill sprint, long jump and triple jump spots. Hannah Fleegel returns to a long and triple jump role.
Stacy Stolp is the latest in a recent line of sisters that has the potential to be a key piece to the puzzle. The freshman scored in the long and triple jump in her debut last week. Also from the freshman class, Naomi Fleegel adds distance depth, while Riley Clark and Marlee Perrin are sprinters with Perrin looking to high jump as well. Cailyn Venzke gives Medford another shot putter.
The Raiders have also added some new older faces, such as senior Kenya Mann, juniors MaKayla Motte and Myah Smith, sophomore Ashley Hernandez and exchange students Letizia Baldi, Emma Orlandini and Emilia Zapata. Finding their fits will be one of the goals of the indoor and early outdoor seasons.
“That’s what is happening right now,” Sullivan said when it comes to both the girls and boys new athletes. “We look at meets now as extended practices. They are opportunities to get in there and compete, get a feel for it, listen to the starts, listen to the rules, listening for your events and knowing when to warm up. There’s a lot to a track meet, other than just running your race.”
The Raiders finished second behind Mosinee in last year’s GNC championship meet, which was held at Raider Field. They were third in the Medford regional meet and 11th at the Osceola sectional.
Two senior boys
The boys bring back seven letter winners and nine athletes in all from the 2021 team that placed fourth in the GNC, was fifth at the regional meet and tied for ninth at the sectional. The headliner is Joe Sullivan, one of just two seniors on the roster. Sullivan returns after finishing fifth in last June’s WIAA Division 2 1,600-meter state run and ninth in the 3,200-meter run. He’ll also dabble in some high and triple jumping. He won the high jump Tuesday in Marshfield at 5-10 and triple jumped over 37 feet. But his coach and mother affirmed that distance running is obviously where Sullivan will make his biggest impact. Jake Seifert is the other senior. He steadily improved in the shot put and discus last spring. He hit 110 feet and qualified for the sectional in discus and got to 40-8 in the shot.
The Raiders gained some athletes in the junior class to go along with returning athletes Josh Clark, Lucas Borman and Vincent Seidel. Silas Wipf and Zach Rudolph, best known for their soccer skills, have already shown they’ll be a big boost in the longer races. Wipf ran the 1,600 at West and the 880-yard run at Marshfield. Rudolph and Seidel were second and third in the mile run at Marshfi eld. Clark, Wipf, Seidel and his freshman brother Anthony posted a solid first time in the two-mile relay.
Anakin Stokes is a junior newcomer who has shown early potential in the sprints, scoring for the Raiders in the first two meets in 200-meter races. Borman and newcomer Itsy Medina fill sprint roles as well. Jose “Mark” Herrera has started out in 200 to 400 meter races. Football lineman Will Haavisto adds new depth in the throws.
The sophomore class has some versatile athletes as well, led by returning letter winners Logan Kawa, Cory Lindahl and Jude Stark. Lindahl is a sprinter, hurdler and jumper. Kawa adds some muscle to the throws. Stark throws shot and pole vaults. Adam Kowalski has pole vaulted well early on. Isaac Kautzer is an addition to the sprint crew.
Among the freshman Evan Paul has made an early mark in the long and high jumps, Gatlin Piller is trying to make his mark in sprints and Gage Losiewicz, coming off a state-qualifying wrestling season, could be a factor in pole vault and on the track. His strong anchor leg helped Medford finish second in Tuesday’s mile relay.
Katie Losiewicz, Davey Sapinski, Morgan Wilson and Jen Berger return to the coaching staff while Sam Welch is a new face this year as a volunteer assistant after finishing his track career at
UW-Stevens Point.
2022
MEDFORD TRACK & FIELD
March 17 @ Wausau West Indoor, Girls 4th, Boys 10th March 22 Boys @ Marshfield, 2nd March 24 Girls @ Marshfield, 4:30 p.m. March 25 @ UW-Stout Indoor, 3:30 p.m. April 1 @ UW-Stout Indoor, 3:30 p.m. April 5 Boys @ Wausau West, 4 p.m. April 7 GNC Ind. @ Pines, 4:30 p.m. April 19 MED. EARLY BIRD, 4:15 p.m. April 26 MEDFORD INVITE, 4:15 p.m. April 29 @ Auburndale, 4:15 p.m. May 6 @ Merrill, 5 p.m. May 13 @ Wisconsin Dells, 4 p.m. May 17 GNC @ Antigo, 4 p.m. May 19 GNC JV @ MEDF., 4:30 p.m. May 23 Tomahawk regional, TBA May 26 Rice Lake sectional, TBA June 3-4 WIAA state @ UW-La Crosse
MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Hannah Fleegel takes flight during Thursday’s long jump competition at Wausau West.
