relay team to state. Two ….

relay team to state. Two members of that team are back in senior Carson Church and junior Joey Sullivan.

A state qualifier this fall in cross country, Sullivan will be relied upon to score well in distance events. Church and fellow senior Owen Wipf will look to fill 400- and 800-meter roles. Seniors Colton Surek and Tyler Kapitz return to the sprints and senior newcomer Jack Tlusty will add distance depth.

In the field, the Raiders will lean on senior jumper Ty Baker and shot putter Brady Hupf for scoring. Baker is a solid sprinter as well.

Among juniors, Jake Seifert is emerging as a thrower while Gabe Felix will get a shot to shine in the long sprints and jumps. Sophomores Tristan Price, Ethan Mottle and Lucas Borman are all cross country runners, but they may fill roles in some shorter races on the track, such as the 800-meter run or even the hurdles events.

The freshman class includes some athletes who have already made a mark at Medford this school year, such as Cory Lindahl, Kris Gubser, Jude Stark, Adam Kowalski and Logan Kawa to name a few. They may help fill some gaps in the field events.

Being a little light on overall depth, the Raiders will get chances to show what they can do in multiple events.

“We have told them everyone will be looked at for multiple events,” said Sullivan, who was a standout at Northland Pines in her high school days in the 1980s. “You’re not going to be one and done. Some will need to progress and will need some time, but they may be able to do two events. The veterans should expect to be multi-event athletes. We’ve told them to be prepared for that.”

For now, the Raiders’ schedule is lighter than usual. Obviously, the late start eliminated the need for indoor meets. Sullivan said scheduling this spring has been tricky due to team or athlete limits at meets per WIAA guidelines. The Raiders are holding out hope to add some meets yet.

As always, the goal is to build toward peak performances when it counts at the conference and post-season meets.

“We have a lot of kids who have that chance,” Sullivan said. “We’d love to be down at state. That is the goal.”