Tigers have bevy of experience

Starting five return from last season

By Casey Krautkramer

The Stratford varsity girls basketball squad returns a plethora of varsity experience, including all five starting players and its top six girls from last season, in this 2022-23 season. That’s why expectations are pretty high, as you can imagine, for this year’s team.

Tammie Christopherson begins her 12th year coaching in Stratford and her 10th year as the Tigers varsity head girls basketball coach. Two of her former Tiger varsity players, Tianna (Hughes) Voda and Olivia Burrows, are her assistant coaches this season. Voda coaches the junior varsity team and Burrows the junior varsity 2 team.

Stratford’s top returning girls basketball players this season are all seniors including Lauren Kraus, Lexie Christopherson, Ella Heidmann, Allison Lindner, Bailey Linzmaier and Tessa Berg.

Kraus has played four years on varsity who is a two-year starter; Lexie Christopherson, Heidmann and Lindner have played three years on varsity and are two-year starters; Linzmaier has played three years on varsity and is a one-year starter and Berg has played two years on varsity and is a one-year starter.

That’s a lot of starting experience returning. Stratford shared the Marawood South Conference championship in 2021 with Auburndale and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption. The Royals won the outright Marawood South title last season.

“A year older, a year wiser!” Tammie Christopherson said. “We defi- nitely had a learning curve last year. Our team this year is an intelligent group of hard working young ladies, and they know what it will take to win the Marawood South Conference.”

Kraus and Lexie Christopherson are team captains this season.

“Both of these young ladies lead by example in the gym and in the classroom,” Tammie Christopherson said. “They have put in a great deal

of time during the offseason the past four years to improve their basketball skills.”

Juniors Sailor Kauffman and Ashley Hollatz will see an expanded role on the varsity squad this year. Sophomore Daisy Yoder is a new varsity player this season.

“We have excellent senior leadership this year mixed with some talented underclassmen,” Tammie Christopherson said. The Tigers have a simple goal this season.

“The goal of this team is to get better everyday,” Tammie Christopherson said. “There are no easy conference games and we have an incredibly tough non-conference schedule, so we have to continue to improve our skills in order to be successful this season.”