‘IT’S GOING TO BE A GOOD YEAR’
Girls look tough again; boys add some depth
The Medford Raiders’ cross country program has reached the point where optimism and high expectations are simply going to be there when practice begins each August.
This year, the positive vibes early on might be at an all-time high.
Not only is Medford loaded with talent on the girls’ side, the Raiders got a pleasant surprise with some unexpected additions showing up for the boys team as well. Now they have raised their hopes and expectations as well.
“There are so many people this year. It’s awesome,” senior Ella Daniels said before Tuesday’s practice. “There’s 16 boys and 16 girls.”
“And I thought we weren’t going to have a boys team for a second,” senior Kylie Potvin said. She wasn’t the only one.
“I was just wishing for a full boys team once again because last year we had two seniors graduate and we were down to five,” second-year head coach Sherry Meyer said. “We had just enough for a scoring team but I thought, now what? Here we ended up doubling our team.”
Meyer and second-year assistant coach Stephen Reynolds are certainly giddy about the depth. Now the process begins to find who emerges from the pack and gives both Raiders their best shots at the big trophies at season’s end in late October.
The journey starts today, Thursday, with the annual Timm’s Hill Invitational hosted by Prentice-Rib Lake. The varsity races start at 4:30 p.m. in what is predicted to be some fairly intense heat for this time of year and on one of the toughest courses the Raiders will run this season.
“It’s going to be pretty tropical,” Meyer said. “That’s the good thing about practicing in the afternoons this week. You have to run in it anyway so why switch practices. You have to get used to it at some point. Kind of like running in the snow in October.”
Girls expect big things
Medford’s girls team enters 2023 carrying streaks of six straight Great Northern Conference championships and four straight WIAA Division 2 sectional championships, of course not counting the 2020 Division 1 year. The scary thing for the opposition is this might be Medford’s deepest team yet, starting with nine returning letter winners from last year’s team that finished seventh in the 16-team WIAA Division state meet.
That list includes senior Meredith Richter, who finished 14th at state last October and has since become an 800-meter run Division 2 state champion in track. Daniels and junior Ella Dassow have both run in two state meets in their careers, sophomores Morgan Liske and Mallory Richter were in the state lineup a year ago, sophomore Lindsay Kahn was a staple in the lineup most of last year, Lillie Gleichauf and Potvin round out a determined senior class. Junior Riley Clark got her first letter last fall and sophomore Esme Anderson returns after getting mostly JV action in her first year.
Richter and Daniels were first-team All-GNC runners last fall, Dassow made the second team and Mallory Richter and Liske both got honorable mention.
“It’s going to be a really good year,” Meredith Richter said. “Last year varsity was super competitive and (the lineup) was always changing. It’ll be the same thing this year.”
“It’s close and it’s not like the girls that are toward the back of that group of eight are far off,” Daniels said. “Everyone is packed up. It’s looking good.”
“That’s what we need in order to win and get to state this year,” Gleichauf said. “Everybody is pushing each other because you just want to be on varsity,” Richter added.
That has been the mindset of the program for a few years now –– the idea that success breeds success. The girls, however, say they try hard to make sure the intrasquad competition does not affect team chemistry. That has as much to do as anything with how good the program has become.
“Everyone cheers for the first-place person just as much as they cheer for the last one,” Daniels said. “One person came up to me after practice one day and she was telling me I know I’m not the fastest one on the team but everyone makes me feel like I am. The team chemistry is why she chose the sport. The teammates make you feel good and that’s the point of a sport.
“It’s a hard sport and you gotta have encouragement to stay in it,” Gleichauf said.
“We are shooting very high,” Meyer said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out with varsity and JV because there’s going to be some shuffling around. But that’s OK because they’re OK with it too. The girls are very passionate about this sport, they’re passionate about their team so they don’t mind.
They’re like, hey I have to work for it. The clock doesn’t lie. You have to put the time in. They know what they have to do and they’re willing to push themselves outside their comfort zone.”
The additions to the roster include juniors Lexi Hraby and Amy Espinoza and freshmen Willow Dassow, Lauren Stark, Abbie Marzinske and Kayla Daniels.
As for this year’s goals, the girls and coaches didn’t specifically state any, other than Meredith Richter predicting the Raiders will be better than seventh at state. But, there is no question they see no limits to what they can achieve.
“I have high hopes on my goal sheet,” Meyer said. “Obviously I’m a one meet at a time coach. Everybody knows that about me. I won’t say what my goal sheet says but it holds some very high standards. I’m willing to do what it takes. We are as coaches to make that dream happen. I think everybody on the team has that same thought process.”
Boys also upbeat
The boys team is built around a solid senior core of two-time state qualifier Tanner Hraby, Logan Gubser and Nick Steliga. The Raiders, for a stretch, didn’t know what they’d surround those three with. Now they see some exciting potential.
“We were not expecting to have any numbers,” Gubser said. “We were surprised we even had a team. Now I think a couple of guys are going to step up.”
“I think we’ll do well this year,” Hraby said.
Hraby finished 24th in last fall’s state meet by breaking the 17-minute barrier at 16:57.8. He’s looking to knock that time down another 20 seconds or so by year’s end. He was the GNC runner-up last fall behind Lakeland’s Owen Clark, who is also back this year after taking third at state. Gubser and Steliga both earned All-GNC honorable mention. Gubser’s best time in 2022 was 18:44.3 and Steliga’s was 19:14.5. Their goals are to get quicker times in that 18-minute range.
“I think Nick Steliga and Logan Gubser will help push Tanner along and help him along in each race,” Reynolds said. “Tanner will lead the way, but I think that’s a good group of boys to be on the course with for all these young guys.”
“They definitely have great leadership,” Meyer said. “Tanner has come a long way. Obviously he’s looking to go back to state again. Hopefully it’s with a team this year. Nick has come just a long, long way. He’s just gotten stronger. Both him and Logan have just gotten stronger.”
Also back from last year are junior Brandon Curtis and sophomores Evan Pagel and Cullen Jones. Curtis has raised eyebrows among teammates and coaches alike with his offseason improvement.
Brothers Silas and Hunter Briggs, both seniors, and junior Hudson Briggs, are some key newcomers after making their mark as Raider athletes in swimming last winter. Sophomore Will Daniels, Ella’s brother, moves over to cross country after a year in football and should be a strong addition, though he’s out for a bit with a toe injury.
There also appear to be some diamonds in the rough in the freshman class that includes Logan Langdon, Nevyn Gripentrog, Jordan Lavin, Ayden Tyznik, Peyton Ried and Cash Carbaugh. Meyer noted that she sees a tough-minded wrestling-type mentality in several of them.
“It’s good to see the numbers coming in for the future of the program and it will be good to see the leadership progressing as the years go,” Reynolds said.
Medford took second in the conference last fall, trailing Lakeland by 16 points in the league meet the Raiders hosted and they were seventh at the sectional meet in Black River Falls. The sectional field changes quite a bit for this season’s meet at Colby on Oct. 21.
If the Raiders find a couple of solid scorers behind their main three, who knows?
“I think conference championship is within reach,” Hraby said. “It might be tough with Lakeland, but I think there’s a chance.”
“We have a lot of senior leadership I think,” Reynolds said. “With that, hopefully we can get both teams to state this year.”
