MEDFORD CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW - Strong girls group remains; boys have young potential

MEDFORD CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW

Without a doubt, there are notable names no longer present as the Medford Raiders gear up for the 2024 cross country season. But that doesn’t mean high expectations are going away.

Graduation took three runners who competed at last October’s WIAA Division 2 state meet for the girls team and it took three of Medford’s top boys, including three-time state qualifier Tanner Hraby. The off-season also saw the departure of Sherry Meyer after two years as the program’s head coach and seven more as an assistant.

The girls, however, still believe they have a strong enough core group to make another run to what would be a sixth straight Division 2 state appearance, not counting the 2020 Division 1 year. New head coach Jake Rhyner sees potential in the boys group as he and third-year assistant Stephen Reynolds anxiously await to see who emerges from that relatively young squad.

After officially starting practice on Aug. 19, the Raiders will get their first indications of what they have today, Thursday, at Prentice-Rib Lake’s Timm’s Hill Invitational, held on what is viewed by many cross country enthusiasts as one of the area’s most challenging courses.

“We did a lot of work around the track just so I could see people,” Rhyner said Tuesday about the first week-plus of practice. “The ability levels range from people who just want to have fun and just get fit –– and that’s great –– to others who have more performancebased goals. So we’re trying to balance it out and keep everyone engaged. That was something Stephen and Sherry had both mentioned is to try to keep the team together through practice a bit. You have to stagger things and get creative with smaller loops, out and backs, so kids aren’t just out on their own. It doesn’t really feel like a team sport when it’s that way.”

After today’s meet, Medford is back in action Tuesday at the much flatter course at Wausau’s Nine Mile Recreation Area for the Mosinee Invitational.

Rhyner, a 2002 Medford Area Senior High graduate and a cross country and track standout in those days, has returned to his hometown after several years of competing at high levels in college at UW-La Crosse and professionally in triathlons.

Early on, he seems to have made a positive impression on the athletes.

“It’s going good,” junior Will Daniels said. “I think we have a really good coach. He seems like he knows his stuff.”

“He also has a chiropractic side to it,” junior Morgan Liske said. “So if you’re hurting, he usually knows exactly what it is, which is really nice.”

Cross country followers may think Medford’s girls team is hurting after losing its record-breaking leader from the past few years, Meredith Richter, as well as Ella Daniels and one of last years’ most improved runners, Kylie Potvin, to graduation. Richter is now working with Nebraska-Omaha’s NCAA Division 1 program.

The Raiders, who saw their six-year run of GNC championships ended by Tomahawk last year, don’t agree with the notion that they’re on a decline.

“I wouldn’t say it would be a rebuilding year,” Reynolds said. “I wouldn’t say that at all for the girls. We lose two of our top runners, Ella and Meredith, but I still think the sky’s the limit for them to see what they’ve got.”

Junior Lindsay Kahn will likely be Medford’s new number-one runner. She was a first-team performer with a fifth-place finish in last fall’s GNC championship and her 13th-place finish at the Colby sectional was key to a second-place team finish that got Medford back to state.

The junior class includes two more runners with state experience in Morgan Liske and Mallory Richter. Liske was 13th in the conference meet last fall, good for a spot on the All-GNC second team, and Richter was 16th, good for honorable mention. Richter was 19th in the sectional and Liske was 21st. Senior Ella Dassow has competed in three state meets for Medford, was an honorable mentionee in the GNC last fall with a 20thplace finish and her 32nd-place finish in the sectional clinched the team’s tiebreaker win over Oconto Falls.

“If you think about it, we lost two super good people but a lot of us can fill in for Ella and for Meredith,” Liske said. “I’m hoping Lindsay steps up a little and takes her place. There’s still a fair chance that we can get somewhere. We just have to work hard for it.” “I think the time gaps from two through five for the girls, that’s going to be everything,” Rhyner said. “We’ll see how tight that is and how close we can get to Lindsay. She’s probably going to be out in front. But if we can make that gap 40 seconds, that would be probably what it’s going to take.” Kahn said she’s excited to take on the team’s leading role. “I feel pretty good,” Kahn said. “I’m not going to be completely Meredith, but I’m going to try my best to really push this season. It will be really exciting to see how our team does.” Junior Esme Anderson and sophomore Willow Dassow add depth to the squad as returning letter winners and will be in the hunt for Medford’s fifth spot. Seniors Amy Espinoza and Lexus Hraby also return from last year’s team along with sophomores Kayla Daniels and Lauren Stark.

Senior Carly Koski is out for the first time as is sophomore Josey Krug. Freshman Greta Seidel is the mix as well.

“We’ll see what the girls can bring to the table this year,” Reynolds said. “It’s going to be a tight race. Me and Jake talked about it. If you look at that sectional meet, we think it’s going to be a close call. The girls will have to grind it out again this year.”

“We’re taking the approach that we’ll be ready for championship season,” Rhyner said. “We’re going to train through it. I know that’s the girls’ goal. The community kind of expects the girls team to do well. We’re going to train for the end of the year. They’re going to have some tired legs early on. If they’re not where they want to be early on they just have to be patient.”

For the boys, the leadership mantle falls to senior Brandon Curtis and juniors Will Daniels and Evan Pagel after the departures of strong four-year runners Hraby, Nick Steliga and Logan Gubser.

Rhyner said he’s been pleasantly surprised so far with the group of 14 runners and is anxious to see who steps up as the year progresses.

“They said the numbers were going to be down and there weren’t any upperclassmen really, but I think they have a really promising young group,” Rhyner said. “If we can keep them engaged and healthy and have some fun along the way, this is a group come junior and senior years they could be really good.”

Curtis, who did not run as a freshman, took a big step forward last fall, dropping almost three minutes from meet one to season’s end and earning honorable mention in the GNC with a 21st-place finish.

“Brandon is a surprise,” Rhyner said. “I didn’t know him. He went out for track last spring for the first time. He did a 1-mile time trial last Tuesday and he essentially PR’d. He’s a wild card. I think he can be as good as he wants to be. He is clearly developing and track helped him, so we’ll see.”

Pagel is another hard worker who has steadily improved in cross country and track. Daniels got under the 20-minute mark by season’s end last fall, which was his first year in cross country.

“Just try the best I can and see how the year goes,” Curtis said of his goals. “I feel a lot better than last year. I got a lot of miles in over the summer.”

“I’m hoping to see some improvement,” Daniels said. “I’m hoping to be our second or third runner.”

The competition to claim the rest of the varsity spots will be interesting to watch.

Sophomores Peyton Ried and Jordan Lavin return after lettering last season. Nevyn Gripentrog and Ayden Tyznik are also back looking to improve upon their freshman seasons.

A big freshman group came out and gave the roster a nice boost. It includes Corbyn Radlinger, Ace Arndt, Isiah Szydel, Angus Hamland, Manny Espinoza and Corbyn Fuchs. Isaac Damm is a new sophomore on the team.

“There are actually some young guys that are pretty dang quick,” Daniels said. “A lot of fast guys. I think we’ll be an all-right team.”

“I think we’ll find out a lot about the guys (Thursday),” Rhyner said, noting that Radlinger, Hamland and Arndt were the among the freshmen to show some good signs in the first week. “We just don’t know. We haven’t done anything too race specific yet. We’re just getting some miles in the legs.”

“We’ll see how the season progresses,” Reynolds said. “Every meet we just want to improve, get better and work toward getting where they want to be.”

Medford finished fourth last fall in the GNC, which was won easily by Lakeland. The Raiders, though, were just five points behind Rhinelander and four behind Tomahawk.

Highlights of the 2024 schedule include the annual home meet on Oct. 3, the Smiley Invitational in Wausau on Sept. 21 and the GNC Championships at Northland Pines on Oct. 19. Colby will again host the sectional the following weekend. Medford will get a feel for Colby’s course at a Sept. 14 invitational.

The sectional field is similar to last year, including Shawano, the defending girls champion and boys runner-up, defending boys champion Lakeland as well as solid teams from Tomahawk, Rhinelander, Oconto Falls.

Medford’s new cross country head coach Jake Rhyner addresses the team at the start of its early-morning practice Tuesday. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS