Raiders track has strength in numbers
By Casey Krautkramer
Marathon’s varsity boys and girls track teams have a bevy of experienced athletes returning this season, just like they normally do. Curt Miller is in his seventh season as the Red Raiders’ varsity girls head coach and second season as the varsity boys’ head coach.
The Red Raider girls’ returning letter winners are senior Shilo Blake, distance; senior Jayden Henrichs, hurdles; senior Alexandria Matthiae, sprints; senior Addison Molepske, sprints; senior Alyssa Sessions, sprints; senior Izzy Vardon, high jump; junior Halle Laabs, sprints; junior Emma Love, throws; junior Lindsay Putnam, sprints; junior Claire Riesgraf, throws; junior Madelyn Volkman, sprints; junior Mya Yach, distance; sophomore Kayla Cihlar, sprints; sophomore Aubrey Fieri, distance; sophomore Natalee Hummer, pole vault; sophomore Addison Knoeck, jumps and sprints; sophomore Maycie Myszka, sprints and jumps and sophomore Greenly Treankler, distance.
Miller outlines the top newcomers to the girls varsity track and field squad this season.
“We have 15 incoming freshmen to add to an already large roster,” he said. “A few have already competed in varsity competition including Bristal Baumann, pole vault; Izzy Berglund, throws; Breanna Fitzgerald, high jump and hurdles; Karilyn Hummer, pole vault; Sophia Kleist, pole vault and sprints; BrookLynn Koput, sprints and Taelyn Rennie, jumps and sprints.”
Marathon’s boys returning letter winners are senior Levi Krautkramer, sprints/ distance; senior Wilson Marks, sprints; senior Logan Rohland, distance/high jump; senior River Stanecki, pole vault; senior Logan Witberler, hurdles; junior Luke Hoenisch, sprints; junior Nathan Hoenisch, sprints; junior Ethan Huebsch, distance; junior John Kahon, distance; junior Chris Marcell, throws; junior Gavin Matthiae, distance; junior Javier Pintor, sprints/pole vault; sophomore Brady Annis, distance; sophomore Garrett Bracewell, hurdles/sprints/high jump; sophomore Matthew Kindlarski, distance; sophomore Logan Peters, distance and sophomore Fred Tylinski, hurdles/sprints.
Miller outlines the top newcomers to the boys varsity track and field team this season.
“The boys have a number of additions to our program as well, including both freshmen and others new to the team,” he said. “I would anticipate sophomores Landon Hilgart, throws/sprints; Ben Howell, jumps/sprints and freshmen Alec Miller (pole vault) and Cael Riesgraf (high jump/ hurdles) to have an early impact on the varsity roster.”
The majority of the Marathon boys track and field athletes who competed as individuals or in relays at last season’s state championships in La Crosse return. The only boys who graduated last spring were Jacob Smith who placed seventh in the pole vault at state and was an alternate on the state 4x800-meter relay team and Andrew Glennon, who was an alternate on the state 4x400-meter relay team.
Marcell took second place in the discus at state last season after taking eighth at state as a freshman. Stanecki finished 11th in the pole vault in his first trip to state last season. Bracewell took 11th place in the 110-meter hurdles in his inaugural trip to state last year.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Bracewell, Krautkramer, Rohland and Annis took 12th place at state last season. The 4x800-meter relay of Ethan Huebsch, Krautkramer, Rohland and Annis placed 13th at state last season.
“We are excited for the return of so many kids with state experience,” Curt Miller said. “All four runners plus an alternate from each of those state relays are back, which should provide great competition within our program. We also return state qualifiers in the pole vault, high hurdles and discus. State experience is great for the confidence of those who have been there, but also a great motivator for others who aspire to reach that goal at the end of the year.”
Marcell was disappointed in his second-
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MARATHON VARSITY GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD- Introducing the 2025 Red Raiders varsity girls track and field squad. Track team members pictured, from left to right, front row: Addison Knoeck, Olivia Mader, Caly Fieri, Kennedy Blake, Romy Schaelin, Alicia Schumacher and Kyana Wise; second row: Taelyn Lang, Kayla Cihlar, Alexandria Matthiae, Bristal Baumann, Anna Chesek, Halle Laabs, Mya Yach and Natilee Hummer; third row: Sophia Kleist, Katie Cliver, Charlotte Schlagel, Josephine Davis, Haylee Altenhofen, Jayden Henrichs, Izzy Berglund, Addisen Molepske and Taelyn Rennie; fourth row: Coach Rhiana Seubert, Lindsay Putnam, Brook-Lynn Koput, Madelyn Volkman, Alyssa Sessions, Iria Cardero-Pitarque, Shilo Blake, Ava Richter, Bella Bowe, Tauna Rindt and coach Ashley Gertschen; fifth row: Breanna Fitzgerald, Karlyn Hummer, Emma Love, Izzy Vardon, Greenly Treankler, Abby Falkowski, Aubrey Fieri and Claire Riesgraf; top row: Coaches Doug Miller, Ted Knoeck, Curt Miller, EJ Otto, Jon Kleinschmidt, Gary Raether and Jeff Schneider. Not pictured are Jada Lindner, Lacey Cihlar, Lizzy Clawson, Kaiya Huggan, Maycie Myszka, Adalee Shuda and coaches Nicole Myszka and Bryce Seubert.
PHOTO BY STACY STUBBE
MARATHON VARSITY BOYS TRACK AND FIELD- Introducing the 2025 Red Raiders varsity boys track and field squad. Team members pictured, from left to right, front row: Alex Kaiser, Ywv Pheng Blake, Cameron Sessions, Kyle Sulzer, Aiden Lang, Brevyn Johnson and Micah Mueller; second row: Nathan Hoenisch, Carter Stieber, Levi Krautkramer, Wilson Marks, John Kahon, Matthew Kindlarski, Alex Miller, Ethan Huebsch and Javier Pintor; third row: Coaches Ted Knoeck, Rhiana Seubert and Doug Miller, Brady Annis, Jonathan Payne, Gavin Matthiae, Ben Stowell, Garrett Bracewell, Landon Hilgart, Oliver Kramm, Fred Tylinski, Luke Hoenisch and coaches Gary Raether, Ashley Gertschen and Jeff Schneider; top row: Coach Curt Miller, Logan Rohland, Asher Adamski, River Stanecki, Logan Witberler, Logan Peters, Cael Riesgraf, Chris Marcell, Marcus Doty and coaches EJ Otto and Jon Kleinschmidt.
PHOTO BY STACY STUBBE Marathon track
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place finish in the discus at state last season, because he knew that he had the potential to throw the discus further to win the state championship. His best discus throw at state was 170 feet, eight inches last season. He threw a personal best 1801/2 feet during the season, which came close to breaking Austin Kaiser’s school record in 2009 of 181 feet in the discus. Marcell is hungrier than ever this season to win the WIAA Division 3 state discus title in La Crosse.
“Chris might be the most motivated and dedicated track athlete that I have coached,” Curt Miller said. “He put in the offseason work last year to put himself in a position to contend for a state title in the discus, which he came very close to doing. He again put in a great offseason and is primed to throw both shot and discus at a very high level this spring. He has already thrown an indoor shot put of 57 feet, two inches, which has him ranked No. 4 in the state in all divisions.”
Alisha Blenker was the lone Marathon girls track and field athlete who competed at state last season. She graduated in spring.
The Red Raiders girls team last won back-to-back Marawood Conference championships in 2021 and 2022. The Newman Catholic girls won the Marawood title in 2023 and Stratford won it last season.
Marathon’s girls squad also won five consecutive WIAA Division 3 championships from 2018 through 2023, not including 2020 when the season was canceled because of COVID. Stratford moved down from competing in Division 2 in 2022 to Division 3 in 2023, due to a slight decrease in school enrollment, and the Tiger girls won the Division 3 regional championship last season.
“The girls conference as a whole has really improved in recent years, especially with the volume of state medalists coming from a variety of Marawood schools,” Curt Miller said. “To put it into perspective, Marawood girl athletes had top three finishes at state in seven of the 14 individual events in 2024, and eight of the 12 Marawood schools have put a state medalist on the podium in the last two years. Because of that, it takes a number of high level athletes to win a Marawood Conference championship or a regional title. Time will tell if we are in that position by the end of the year, but hopefully missing out on the conference championship by two points and regionals by 3-1/2 points last season is a motivator for our girls this season.”
BOYS RELAY INDOOR RACE- Marathon varsity boys track athlete Marcus Doty runs barely behind Edgar’s Caius Higgins in a relay race during Monday’s Marawood Conference indoor championship meet at UW-Stevens Point.
STAFF PHOTO/KRIS O’LEARY
