Walk into a practice at the Simek Recreation Center and you will instantly notice one of the key earlyseason stories for the Medford Raiders’ girls hockey program. After scraping by the past three winters with a dozen or fewer bodies, depending on the day or week, the roster has nearly doubled in size to start the 2021-22 season, suddenly giving co-head coaches Jenna Wieting and Scott Brandner

The Medford Raiders open the new hockey season with some senior leadership, some offensive playmakers, some defensive experience and, for the first time in a while, potentially some goaltending depth. The key question, however, is will 13 bodies be enough to successfully get through the rigors of a 21-game regular season, as the schedule stands now? “I like our team,” third-year head coach

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS Medford senior Lydia Pernsteiner tries to split defenders Laurissa Klapatauskas (l.) and Bryn Fronk during some five-on-five work in Monday’s practice at Raider Hall. An experienced Raiders team opens its new season Tuesday night at Merrill. Late 2021 run brings belief to the new season While it’s tough to carry momentum from last year’s season-ending run to sectionals

It’s been nine months, but a nice run to end the 2020-21 season put a positive jolt into Rib Lake’s girls basketball program and now, a couple of familiar faces are hoping to carry that forward into this year and beyond. Wayne and Nancy Mann, who were the varsity and JV coaches during one of the program’s longest runs of success in the late 1990s through mid 2000s, are back in those positions

Wisconsin’s eight-player football state championship game may be set for this Saturday afternoon in Wisconsin Rapids, but it’s hard to imagine that game will produce more championship drama than last Friday’s semifinal between Gilman and Newman Catholic did. Down 22-0 and outplayed for the first time this fall through three quarters, Gilman finally found an offensive flow late in the

Medford senior Joe Sullivan capped his illustrious cross country career on the medals podium, while sophomore Tanner Hraby set a strong starting point for himself during Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 state championship race at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Sullivan finished eighth out of 151 finishers in a time of 16:36.2 that ranks as his best out of three state appearances, though

It was a rare occasion Saturday for the Medford Raiders to not find themselves in the running for team or individual honors at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 girls cross country state championship race. But afterwards, the Raiders took their eighth-place team finish in stride, thankful for the season and opportunities they had. The underclassmen gained some valuable state experience and motivation

The Medford Raiders went into Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 sectional girls cross country race as the favorites and competed like it, adding to their 2021 string of no-doubt victories and earning their third straight sectional championship on the Colby High School course. The Raiders, who were denied last year’s sectional title with a late switch to Division 1, embraced the role of being the

A curveball was thrown to Medford’s girls cross country team the evening before Saturday’s Great Northern Conference championships, but that wasn’t going to stop the Raiders from maintaining its dominance over its league rivals. With top runner Meredith Richter as well as two JV contributors getting caught up in COVID contact tracing and unable to participate, the Raiders still made it