A side of Kraut

by

Casey K rautkramer Reporter

Busy time of year for sports

There is a smorgasbord of local high school varsity sports playoff games this Thursday, May 25, for fans to attend. This means I’ll be very busy traveling to each village in The Record-Review’s coverage area to take photos at these contests.

On Tuesday, I learned that the Marathon varsity girls track and field team has technically won five straight WIAA Division 3 regional championships not including the cancelled 2020 season because of the coronavirus. The years go by so quickly because I thought the Marathon girls had only won three consecutive regional titles, not realizing the Red Raiders have technically won five in a row. I received help from Marathon track and field alum Vanessa Krueger, via her mother Lynn Krueger, in helping me figure out the historical information.

Athens, Edgar, Marathon and Stratford boys and girls track and field athletes who finished in the top four places in their regional events on Monday in Stratford will compete in the WIAA Division 3 sectional that begins at 3:30 p.m. this Thursday, May 25, at Marathon High School.

Track and field athletes from just under 40 schools along with their coaches, parents and fans will converge on Marathon City. There will be track and athletes there from schools as far away as Algoma, Florence, Manitowoc Roncalli, Mishicot, Oconto and Reedsville.

The top four individuals that place in each sectional event will advance to the WIAA state championships on June 2-3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex on the UW-La Crosse campus. It’s interesting that a school only needs a handful of track and field athletes competing at the state championships to either win a gold state title trophy or a silver state runners-up trophy. For example, last season the Athens boys track and field squad only had four boys competing at state yet the Bluejays still brought home the WIAA Division 3 state runners-up trophy.

The villages of Athens, Edgar and Stratford will also be very busy with playoff sporting events this Thursday, May 25. The Athens baseball team plays a regional quarterfinal home game at 4:30 p.m. and the Athens softball team plays against Rib Lake in the WIAA Division 5 home regional championship at 4:45 p.m.

Edgar’s baseball squad plays a home regional quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m. this Thursday, May 25. Stratford’s baseball team also plays a home regional quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Stratford’s softball team plays Edgar in the WIAA Division 4 regional title in Stratford.

The varsity baseball diamonds in Athens and Stratford are close to each other so fans can go back-and-forth between the games. Enjoy!