OnFocus Season Preview: Medford Raiders Gymnastics
Coaching staff: Head Coach Andrée Brushaber, Assistant Coach Megan Yanko, Manager: Rachel Varney
Key returners: Shayla Radlinger, Veronica Mateer, Bridget Cloud, Delaina Meyer, Raylin Rothmeier, Lindsey Kauffman are all returning team members from last year. They are so supportive of each other and really desire for the team to be close like a sisterhood. I cannot explain the level of concern they have for their teammates. They want everyone to work hard, ask questions, and truly become a part of the team. When you work with girls like these, it is hard to think of ever doing anything else.
Key newcomers: Not a “new” person to HS gymnastics but she was not on the team last year: Senior Bethany Jokiel. Bethany has a musicality to her dance and really demonstrates clean lines so we are very happy she came back to the sport for her senior year!
Brooke Buechel, Riley Hartwig, and Jordyn Grant are upcoming Freshmen that also are a part of Rainbow Gymnastics and they are just absolutely wonderful young women. I am really excited to see their confidence build so that they compete the skills I know they have in them.
Rachel Varney asked to be a manager. I was very happy to have someone willing to take on a role like that. She has been instrumental in helping our girls who are new to the sport, feel welcomed and supported. Rachel is willing to help out in any way, is so positive, and fun.
Conference outlook: I prefer taking one meet at a time. I know what our girls are capable of. It just comes down to execution and mindset. I think we will be strong as we have a deeper team this year. We lost three wonderful girls last year. It is weird to be doing this season without them. This year our three freshmen are all-around athletes which really helps the program now but also for upcoming years as well. We also added some new girls to the sport so we are growing and they are working very hard. I appreciate the trust they have in my approach to focus on certain skills. Looking forward to the competition, Marshfield is always a tough team to beat and we really respect what the other teams have accomplished as well. In gymnastics, things can change quickly. Athletes are always building skills or fine tuning things so you never know what the competition has in store for you. There are always surprises when club girls enter into high school but new girls who choose to come out can also make their mark. It is a really exciting time for us.
Keys to your success this season: A positive mindset, strong leaders, and supportive girls are the key to this season indeed. We are fortunate to still have three girls on our team from Colby. We are also grateful for Rainbow Gymnastics because their equipment, staff, and board members who keep the club strong allow us to be a strong high school program. Because we were so successful in the past years, WIAA moved us to division 1 and that has us going against some schools that have three times the population of Medford and Colby schools combined.
Coach’s comments: anything else you’d like to share?
We have three home meets this season and would really like to see spectators! We would also like to thank the community for supporting us through our many fundraisers: face painting, shaved ice sales, and our current pizza fundraiser! I also want to thank our bus drivers for getting us to our meets safely during the most inconsistent weather. Thank you for reporting our sport and giving these girls the attention they deserve!
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
