BRODHEAD — The Cardinals will look to reload as best as they can this fall, after graduating back-to-back strong senior classes in 2020 and 2021.

“Last years senior class of boys was a strong group overall and made up most the varsity spots, so we will have work to do to fill not only their talent, but also their leadership,” said Curt Gratz, Brodhead-Juda’s coach in his 21st season. On the girls side, “Anna Skomal will be missed this season, she was a hard worker and helped lead the team last year.”

Back this year on the girls side are seniors Liana Daniels, Lexie Lobeck, Vanessa Olmedo and Emily Welsh. Junior Kalena Riemer also returns, as do sophomores Madi Brown and Olivia Hartwig.

On the boys side, senior Ephraim Corbit is back, as are juniors Nathan Engen and Gavin Pinnow.

“Our strength on our guys team will be our pack running.  How close our pack ends up being to each other will determine where we end up as a team,” Gratz said. “We have a strong group of core girls. They will need to run as a close group to find success this year.”

Gratz said he hopes the team can place well in the conference on both sides, “but most importantly, that the individual athletes improve from last year.”

He said the girls will need to improve on its pack running, which will be key to the success of the team. 

“We have a good group of talent, and need to teach them to work together in races to have a strong team. They will need each other’s encouragement and motivation to get to the goals they have for themselves,” Gratz said.

Gratz said the Rock will be an interesting conference to follow this fall, with a lot more talent than in many years in the past, and he thinks the league will be wide open to a number of teams to make a run at a title.