BELLEVILLE — Sugar River won the girls Capitol South duals title last year, but finished fourth in the single-day even last year.

In the postseason, six individuals qualified for sectionals and four for state, including returners Alex Atwell, Grace Nommensen and Herioli Fraire. 

The boys finished tied for first in conference duals, but were fifth at the single-day meet. Eight Raiders qualified for sectionals, and six for state, including Carter Scholey, DJ Donnell, Jack Erickson, DeMarcus Conner and Lawrence Vasquez.

Overall, the Raiders bring back 40 letterwinners from 2022.

“We are expecting to win the Capitol South duals and compete for a top-3 spot at the conference meet,” head coach Willie Johnson said. “As long as we stay healthy, we will be competitive in our competitions. The success that we had as a team and the number of athletes who qualified for the state meet last year is something we pride out program on.”

Johnson said distance running and relays will carry the team each week.

“One thing we have going for us is the competition that occurs in practice and athletes pushing each other to get better,” Johnson said. 

There are a couple of obstacles that are posed each season for the program. A major hurdle is getting the student-athletes from two rival schools — Belleville and New Glarus — to put aside their difference and forge a partnership each day throughout the season.

“A challenge for us year in and year out is bringing the two schools (Belleville and New Glarus) together to compete as one, considering that we compete against each other in various other sports,” Johnson said. 

Another improvement? 

“Knowing that we have the numbers to fill each event, we still need to get kids to try different things to get them out of their comfort zone to challenge each other,” Johnson said. “The Capitol Conference as a whole is very competitive and we need to be ready every time we step on the track.”