October 2013

They are confident, assured and playing some of their best soccer of the season.

But Middleton coach Ben Kollasch knows his team needs to make a jump if it hopes to advance deep into the postseason.

Middleton received the No. 2 seed in its sectional last week and hosts seventh-seeded Janesville Craig in a regional semifinal next Tuesday. The regional final is Thursday Oct. 17, while sectionals will be Oct. 24 and 26.

Big Eight Conference champion Madison Memorial is the No. 1 seed in Middleton’s regional. Middleton is seeded second, followed by Madison West, Verona, Beloit Memorial, Badger, Janesville Craig and Janesville Parker.

Kettle Moraine is the No. 1 seed on the other half of the sectional.

It was a big Saturday for Sam Valentine and Middleton’s girls cross country team.

Valentine, the Cardinals’ standout sophomore, finished second individually at the 15-team Stoughton Invitational. And Valentine’s performance helped Middleton win the team title, as well.

Middleton finished with 47 points, while Sun Prairie was a close second at 52. Madison Memorial (109), Waunakee (109) and Stoughton (154) rounded out the top five.

“It was an exciting race to watch because positions were changing until the end,” Middleton co-coach Cindy Bremser said. “This is just a taste of what to expect, since we will see Sun Prairie at conference and sectionals, along with ranked Madison West.”  

Valentine finished the 4,000-meter race in 15 minutes, 6 seconds — 15 seconds behind Sun Prairie’s Katie Hietpas (15:06).

“She has the ability to stay very relaxed running up front and holding on in the end,” Bremser said of Valentine. "She has no fear!"

The Middleton Common Council last week unanimously approved the use of up to $400,000 in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help fund the expansion of Natus Neurology.

Natus Neurology maintains its North American corporate headquarters in the Good Neighbor City.  The company provides healthcare products used for the screening, detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical ailments in newborn care. 

Products are sold worldwide with distributers in more than 100 countries. 

The company recently decided to expand its headquarters and wants to maintain its Middleton location.  The expansion will ramp up its customer training, supplier/contractor and corporate business meetings. 

This is expected to have a substantial positive impact on the local economy, increasing commerce at hotels, restaurants, and in entertainment and shopping.  Natus also pledges to the city it will maintain 174 full time positions after the project is complete.

There are still three weeks left in the Big Eight Conference’s girls swimming season.

But in all likelihood, the league championship was decided last Friday.

Middleton and Verona/Mount Horeb — the league’s last two undefeated teams — took part in a conference showdown. The Cardinals then proceeded to capture first place in eight of 11 events and notched a 99-71 win.

Middleton improved to 6-0, while V/MH slipped to 5-1.

“This was by far our toughest dual meet of the season,” Middleton coach Lauren Cabalka said. “We knew we would have to be on top of our game if we wanted to win this meet.  

“Verona is an incredibly talented team with a lot more depth than they have had in the past. They are able to come at you from many different angles, so a lot of strategy went into our line up.