November 2016

Middleton’s boys volleyball team had another unforgettable season.

And the Cardinals were handsomely rewarded when it came time for postseason honors.

Middleton, which reached the state tournament for the fourth straight year, had six players earn all-Big Eight Conference honors. Cardinals head coach Ben White was also named the state’s Coach of the Year.

Middleton junior Thomas Robson was named first-team all-Big Eight, was the conference’s Player of the Year and received second-team all-state honors. Senior outside hitter Cole Spitler and junior setter Andrew Lepage received first-team all-league honors.

Junior middle blocker Brian Verganz was named second-team all-conference, while senior defensive specialist/outside hitter Ben Miller and sophomore outside hitter Eagan Peters-Michaud were both named honorable mention all-conference.

Middleton’s girls golfers enjoyed a dream season.

The Cardinals rolled through the Big Eight Conference winning the league’s dual meet championship and the conference tournament. Middleton finished in first place at 15 of 17 invites prior to the state tournament.

And the Cardinals finished second at state behind Hartland Arrowhead.

The postseason awards season was almost as enjoyable.

Middleton seniors Alex Thomas and Morgan Miles and junior Payton Hodson were all named first-team all-Big Eight Conference. Cardinals freshman Kate Meier was also named second-team all-conference.

Thomas was also named the Big Eight’s Player of the Year and was the state’s Co-Player of the Year, an honor she shared with Hartland Arrowhead’s Emily Lauterbach. Thomas was also named academic all-state for a third consecutive year.

Few members of the Middleton boys basketball community have seen more than Jerry Raffel.

Raffel, the Cardinals’ top assistant coach, joined the great John Boyle’s staff in 1991. He stayed on board when Kevin Bavery replaced a retiring Boyle in 2006.

Now, set to begin his 26^th season inside the Middleton program, Raffel is a walking expert in modern history.

So when Raffel offers up the following opinion, you listen. Closely.

“The buzz we have right now, we didn’t have that in ’98 until we were three-quarters of the way through the season,” Raffel said, referring to the last Middleton team that reached the state tournament. “Right now, I’ve never seen a more energized team than this. And this group is every bit as good as that ’98 team was. It’s really exciting.”

And how.

The night before Middleton’s first practice, Bavery was getting texts from current and former players that were giddy about the start of this journey.