April 2022

The numbers are remarkable.

The results could be just as amazing.

Middleton’s girls track and field team has 140 athletes competing this spring, the highest number in school history.

While there are many challenges in juggling that many athletes — and finding the right events for each one — Middleton coach Jay Schweitzer believes that amount of talent and depth could lead to a memorable season.

“I hope to take as many kids to the state meet as possible,” said Schweitzer, whose team begins its season Tuesday at Janesville Craig. “We have a great chance in all the distance events to take multiple runners and I always hope to get as many relays through to state as we can. I like our chances this year to get several to state. We have a large team and I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the benefits of track and field in the best possible ways.”

Unfinished business.

Change of heart.

Those were the terms Jamie Sims used most often when discussing why he would be staying on as the athletic director at Middleton High School.

Sims accepted the principal job at Sun Prairie High West High School in February. But in late March, Sims went to Middleton superintendent Dana Monogue and principal Peg Shoemaker and told them both he’d like to remain in his current role.

All parties quickly agreed that Sims staying on was best for the district.

“I have 100% peace of mind,” Sims said. “And what’s been great is 100% of the coaches, 100% of the community members that I’ve heard from have told me they’re happy I’m staying.

“There was a lot of work we had started here that we just weren’t done with. I just didn't have the peace of mind to leave right now. It was not the right time for my tenure to come to an end.”

MIDDLETON–Eunice Mae Christianson passed away peacefully on March 7, 2022. She was born on March 3, 1933, in Mazomanie, to Alvin Schumann and Fenella (Ketelboeter) Schumann. There, they raised Eunice, Arlene and Judy. The three sisters would become lifelong best friends.

Eunice met the love of her life, David Christianson, at a football game in DeForest, and went on to have four children, Cyndie (Sorum), David Christianson, Amy (Miller) and Jay Christianson in Middleton, in a house that they built. At that home, they invited Adam Malueg into their lives, and he instantly became a member of the family.

While raising her children, Eunice worked for many years with the Middleton School District where she touched many lives and gained many friends. Eunice loved and cherished her family and looked forward to any get-togethers with her many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

MIDDLEBURY, VT–Former Middleton resident Cecile Druzba was killed by a driver under the influence of drugs in Vermont on March 22, 2019, as she and her brother, Jacques Marton, were on their way to a celebration of life for their mother in New York. On March 22, three years to the day after her death, the driver who caused the crash, which occurred just 30 minutes from the Druzba’s home, Ian Labounty, was sentenced to two years, 10 months in prison and 10 years probation.

The police report outlined that he had passed out at the wheel, crossing the center line on Route 22A near South Burlington, VT, hitting Cecile’s car head. Cecile was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Labounty and Jacques were not seriously injured in the collision.