Sports

Revenge is sweet, especially when it comes against a conference rival.

That was the case for the Middleton’s girls volleyball team when they hosted the annual Cardinal Invitational last Saturday.

Just nine days after host Madison Memorial took three of four sets in a Big Eight Conference match on Aug. 31, Middleton earned a rematch on its own turf.

After both teams split a pair of matches in pool play, they met in the Silver Bracket championship game with a fifth-place finish in the 12-team tournament at stake.

The Cardinals left nothing to chance in showing their grit and determination to earn some redemption as Middleton swept the Spartans, 29-27, 25-21 in one of the most exciting matches of the day.

Middleton’s boys soccer team had one its most demanding weeks of the year.

It was also highly successful.

The Cardinals won three of four contests and are now 5-3 on the year and 2-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

“We were happy with 3-1, but know we could've gone 4-0,” Middleton coach Kevin Pauls said.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week:

• Middleton 7, Madison La Follette 0 — Yijoon Kang led the Cardinals with two goals as Middleton rolled past the Lancers on Sept. 5.

“La Follette played us tough, but we were able to get the better of them,” Pauls said.

Tony Murphy had a goal and an assist, while Middleton also got goals from Jimmy Murphy, Nebil Siraj, Cal Avery and Besian Ljumani. The Cardinals also got two assists from Brennan Mauer and one assist from Riley Kann.

“We controlled the entire game and had lots of positive play from everyone,” Pauls said.

Divide and conquer.

Well, almost.

Middleton’s girls swimming team split its roster in half last Saturday and sent teams to two different invitationals. The results were impressive.

Middleton finished in second place at the 12-team Brookfield East Invite. The Cardinals also won the Sun Prairie East Invite.

“We had a great weekend,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. “The girls at Sun Prairie swam a lot of season best times, which we are super happy about. We were really proud of the girls for their effort and the result was winning the meet. The girls at Brookfield put up another solid performance. We had some great swims and we have some room for improvement.”

Here's a recap of both events:

BROOKFIELD EAST INVITE

Olivia Chellevold did what she does best — shine.

And Middleton’s boys cross country team did the same.

Chellevold, a sophomore on Middleton’s girls cross country team, won the River Valley Invitational on Saturday. The 16-team event had 112 total runners.

The Cardinals’ boys also enjoyed a terrific day, finishing second out of 20 teams.

Madison West won the boys race with 62 team points. Middleton was second with 117, while DeForest (121), Madison La Follette (119) and Sun Prairie East (143) rounded out the top five.

“We had a team goal of placing second, which I thought could be accomplished but certainly difficult,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “We were all thrilled to finish in second place.

“We edged out DeForest by four points which I could tell brought a lot of excitement and will bring even more confidence to this young group. That’s a team we will have to battle with to get a state berth in October.”

Middleton’s girls tennis team won the Nicolet Sweet 16 Invite last Saturday.

The 16-team event featured many of the state’s elite programs.

The Cardinals finished with 95 points and edged runner-up University School of Milwaukee (91). Whitefish Bay was third with 89 points, while Homestead (83) and DSHA (73) rounded out the top five.

Lydia Sabat, Middleton’s No. 2 singles player, won her flight and hauled in 16 team points for the Cardinals. Sabat defeated Aubrey Jayne of University School, 6-4, 6-2, in the title match.

Middleton also had three third place finishes.

Top singles player Netra Somasundaram won her first two matches, before falling to Whitefish Bay’s Clare Schaefer in the semifinals. Somasundaram then defeated Kimberly’s Julia Gurholt in the third place match.

Middleton’s Sophie Shi was also third at No. 3 singles.

A grand opening, indeed.

When the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District broke ground on the district’s multi-million dollar football stadium project on May 16, 2022, the high school football program knew that the team’s first game at the new stadium was going to be a big deal no matter what.

It’ll be an even bigger deal considering who the opponent is this Friday.

Not only is it Middleton’s biggest rival, but also the co-favorites in the Big Eight Conference this fall.

Verona.

“I think it’s going to be pretty electric.  We won’t have to get our kids jacked up for that  game — they’ll be jacked up,” Middleton co-interim head coach Tim Simon said. “It should be a great environment. 

“Any time Verona and MIddleton play it’s a big crowd, but I would expect it to be maybe bigger than normal this year.”

MADISON — Sputter as the engine did early on for Middleton’s football team last Friday at Madison La Follette, the Cardinals eventually shifted into high gear.

And then they turned on the cruise control.

Paced by countless big plays on offense and a fantastically stout defense — including three interceptions — the Cardinals routed the host Lancers, 48-0. Middleton, ranked third in the WIAA Division 1 WisSports.net coaches poll, surged to a 42-0 lead at halftime and was never challenged in the Big Eight Conference opener for both teams.

Audrey Alexander knew what had to be done.

So did Piper Garcia-Hall, Brynn Sundell and Tait Haag.

Middleton’s 400-yard freestyle relay team understood that if they won their event against Verona last Friday, the Cardinals would capture this highly-competitive dual meet.

Mission accomplished.

The Cardinals’ quartet nipped the Wildcats’ foursome, allowing Middleton to leave Verona High School with a thrilling 94-92 win.

“We are very happy with the performance our girls put up,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. “Both teams swam extremely well, and it was a great finish to the meet.”

Dual meets don’t get more exciting than this.

And Middleton’s foursome ended the event in style, finishing the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:34.48, just 0.73 seconds ahead of Verona (3:35.21).

The finish capped a night in which Middleton had several high-level swims — and needed every one of them to hold off Verona’s terrific team.

In a perfect world, Kevin Pauls would have loved his Middleton boys soccer team to sweep its two games last week.

If the Cardinals could just get one, though, they picked the right one to capture.

Middleton rolled by Madison Memorial, 3-1, last Thursday in a game that figures to have major ramifications in deciding the eventual Big Eight Conference champion. The Cardinals fell the next night, though, dropping a 2-1 decision to visiting Green Bay Notre Dame.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week:

• Middleton 3, Madison Memorial 1 — Riley Kann had a pair of goals and Sawyer FitzRandolph added another as the Cardinals knocked off the Spartans in their conference opener.

“It was a good way to open the conference season,” Pauls said.

It sure was.

The Verona cross country invite is traditionally one of the top meets of the season.

The fact Middleton’s boys finished second out of 31 teams must have the Cardinals feeling like terrific things are in store the next two months.

Madison West won the star-studded meet with 104 points. Middleton was second with 157 points, while Verona (166), West Salem (178) and Lakeside Lutheran (185) rounded out the top five.

“I was impressed by the team's second place showing,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “That's a great feat for our young squad. While the times don't reflect it on a warm day and hilly course, the team placement was a better indicator of where we are right now.