Sports

Progress. Growth. Improvement.

That’s what Franco Marcos is hoping to get with his extremely young Middleton girls volleyball team. And that’s exactly what the Cardinals gave their head coach last week.

Middleton opened the week with a tough, 3-0, loss to Verona last Tuesday. But the Cardinals rebounded with a 3-0 win over Madison East last Thursday, and a second place finish at the Appleton West Invite last Saturday.

“It was a good week and we showed a lot of improvement as the week went on,” Marcos said. “I am really excited about this team.”

Marcos was excited about his team, even after it lost to Verona, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22. That’s because he saw his team get better as the match went on.

Logan Welti had 11 kills and 12 digs for Middleton, while Rachel Severson had 12 assists. Amber Karn had nine digs, while Cole Jordee had six blocks and seven kills.

Middleton’s girls cross country team finished second at the star-studded River Valley Invitational last Saturday.

Sun Prairie won the large schools competition with 56 points, while Middleton (71), McFarland (98), Dodgeville-Mineral Point (129) and Freedom (161) rounded out the top five.

The Cardinals competed without their top runner, Bobbi Patrick, who was taking her ACT test.

“Sun Prairie ran an excellent race placing three runners before our top runner,” Middleton co-coach Cindy Bremser said.

Middleton junior Sam Valentine finished 10^th overall in 20 minutes, 1 second. Freshman Charlotte Sue was 12^th (20:13), senior Rachel Wians was 13^th (20:14), senior Jenny Launder was 17^th (20:31) and senior Jennifer Phillips was 19^th (20:35).

There was plenty of enthusiasm from Day One.

There was excitement, eagerness, anticipation.

But even for the greatest optimist inside Middleton’s boys soccer program, the Cardinals’ remarkable start has to come as a surprise.

Middleton won two more Big Eight Conference games last week, rolling past Madison East, 4-2, last Tuesday and besting Madison La Follette, 5-0, last Thursday. The Cardinals improved to 8-0-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

After losing 15 seniors, no one inside the program knew exactly what to expect. How about a magnificent start that has the Cardinals ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

“We were optimistic coming into the season, but never expected to find success this quickly,” Middleton senior defender Jordan Grapentine said. “We lost a ton of seniors. Replacing that many players is never easy.

Brookfield — Their biggest meet of the young season was about to begin.

Nerves surrounded Middleton’s girls swimming team.

That’s when Cardinals head coach Lauren Cabalka gathered her team and delivered a simple message.

“I said, ‘We are a different team than we were three weeks ago. Let's show them who we are,’ ” Cabalka said.

Middleton did that — and then some.

The Cardinals won the star-studded, 13-team Brookfield East Invite last Saturday. Middleton finished with 439 points and toppled runner-up Verona-Mount Horeb (404.5). Madison West (343), Brookfield East (237) and Brookfield Central (225) rounded out the top five.

Back on Aug. 29, Middleton lost a dual meet to Verona-Mount Horeb, it’s first Big Eight Conference loss in more than four full seasons. So for the Cardinals this was not just redemption, but an opportunity to measure their progress.

With Madison La Follette coming to town last Friday, Middleton’s football team figured to face its toughest test yet this season.

Thanks to another stingy effort by the defense, it turned out to be no contest.

After yielding an early score, the Cardinals shut down the Lancers and cruised to a 28-7 Big Eight Conference victory in a battle of unbeatens.

“Our defense was real sharp tonight, played fast, played assignment football, and made plays when plays needed to be made,” Middleton coach Tim Simon said.

La Follette (3-1 overall and in the Big Eight Conference) entered the game ranked ninth in the latest Associated Press state poll, while Middleton was just outside the top 10. This fact was not lost on senior defensive end Alex Wills of Middleton.

“They’re ranked No. (9) in the state,” said Wills. “We showed them who’s better.”

They’ve hit the back nine of their season.

And Middleton’s girls golf team is still in prime position to achieve all of its hopes and dreams.

The Cardinals prospered during an immensely challenging week.

Middleton tied Big Eight Conference favorite Verona during a triangular last Wednesday. The Wildcats finished the league dual meet season 8-0-1, Middleton improved to 6-0-1, and if the Cardinals can win a triangular Wednesday at Beloit Memorial, the two teams will share the regular season crown.

Middleton also finished third at last Saturday’s star-studded, 23-team Janesville Parker Invite. The Cardinals also finished fourth at last Monday’s Crusade Fore a Cure held at Maple Bluff.

“We will have some time now to really focus and get to where we need to be for the postseason,” said Cardinals coach Becky Halverson, whose team has just one match this week. “Every practice is with a purpose and we are going to put it all out there with no regrets.”

Many of the state’s best girls golf teams invaded Pleasant View Saturday.
And Middleton found out what it knew all along: it matches up quite nicely with anybody in Wisconsin.

Middleton finished in a tie for second at the 24-team Cardinal Invite.

Madison Edgewood won the event with a 322 team score, while Middleton and defending state champion Hartland Arrowhead tied for second at 324. Milton (325) and Verona (327) rounded out the top five.

“I am really pleased with our showing at the Cardinal Invite,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said.

With good reason.

Middleton’s Loren Skibba and Morgan Narowetz both carded 5-over-par 77s. Alexis Thomas shot an 81 and Rachel Thornton had an 89.

“Morgan Narowetz really stepped up this past week for us,” Halverson said. “I'm so happy for her. Having two 77's from Morgan and Loren definitely helped.  

They might have established themselves as the team to beat in the Big Eight Conference.

And they proved to the Milwaukee-area schools that they’re certainly for real.

Middleton’s soccer team enjoyed another strong week, beginning with a 2-1 win over conference foe Verona last Tuesday. The Cardinals then tied Menomonee Falls, 2-2, and rolled past Germantown, 7-3 at the Kettle Moraine Quadrangular.

Middleton, ranked fifth in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll, showed it deserves its lofty ranking.

The Cardinals had their hands full during a tight win in Verona. But Middleton got goals from Ivan Khamenka and Braden Allen and prevailed.

Junior defender Colin Ledin also had a terrific game.

“We squeaked through,” Middleton coach Ben Kollasch said. “A tough win due to some beautiful play, lots of us scrappy work and a goal line clearance from Colin Ledin.

Last week was a long one for Middleton’s girls swimming team.

The Cardinals had seven days to stew over a loss to Verona-Mount Horeb. And Middleton’s next meet couldn’t come fast enough.

When it finally arrived last Friday, the Cardinals were ready and cruised past visiting Madison East, 132-38. Middleton improved to 2-1 in the Big Eight Conference.

“This was a much better meet for us,” Middleton coach Lauren Cabalka said. “The girls had a long weekend to recover after a tough loss.  

“The girls came back in a much better place and ready to move forward. After a solid week of practice, the girls were back in their comfort zone and ready to swim the way they are capable of swimming.”

And that’s what the Cardinals did, capturing 10 first place finishes in the 11 events and sweeping the top three spots in seven events.

Middleton’s boys cross country team began its season with a third place finish at the Verona Invite last Saturday.

Madison La Follette won the 21-team meet with 46 points. Madison West (51), Middleton (134), Baraboo (139) and Madison Memorial (160) rounded out the top five.

“The Big Eight (Conference) has some very good runners with West and La Follette stacked up front,” Middleton co-coach Cindy Bremser said. “All the boys ran aggressively.”

Cardinals sophomore Gus Newcomb led Middleton with an 11^th place overall finish, completing the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 47 seconds. Junior Christian Lindblom was 20^th (17:03), freshman Jack Radar was 28^th (17:18), junior David Marrone was 36^th (17:28) and senior Andrew Plumb was 39^th (17:40).