Sports

If it’s quantity you want, they’ve got it.

If it’s quality you desire, that’s also there.

Middleton’s girls track and field team is heading to the WIAA Division 1 state meet — which is being held Friday and Saturday at UW-La Crosse — with an abundance of talented athletes.

The Cardinals advanced five individuals and all four relay teams through the Madison Memorial Sectional last Friday. And now hopes are extremely high at state.

“The goal of sectionals, of course, is to qualify for state and be in the top three in your event and hopefully ‘peak’ at the right time,” Middleton coach Tara Franklin said. “The girls did just that.”

Boy, did they ever.

La Crosse Logan won the 18-team sectional with 99.5 points, while Sun Prairie (87.5) and Middleton (85) rounded out the top three. But Middleton has to feel good about the group it’s bringing to state.

Ashley Stormer picked the perfect time to pitch her best game of the season.

Amber Karn chose the right time to display her plethora of offensive skills.

And Middleton’s girls softball team selected the ideal time to play its finest game of the year.

Middleton was clicking on all cylinders and routed host DeForest, 10-0, last Thursday in a WIAA Division 1 regional final that was stopped after six innings due to the mercy rule.

Middleton, the No. 6 seed in the regional, improved to 17-7 and reached sectional play for the first time since 2011. DeForest, the No. 3 seed, ended the year 21-5.

The Cardinals now face second-seeded Madison La Follette in a sectional semifinal Tuesday at Olbrich Park. The sectional final is Thursday at 5 p.m. in Middleton.

OCONOMOWOC — Middleton’s boys tennis team won the Oconomowoc Sectional last Thursday and sent two singles players and two doubles teams to the WIAA Division 1 individual state meet. That tournament runs Thursday through Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Middleton also earned a trip to the team state meet June 13-14 at Nielsen. Middleton opens with a quarterfinal match against Milwaukee Marquette, a program that has won the last seven state team titles.

At sectionals, Middleton freshman Jake Van Emburgh won his flight at No. 1 singles. Van Emburgh, the No. 2 seed at state, now carries a 21-1 record to state. Van Emburgh has a first round bye, then meets either Sun Prairie’s Keegan Moldenhauer (13-4) or Marquette’s Caleb Schifano (17-8) in a second round match Thursday at approximately 4:30 p.m.

It would have been easy for Charlie Stankiewicz to throw in the towel. To say enough is enough.

Fortunately for Middleton’s golf program, that never happened.

Stankiewicz battled and battled, but failed to earn a spot with the Cardinals’ varsity until this — his senior season. Now, he’s making it a year to remember.

Stankiewicz shot a 3-over-par 74 and captured medalist honors at the Middleton Regional Tuesday at Pleasant View Golf Course. Stankiewicz’s big day helped the Cardinals win the regional title and advance to Tuesday’s Baraboo Sectional.

“Good for Charlie,” Middleton coach Tom Cabalka said. “I’ve said it before, Charlie is our best ball striker, and when he hits it like he was (Tuesday) and puts it in the center of the green, he’s going to score well.”

Middleton’s girls softball team has overcome many obstacles during its impressive season.

Now, the Cardinals will have to do it one more time.

Middleton trailed Holmen, 3-1, in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Tuesday when the skies opened. After a one-hour rain delay, the game was postponed until Wednesday.

The winner advances to face either third-seeded DeForest or 14th-seeded Madison West Thursday.

Middleton, the No. 6 seed in the regional, scored a first inning run after getting three straight two-out hits. Second baseman Ashley Brooks started the rally with a  single to left, then catcher Amber Karn and right fielder Abby Henke followed with singles to left.

But Holmen struck for three unearned runs off of Middleton starter Ashley Stormer in the second inning. The key blow came with two outs when Henke dropped a fly ball in right, allowing one run to score.

Ernest Winters clearly remembers the state of Middleton’s boys track and field program when he arrived in 2011.

Andy Keeler hasn’t forgotten either.

“It wasn’t very good,” said Winters, a senior sprinter.

That’s for sure.

But what a difference a few years makes.

Middleton, mired in the middle or bottom of the Big Eight Conference for years, cruised to the Big Eight Conference championship last Tuesday at Mansfield Stadium. Amazingly, it marked the second straight season the Cardinals won the Big Eight title.

Middleton finished with a whopping 169.3 points to easily outdistance runner-up Verona (110) and the rest of the conference.

Over the last few seasons, Middleton’s rise has been one of the state’s feel-good stories in the track and field world.

Bobbi Patrick isn't ashamed to admit it.

She was nervous. Big-time.

Middleton’s junior track and field standout was preparing for the 400-meter run last Tuesday at the Big Eight Conference meet at Mansfield Stadium. And Patrick had a case of the jitters.

“I haven’t run many open 400s,” Patrick said. “And I was shaking. I was pretty nervous.”

There was no need for uneasiness.

Patrick had a memorable night, winning the 400 and scoring points in three events. And Middleton had an even better evening, rolling to the conference title and snapping Sun Prairie’s five-year stranglehold as league champions.

Middleton finished with 181 points and won its first Big Eight title since 2008. Sun Prairie was a distant second with 113 points, while Madison Memorial (76), Verona (68) and Janesville Parker (58) rounded out the top five.

Middleton boys golf coach Tom Cabalka has called his current group of sophomores the most talented in school history.

That’s saying something, when you consider the Cardinals have been state champions four times and runners-up once since 1997.

But this spring, the sophomore trio of Brady Thomas, Emmet Herb and Joey Levin have come into their own. And now, the Cardinals appear ready for a memorable postseason.

Middleton kicked the second season off in style last Thursday, as its super sophs powered them to the Big Eight Conference title at Evansville Golf Club.

Middleton shot a 314 to easily outdistance runner-up Beloit Memorial (331) and the rest of the conference. Herb finished second individually with a 76, while Levin was third with a 78 and Thomas tied for fourth at 79.

When Matt Ash’s foot touched home plate, it seemed as if all the stars had aligned on the Middleton baseball team’s road to redemption.

Ash had scored on an opposite-field line drive by fellow senior Zach Kasdorf in the bottom of the sixth inning Thursday, scoring the go-ahead run to put the Cardinals three outs from a victory that would put them in the thick of the Big Eight Conference title hunt heading into the final week of the regular season.

A victory that would earn a measure of revenge against the same Sun Prairie team that had beaten them by 12 runs a month earlier, just as Middleton had avenged a lopsided setback to Janesville Parker, the other team atop the league standings.

But Middleton failed to land the knockout punch necessary to floor a battle-hardened team like Sun Prairie, which has won the last two WIAA Division 1 state titles and the last four Big Eight crowns.

Middleton’s girls softball team received the No. 6 seed in its regional.

The Cardinals will open postseason play Tuesday by hosting 11^th-seeded Holmen in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal at 5 p.m.

“I was really happy with the seed,” Middleton manager Cherie Hellenbrand said. “I like how it lines up for us.”

If the Cardinals win Tuesday, they’ll face the winner of third-seeded DeForest and 14^th seeded Madison West in a regional final Thursday at 5 p.m.

If the seeds hold, Middleton would face second-seeded Madison La Follette in the sectional semifinals on June 3. The Cardinals wouldn’t meet top-seeded Verona until the sectional finals on June 5.

“Being on the opposite side of the bracket from Verona is a good thing for us,” Hellenbrand said. “We still have to play well, but I like our draw.”