Sports

Their goal sheet is extremely lengthy.

Sectional titles. A state tournament appearance. Perhaps even a state title when all is said and done.

But the first objective for Middleton’s hockey team is — and always will be — a Big Eight Conference title. And the Cardinals accomplished that last week with a pair of league wins.

The Cardinals defeated Madison La Follette/East, 7-1, last Thursday. Middleton also toppled Madison West, 10-1, last Saturday.

The Cardinals improved to 18-3 overall and 11-2 in the Big Eight. Middleton now has 22 points in the conference standings with one league game remaining against Verona on Feb. 11.

Both Sun Prairie and Verona (8-3 in the league) still could tie Middleton for the conference’s top spot. But those teams would have to win out and Middleton would have to lose its final league game for any sharing to be involved.

Madison La Follette did all that it could to slow down Middleton’s girls basketball team last Friday.

Now, two of the Big Eight Conference’s top teams will try doing the same.

The Cardinals toppled the Lancers, 57-38, in a game played at a snails pace. Middleton improved to 14-2 overall and stayed atop the Big Eight with a 12-0 record.

Now, Middleton will get two huge tests in the next week.

First the Cardinals travel to Sun Prairie (9-4, 11-6) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Middleton then heads to second-place Verona (12-1, 14-2) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“Sun Prairie is a tough game,” said Middleton coach Jeff Kind, whose defeated Sun Prairie, 99-87 on Dec. 15. “We just plain outscored them the first round, but I don’t think either Coach (John) Olsen or I would tell you we were thrilled with our defenses. 

Unbeaten no more, but still on top.

That’s where the Middleton boys’ basketball team stood after tasting defeat for the first two times all season.

Middleton dropped a hard-fought 59-52 decision at home to Madison East in a Big Eight Conference battle on Saturday night just days after losing its first game of the season at Verona on Thursday.

After opening the season with 14 consecutive victories, the Cardinals have now lost two straight and share the Big Eight Conference lead with Madison Memorial at 10-2.

“The 14-0 was pretty special,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “But, on the one hand, if anybody had told me at the beginning of the season that we would be 14-2 and tied for first place after 16 games, I would have thought, ‘Boy, I know we’re going to have a pretty good team, but I’m not so sure I would have guessed that at the start.’ ”

If Middleton’s boys cross country team really wants to push itself next season, all it has to do is try keeping up with its new head coach.

If the Cardinals come close to that, good things are sure to follow.

Middleton named Brian Finnel its new head coach last week. Finnel replaces Isaac Mezera, who resigned midway through the 2015 season.

Finnel, an assistant coach in the program the last three years, is an extremely accomplished runner. Finnel finished 57^th at the 2014 Boston Marathon, the highest finish by a Wisconsin runner that year.

Now, Finnel hopes to use his experience and expertise to help Middleton’s program remain among the best in the state.

“Being the assistant coach for the last three season has been terrific,” said Finnel, a science teacher at Glacier Creek Middle School. “So taking over as the head coach seemed like the next natural step.

Middleton’s boys swimming team finished in third place at the 20-team Madison Invitational held at the UW-Natatorium last Saturday.

Madison Memorial won the event with 465 points. Madison West was second at 258.5 and Middleton was third at 193.

“Every swimmer on the team was excited and ready to race,” Middleton coach Sam Niesen said. “We also had quite a few time drops this meet due to some swimmers being half-tapered as well as a great meet atmosphere.”

Cardinals’ sophomore Michael Draves was fourth in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle.

Senior Jacob Aegerter was fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and sophomore Luke Delaney was seventh. Aegerter was also eighth in the 200-yard IM.

Middleton senior Jack Zocher finished fifth in the one-meter diving category and senior Ethan Lengfeld was sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Madeline Pflasterer-Jennerjohn has aced every test thrown her way this season.

Her toughest exam came last Saturday at the star-studded Madison Memorial Invite. And once again, Pflasterer-Jennerjohn was up to the challenge.

Pflasterer-Jennerjohn won the all-around competition with a season-best score of 37.775. Pflasterer-Jennerjohn edged runner-up Erin Scholz of Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall, who scored a 37.50.

“For Madeline to come in and claim first in all-around was huge,” Cardinals coach Kari Steck said. “It was a huge confidence boost for her.

“She is such a humble kid, and she puts much weight on places or scores, but rather on the quality of her routines. It's really a great thing for the younger gymnasts on the team to see. She is such a team player.”

Pflasterer-Jennerjohn’s big day helped Middleton finish third at the eight-team meet. The Cardinals posted a season-best score of 139.750.

The heat is on.

Middleton athletic director Bob Joers has made several solid coaching hires during two different stints as the Cardinals’ A.D.

But Joers has never been able to find stability inside the tennis programs, where it’s been a revolving door for years.

Now, Joers gets another chance to right a wrong.

Andre Glass — who had a tumultuous one-year run as Middleton’s boys tennis coach — resigned last Thursday, just two months before the season begins.

It’s safe to say no tears were shed.

Glass was in over his head from the start and made one of the biggest coaching blunders in school history.

Middleton’s Xavier Sanga and Brian Bellissimo were likely to receive “special qualifier” status to compete in the WIAA Division 1 individual state tournament last June.

All Glass needed to do was email the proper paperwork for the two MHS standouts to the WIAA. Instead, he sent it to the wrong address.

They’ve been tested virtually every way possible.

They’re rallied from double digit deficits. They’ve held off charges from upstart opponents.

They’ve beat teams inside the top-10. They’ve blistered foes with more modest accomplishments.

But every test Middleton’s boys basketball team has been handed during this magical season has been aced.

The latest came last Saturday, when the Cardinals got a scare from visiting Hartland Arrowhead. The Warhawks rallied from a 16-point deficit and held a two-point lead with 2 minutes left, before Middleton battled back and notched an 81-78 win.

Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the latest wissports.net poll, improved to 14-0 overall. The Cardinals are also 10-0 in the Big Eight Conference and hold a two-game lead over Madison Memorial and Sun Prairie.

If there’s such a thing as the dog days of winter, Middleton’s girls basketball team is in the middle of them.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a 20-day stretch in which they won’t play a team with a winning record. And for three consecutive weeks, Middleton has just one game per week.

January doldrums? You bet.

But the Cardinals played well enough — for long enough — to post a 79-68 win over visiting Madison East last Saturday.

Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the latest wissports.net poll, improved to 13-2 overall. The Cardinals also moved to 11-0 in the Big Eight Conference and maintained a ½-game lead over Verona atop the league.

“For the most part, I thought we played pretty well,” Middleton coach Jeff Kind said. “We just have to learn how to finish. We’re not doing that right now.”

Middleton led by as many as 21 with 3 minutes left in the game. But East finished the game on a 12-2 run to make the final score more respectable.

For Kari Steck, it was a happy homecoming.

For Middleton’s girls gymnastics team, it was a day of growth, progress and perhaps some surprising results.

Middleton finished second at the Southwestern Invite last Saturday, despite missing four varsity performers due to a music trip and family events.

Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau won the event with a 135.6 team score, while Middleton posted its highest team score of the season and finished second at 135.425.

Holmen was third (130.875), Monona Grove was fourth (127.4) and Reedsburg was fifth (110.525).

“We were missing quite a few girls who are typically key players,” said Steck, a graduate of Southwestern High School. “However, the girls still pulled off their highest season score, which really speaks to the depth on the team this year. The girls continuously step up and support each other, and it shows.”