Sports

Soccer coaches from across the state will gather this week do their postseason seedings.

Barring anything crazy, Middleton should be in position for a terrific seed in its sectional.

The Cardinals stayed atop the Big Eight Conference with impressive wins over Madison East and Sun Prairie East. Middleton then suffered its first loss of the year, a 1-0 setback to Oregon on May 16.

The Cardinals are currently 9-1-5 and are the highest-ranked team in their sectional. Middleton also has head-to-head wins over Madison West and Verona, the other top teams in its sectional.

Here’s a look at the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 8, Madison East 0 — The Cardinals rolled past the Purgolders in a game stopped in the 65^th minute due to the mercy rule.
Maddy Kelm had two goals to lead Middleton’s attack, while six other Cardinals added one goal.

Connie Watson got Middleton started with a header off a Zoe Sharaf corner in the fourth minute.

Middleton’s boys tennis team split a pair of matches at the I-94 Classic hosted by Brookfield Central on May 16-17.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ weekend.

• Brookfield Central 5, Middleton 2 — The Cardinals notched a pair of singles wins, but fell short against the defending WIAA Division 1 champion Lancers.

Senior Henry Arp posted a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 win over Central’s Austin Tilkins at No. 2. And at No. 3 singles, Middleton’s Cam Hosfield earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Henry Hyde.

• Middleton 5, Lake Geneva Badger 2 — The Cardinals won all three doubles matches and downed the Badgers on May 16.

Bodi Russo and Caden Cheng notched a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, Middleton’s Blake Gibson and Zander Endres earned a hard fought 3-6, 6-1, 10-2 win. And at No. 3 doubles, Eric Sun and Lucas Kurtz prevailed, 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.

Tyree Gamble wasn’t expecting to go from low to high during the last two weeks.

That’s exactly what unfolded, though.

Gamble, the Athletic Director at Clinton High School, was one of the three finalists for Middleton’s A.D. opening that eventually went to Brad Crandell. Gamble left a fantastic impression on the interview committee, though, and last week was offered MHS’ Assistant Athletic Director job previously held by Crandell.

Gamble happily accepted that position and will start his new role on July 1.

“I think the biggest thing is I’m excited to be part of community and learn all about what it means to be a Cardinal,” Gamble said Monday. “I want to listen and learn and I’m just really excited to get started.

“I know they’re super passionate about academics and about athletics. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

Middleton assistant athletic director Brad Crandell was chosen as the school’s new athletic director.

Here’s what some of the coaches at MHS had to say about Crandell.

BRENT JORGENSEN, BASEBALL

“I’ve known Brad for roughly 15 years now, and we’ve worked together in many different ways and professional roles. With each passing year, Brad gets better and better at his profession. I believe taking on the athletic director role will be no different, and Brad will be a great athletic director for MHS.

MADISON — Late last month, Middleton’s baseball team appeared to be on the fast track to nowhere.

The Cardinals had lost five of six games. Middleton had fallen to 5-6 overall.

And the Cardinals’ once-promising season was at a crossroads.

Today, Middleton’s right back where it hoped to be all along — competing for a Big Eight Conference title and postseason greatness.

The Cardinals pushed their winning streak to seven games after rolling to a perfect 4-0 mark last week.

Middleton has improved to 12-6 overall and jumped into third place in the Big Eight. Sun Prairie East (10-2 in the league) and Madison Memorial (9-2) hold the top two spots in the conference, but Middleton is just one game back of both in the loss column.

MADISON — She wasn’t trying to score. But she did anyway.

And what a beautiful goal it was.

Ursula Anstaett’s free kick from just in front of her own team’s bench — along the sideline 40 yards from the goal — arced perfectly just under the crossbar into the back left corner of the net. That broke a scoreless tie in the 45th minute of last Thursday’s Big Eight Conference clash between Middleton and Madison West and ultimately fueled the Cardinals 2-0 victory at Mansfield Stadium.

“I was trying to cross it in and I just kind of mis-hit it in a good way. I think that’s why I was so surprised it went in,” said Anstaett, a senior midfielder. “But that’s why you put it in the box — anything can happen.”

And anything did.

Anstaett’s goal, with 4 minutes, 59 seconds gone by in the second half, surprised her coach, too.

SUSSEX — Brittany Carl knew this could be Middleton’s best softball team in many years.

That this could be the first group of Cardinals to eventually make it to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament since 2008.

So Carl, Middleton’s manager, made sure to load up the schedule so her team would be battle-tested when the postseason arrived.

“We wanted to get tested,” Carl said.

That certainly happened last Saturday, when Middleton traveled to Sussex Hamilton for an exciting triangular.

The Cardinals survived an offensive onslaught in Game 1 and held off strong New Richmond team, 12-10.

Middleton then had its 16-game winning streak snapped, when fifth-ranked Sussex defeated the ninth-ranked Cardinals, 9-2.

Middleton fell to 18-2 overall, but still leads the Big Eight Conference with a 12-0 mark.

There’s no sporting event quite like a playoff in team golf.

Ten golfers. One hole.

Your five scores vs. the opponents.

Middleton and DeForest went head-to-head in a thrilling playoff at the Spartan Invite held at Blackhawk Country Club on May 5.

And while DeForest prevailed on the second playoff hole to win the overall title at this 21-team event, Middleton coach Tom Cabalka knows the experience will help prepare his team for the upcoming postseason.

“A playoff is always exciting,” Cabalka said. “Our five against DeForest's five. It was a great experience to play in front of a large group of spectators and handle the pressure well.”

The Cardinals and Norskies both shot sizzling 295s to tie for first place. Arrowhead was third with a 300, while Madison West (314) and Madison Edgewood (319) rounded out the top-five.

Middleton rallied to force a playoff with a string of birdies down the stretch.

Middleton’s girls track and field finished in third place at the 14-team Stoughton Invite on May 9.

McFarland won the met with 109 points, while Sun Prairie East was second with 101 points. Middleton (85.50), Madison La Follette (66) and Janesville Craig (58.50) rounded out the top five.

Middleton’s boys were also fourth.

DeForest won the meet with 99 points, while McFarland was second with 84. Sun Prairie East (83), Middleton (80.50) and Janesville Craig (59) rounded out the top five.

Here’s a list of Middleton’s top-five finishers.

GIRLS

• Sofiaa Dergacheva was second in the 100-meter hurdles (15.75), while Katerina Maeder was fourth (16.71).

• Olivia Chellevold was second in the 1,600-meter run (5:20.27).

• Sarah Blust was third in the 800-meter run (2:33.24).

• Middleton’s 400-meter relay team of Haley Jodlowski, Eire Riley, Alaina Kliefoth and Abby Arnold was finished third (51.89).

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team won two of three games last week.

The Cardinals rolled past Milwaukee Marquette, 17-7, on May 5 and cruised by Mukwonago, 18-9, on May 6.

Middleton then fell to Minnesota power Wayzata, 14-6, on May 9.

The Cardinals are now 11-3 overall this season.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week.

• Middleton 17, Marquette 7 — Senior attackman Arjay Johnson broke his own single-game scoring record with nine goals and powered the visiting Cardinals past the Hilltoppers. Junior attacker Roan Johnson added three goals, while senior midfielder Troy Teff and junior attacker Patrick Passini both had two goals.

Freshman FOGO Aksel Chelesvig won 100% of the face-offs in the first and fourth quarters and succeeded in 25 faceoffs over the course of the evening, which set a new single-game MHS record.