November 2014

It was one of the most amazing seasons in school history. One that will be marveled at for years to come.

Middleton boys volleyball senior outside hitter James Caldwell produced a season unlike many before him, leading the Cardinals to a Big Eight Conference title and a trip to state.

And that brilliance is why Caldwell was an easy pick as the Big Eight’s Player of the Year.

Middleton junior middle blocker Jordan Futch and senior outside hitter Andrew Gardner both received first-team all-league honors, as well. Senior setter Derek Kalvin was named second-team all-league, while freshman libero Thomas Robson and junior middle blocker Blake Sprecher were both named honorable-mention all-conference.

Caldwell was the headliner, though, for a Middleton team that overcame a bevy of obstacles and had a surprising run back to state.

The end result wasn’t what anybody had hoped for.

But there were plenty of bright spots for Middleton’s hockey team in its season-opener last Saturday.

The host Cardinals fell to Mequon Homestead, 3-2, in overtime. The Highlanders Joey Hobbs got the game-winner early in overtime.

“I definitely wanted a victory,” Middleton coach Steffon Walby said. “However we played a team that was very similar in talent as well as work ethic.

“When I made the schedule I wanted a team that was going to give us a good measure of where we were, and Homestead did that.”

After a quiet first period, Middleton’s Casey Harper scored just 57 seconds into the second period to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

“I thought that the overall game was more of a chess match than a hockey game,” Walby said. “We took the entire first period to feel each other out and to get the first game jitters out.”

Homestead scored twice in the third period and grabbed a 2-1 lead.

Jeff Kind has been around long enough to know that the only certainty is typically uncertainty.

That every year holds surprises, disappointments, stunners.

But Kind — Middleton’s veteran girls basketball coach — also knows a good thing when he sees it. And if everything breaks right, anything is possible.

That’s why Kind knows with a break or two, a friendly bounce or favorable roll, his Cardinals can challenge anyone and everyone that crosses their path this winter.

Middleton, which opens its season Tuesday with a home game against Janesville Parker, opened the year ranked No. 4 in the first wissports.com poll of the season. And Kind will do absolutely nothing to squash the lofty expectations that surround his team.

“I think we should be in the mix,” Kind said when asked about chasing a state title. “There’s a long ways to go and we don’t want to put a monkey on our backs.

The mediocre play was one thing.

The drama — and the constant trash talking — was another.

Middleton’s hockey team endured a brutal 2013-’14 campaign. The Cardinals finished 10-11-2 overall, went through a midseason coaching change, and took a lot of flak from opponents everywhere.

“We were a laughingstock last year,” Middleton junior defenseman Braxton Walby said. “People said a lot of stuff to us on the ice last year. I think this year there’s going to be a different atmosphere.”

The Cardinals are banking on it.

Middleton opens its season Saturday when it hosts Homestead at 7 p.m. And the Cardinals are hoping for a reversal of fortune.

Middleton will be playing its first full season under coach Steffon Walby, who took over at midseason last year. That continuity and consistency should be a positive.