January 2016

Madison Memorial and Madison West were the top two boys swimming teams in the state last year. And both are elite once again.

Middleton is chasing both the Spartans and Regents again this winter. But the Cardinals are closing in on both powers, which they showed at last Saturday’s Middleton Invite.

Madison Memorial won the 11-team invite with 190 points, while West was second with 170. Middleton was third at 154, while Verona-Mount Horeb (143) and McFarland (137) rounded out the top five.

“It was a good indication of where we need to be to get as close as possible to Madison Memorial and Madison West,” Middleton coach Sam Niesen said. “Thankfully we’ve still got a good couple of weeks to phase out stroke weaknesses before conference, sectionals, and state.”

Middleton’s 300-yard butterfly relay team of junior Isaac Hanson, junior Luke Delaney, freshman Andrew Lund and senior Jacob Aegerter was second.

Kevin Bavery has had a dream since arriving at Middleton High School 10 years ago.

Bavery, the Cardinals’ boys basketball coach, has a vision of seeing his program win a state championship one weekend, then watching the girls do the same thing.

This year, Bavery has added a third element to his utopian scenario.

“Add in a hockey championship,” Bavery said.

Why not?

Middleton’s ‘Big 3’ winter sports have always performed at a high level. But all three are taking it to new heights this winter.

Middleton’s boys basketball and boys hockey teams are both ranked No. 2 in the state. That’s the highest ranking either program has ever achieved.

The Cardinals’ girls basketball team — which was No. 1 in the state earlier this year — is also currently ranked No. 2.

It’s believed that’s the first time any school has had those three sports teams ranked in the top-two at the same time.

Alexis Thomas glanced at the clock and saw the final seconds quickly vanishing.

Teammate Bria Lemirande, who had dominated the game throughout, was stuck in traffic. Little did Thomas know she’d soon be asked to play hero for Middleton’s girls basketball team.

“At those final seconds of the game, I never doubted us,” said Thomas, a junior guard. “I knew we were quick enough and smart enough to find a way to come back and win. Anything is possible in this moment, I thought.”

Anything and everything.

With the Cardinals trailing host Janesville Craig, 75-74 in overtime, Lemirande kicked to Thomas three-feet behind the top of the key. Thomas calmly released a 23-footer, then watched it splash through the net as the horn sounded giving Middleton an enormous 77-75 road win.

Madeline Pflasterer-Jennerjohn put on a show Saturday afternoon.

The rest of Middleton’s young and gifted girls gymnastics team showed that their future is incredibly bright, as well.

At the star-studded Mount Horeb Invite, Pflasterer-Jennerjohn won the all-around title with a sensational individual score of 37.075. Pflasterer-Jennerjohn’s big day helped the Cardinals finish third among seven teams.

Whitefish Bay won the invite with a 139.10 team score. Sun Prairie was second (135.8250) and Middleton was third (134.450).

“The first invitational is always a tricky one, especially this year when we have a young team,” Middleton coach Kari Steck said. “Invitationals are completely different than anything else — dual meets or club meets. But the girls handled the pressure very gracefully.”