March 2016

Perry Hibner understands he’s not re-inventing the wheel.

Things have been awfully good inside Middleton’s girls softball program for more than three decades now. From the late, great Russ Shaub to Cherie Hellenbrand — and after a few hiccups, back to Hellenbrand again — the Cardinals have been a force.

So Hibner — set to begin his first season as Middleton’s head coach — won’t tinker and toy a whole lot. In fact, when the Cardinals begin their 2016 season on Tuesday at Madison East, it will be business as usual.

“We’ve made some slight tweaks, but I’ve never understood why a coach would come into a successful program and start changing everything,” said Hibner, who was an assistant coach under Hellenbrand last year. “Cherie and her staff, which I was fortunate to be a part of last year, did a great job of teaching, pushing and challenging the girls to get better every day.”

And Middleton most certainly did that under Hellenbrand.

The world was a very different place in 2007.

George W. Bush was still president of the United States. Jim Doyle was the governor of Wisconsin. A little social networking service called “Twitter” had just been launched. Donald Trump was merely a reality TV star.

And here in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, a man named Don Johnson was starting his new job as superintendent.

Now, after a wild ride that included a litany of ups and downs, that soft spoken but unflappable man has announced that after nine years as the top administrator, he plans to retire this summer.

The leadership at the top has changed.

But the goals, expectations and talent base remain the same.

Middleton’s boys track and field team has a new head coach, with former assistant Joe Line taking over the program. But a Cardinals’ outfit that has been trending upwards for years figures to be terrific again in 2016.

“I am excited about taking over such an accomplished program,” said Line, whose team began its season last Saturday at the UW-Whitewater Invite. “The program was left to me with great traditions and goals, and I plan on continuing and adding to the successes of the boys track and field program.”

Line, a 1999 graduate of Monroe High School, was a standout with the Cheesemakers where he competed in jumping events and also ran the 4x100 and the 4x400. Line competed at UW-Whitewater for one year, but stepped away following a leg injury.

Unfinished business.

If Middleton’s boys basketball team is looking for a theme for the 2016-’17 season, that would seem appropriate.

The Cardinals enjoyed one of their best seasons in years. Middleton went 19-5 overall, won a share of its first Big Eight Conference title in 15 years, and climbed as high as No. 2 in the state polls.

But after a 14-0 start, Middleton lost five of its final 10 games. The Cardinals had a chance to win the Big Eight’s outright title, but lost a home game to Janesville Craig on the final night of the regular season.

Then Middleton, a No. 2 seed, lost a home game to seventh-seeded Madison West in the regional finals.

Yes, the Cardinals accomplished many great things in 2015-’16. But there’s also a lot they left on the table.

“What might have been kept it from being fulfilling,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of the season. “It will undoubtedly fuel our preparation for 2016-17.”