Sports

Audrey Alexander knew what had to be done.

So did Piper Garcia-Hall, Brynn Sundell and Tait Haag.

Middleton’s 400-yard freestyle relay team understood that if they won their event against Verona last Friday, the Cardinals would capture this highly-competitive dual meet.

Mission accomplished.

The Cardinals’ quartet nipped the Wildcats’ foursome, allowing Middleton to leave Verona High School with a thrilling 94-92 win.

“We are very happy with the performance our girls put up,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. “Both teams swam extremely well, and it was a great finish to the meet.”

Dual meets don’t get more exciting than this.

And Middleton’s foursome ended the event in style, finishing the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:34.48, just 0.73 seconds ahead of Verona (3:35.21).

The finish capped a night in which Middleton had several high-level swims — and needed every one of them to hold off Verona’s terrific team.

In a perfect world, Kevin Pauls would have loved his Middleton boys soccer team to sweep its two games last week.

If the Cardinals could just get one, though, they picked the right one to capture.

Middleton rolled by Madison Memorial, 3-1, last Thursday in a game that figures to have major ramifications in deciding the eventual Big Eight Conference champion. The Cardinals fell the next night, though, dropping a 2-1 decision to visiting Green Bay Notre Dame.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week:

• Middleton 3, Madison Memorial 1 — Riley Kann had a pair of goals and Sawyer FitzRandolph added another as the Cardinals knocked off the Spartans in their conference opener.

“It was a good way to open the conference season,” Pauls said.

It sure was.

The Verona cross country invite is traditionally one of the top meets of the season.

The fact Middleton’s boys finished second out of 31 teams must have the Cardinals feeling like terrific things are in store the next two months.

Madison West won the star-studded meet with 104 points. Middleton was second with 157 points, while Verona (166), West Salem (178) and Lakeside Lutheran (185) rounded out the top five.

“I was impressed by the team's second place showing,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “That's a great feat for our young squad. While the times don't reflect it on a warm day and hilly course, the team placement was a better indicator of where we are right now.

The Streak is alive and well.

Middleton’s boys volleyball team opened Big Eight Conference play with a 25-10, 25-9, 25-9 win over Madison La Follette on Aug. 30. The Cardinals have now won an incredible 89 consecutive Big Eight matches.

“We certainly started out our conference season on a strong note,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “This season we are approaching every game in the exact same way. We go in with the intention of accomplishing and putting into play our team focus for that week.”

Middleton rolled to relatively easy wins in all three sets. Along the way, the Cardinals wanted to incorporate more back row attacks into their in-system offense — and did just that.

“The guys took that goal and ran with it and the scores will show it,” Griffith said.

It wasn’t the result they hoped for.

But Middleton’s girls volleyball team continues to show improvement and progress.

Madison Memorial defeated the Cardinals, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 25-16 on Aug. 31 in MHS’ Big Eight Conference opener. Despite the loss, Middleton first year coach Ben White was encouraged by much of what he saw.

“We continue to learn and improve — that goes for myself as well,” White said. “We have to make some adjustments based on our style of play.”

Haley Stoffregan led the Cardinals with 23 assists and three aces, while Sadie Newcomb had nine kills and 21 digs. Keaten Davis added four blocks for MHS and Laina Gustafson had seven kills, zero errors and three blocks.

The first set was tight throughout, then the Cardinals dominated the second set. Middleton raced to a 10-3 lead in the third set, only to see the Spartans rally back and outscore the Cardinals, 22-11, from there.

WATERFORD — Tim Simon knows what the polls are saying.

So does the rest of Middleton’s football team.

Simon’s reaction?

“Who cares?” said Simon, Middleton’s co-interim coach this season with Joe Poehls. “It’s so far off the radar here. I just don’t care.”

Those pollsters might be on to something, though.

Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the first Wissports.net Division 1 poll of the season, lived up to that lofty billing with a 35-0 pasting of host Waterford last Friday. The Cardinals overcame a slow start with 21 second quarter points, played many of its second- and third-stringers in the second half and improved to 2-0 on the young season.

“We had kind of a slowish, sluggish start,” Simon said. “We didn’t have much spark.

“But one thing we’ve talked a lot about is mental toughness through thick and thin. Don’t let the highs get too high or the lows get too lows and we did that.”

The great Ken Burghy — who coached Middleton’s boys soccer program for 29 years and led the girls for another 21 — stopped by a boys practice last week.

Burghy addressed the Cardinals and reminded them that only one team finishes the season with a win.

As current MHS coach Kevin Pauls listened to Burghy, he had one overriding thought.

“I truly believe that could be us,” Pauls said of finishing with a victory. “I really do think this group has the ability to do something special.”

There’s certainly reason for high hopes.

Middleton brings back several key cogs from a group that won the Big Eight Conference title last season and reached the sectional finals before losing to eventual state champion Verona. The Cardinals have a gifted group of newcomers that Pauls believes will provide immediate help.

And Middleton has arguably the state’s toughest schedule, which should have it battle tested when the postseason arrives.

‘The Streak’ contains a bit of dominance, an abundance of hard work and a touch of good fortune.

Add it all up and it’s an awfully tasty recipe the rest of the state would love to duplicate.

Middleton’s boys cross country program has been the model for success since 2013.

In that time, the Cardinals have reached the state meet 10 consecutive years, won a pair of state titles and been in the top-six eight times.

Middleton hopes to continue that magic when it opens its season Saturday at the Hartland Arrowhead Invite.

“The ultimate goal for this season is to get back to state,” said Middleton coach Brian Finnel, the architect of the Cardinals’ dominance. “Along the way, I want us to be healthy, have fun practicing and racing, and get PR's to continue the excitement throughout the season.”

It’s been said if you have two quarterbacks, you really don't have any.

That won't be the case inside Middleton’s girls cross country program.

The Cardinals will have co-coaches this fall, with Kelly Julian and Lauren Dilley hired in June to replace Alexa Richardson.

Middleton should be in good hands, as Julian and Dilley are both experienced runners and coaches. And they’ll share a philosophy that winning is important, but so is enjoying the ride.

“First and foremost, we want the girls to have a positive experience this season and stay healthy,” Julian said. “We have competitive goals as well, but at the end of the day we want this team to look back on this season and remember a coaching staff that empowered them to be the best versions of themselves.

Dylan Griffith calls it a barrier.

It’s a blockade, though, that he and the Middleton boys volleyball program can’t wait to try knocking down.

Middleton has reached the state tournament eight times since 2009 and is a combined 0-8 in that time. The Cardinals, who began their year Wednesday at the Hartland Arrowhead Quadrangular, believe they have the pieces to make it back to the state tournament. And Griffith — who was named Middleton’s new head coach in June — thinks these Cardinals just might be ready to tackle that lofty obstacle.

“It is definitely something that we are aware of and certainly don’t shy away from,” said Griffith, a 2019 Middleton High School graduate. “A lot of it comes down to mentality and having the right approach going into the tournament. We want to be peaking at the end of the season to put ourselves in the best position to accomplish our goals.