Prep Work

There is a lot to do in the Madison area this weekend, including the Badger State Summer Games, Rhythm & Booms and the Cross Plains World's Fair. But if you are a prep basketball fan, Middleton High School will host the First Cardinal Classic boys' basketball tournament Saturday and Sunday. The field will include 36 teams from around the state representing all four divisions. That includes Big Eight Conference schools Beloit Memorial, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Sun Prairie, Verona -- which moves into the Big Eight from the Badger South this fall -- and host Middleton. "Many high school coaches will be using their contact days to coach their teams, so it will be very competitive," Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. "Most teams expect their best players to attend since it is before the AAU period. Racine Horlick coach Jason Treutlaar has... READ MORE

It has been a busy week but a fun one for the Middleton girls' softball team, which earned the program's first trip to the WIAA State Tournament in 15 years last Thursday after winning the WIAA Division 1 Tomah Sectional title. Extra practices, a team dinner and breakfast have helped the Cardinals fill their days during their final week of school. Still on deck are Graduation Day on Sunday for the program's seven seniors, while the rest of their teammates are involved in final exams. Yet winning a sectional title allowed the Cardinals more than just another week of spending time together and a WIAA Division 1 quarterfinal matchup today against Verona at 1:30 p.m. at Goodman Diamond, weather permitting. Middleton also got to give something back to the community when it participated in the 11th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure last Saturday at the... READ MORE

Rain, rain, go away. That refrain is often heard this time of year, especially in Wisconsin at state tournament time. No one knows that better than Verona girls softball coach Chad Tuescher, who is taking the Wildcats back to the WIAA Division 1 state softball tournament for their eighth year in a row and ninth trip in 10 years. A former assistant coach at Verona, It will be the fourth straight trip for Tuescher as head coach, since he succeeded Cindy Suess in 2004 when she left to take over as head women's softball coach at UW-Oshkosh. "Earlier in the season, I wasn't sure if we'd be back this year," he said. "But here we are again. The girls worked hard to continue the tradition. It means a lot to end our season (at state)." Tuescher, though, had to chuckle at one other tradition that seems to have followed the Wildcats back... READ MORE

We have lost another great one. I was saddened to hear today of the loss of former Wisconsin State Journal sportswriter Tom Butler, who covered Badger football and basketball for 25 years and also served as the sports information director for the old Wisconsin State University Conference, now called the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, for nearly three decades. A personable man of great integrity, Butler died Monday of a heart attack at the age of 84. He was certainly a role model for a generation of sportswriters and will be missed. Tom retired in 1987 after 37 years as a journalist, 34 of them at the State Journal. But he continued to work with the WSUC for another decade. Along with retired sportswriter Don Lindstrom, who was a legendary reporter covering high school sports for the State Journal, Tom Butler was responsible for my becoming a... READ MORE

Madison West senior midfielder Saskia Taylor was named the City Player of the Year to highlight the All-City Girls Soccer Team that was released today. Taylor finished with eight goals and four assists while leading West to a 9-7-2 record this spring. She plans to attend Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. to play soccer in the fall. The 21st annual All City Girls Soccer Banquet was held at Madison East High School on May 19. The banquet was hosted by the Breakfast Optimist Club of Madison and featured guest speaker Mara Wyttenbach, a former UW soccer player and fitness club owner. In a change in format, the All-City team and Player of the Year were not announced at the banquet, and the awarding of the City Champion was deferred this year as there was a four-way tie. Each team did, as in prior years, select a Scholar/Athlete based on the player's ability to... READ MORE

Sunday's Madison Marathon wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Alan Harris. But Harris, who is in his third year as principal at Madison East High School, enjoyed the community feel of the event as well as the numerous double-takes he received while running the 26.2 mile course. "It was a lot of fun," said Harris, who competed in his fourth marathon and first in Madison. "Several times I heard comments like, "˜Hey, I think that was Mr. Harris, who just ran by.' I enjoyed that. I didn't want to waste a lot of energy responding. But I'd give them a little pump of my fists." Sunday's Madison Marathon featured a record number of participants, with approximately 5,500 runners taking part in the 26.2-mile marathon, half-marathon or quarter-marathon. As one of the nearly 1,200 marathon runners, who enjoyed the nearly... READ MORE

Like many kids whose parents are career coaches, Tyler Cleveland became a gym rat and sports enthusiast at an early age. "I used to follow my dad around all the time," recalled Cleveland, who went on to play baseball and basketball in high school. Now the Stoughton High School graduate is following in his father's footsteps. Tyler Cleveland was named the new boys' varsity volleyball coach at Madison East High School on Tuesday. Cleveland, who was the boys' freshman baseball co-head coach this spring also served as an assistant boys' varsity basketball coach last winter. He was also a freshman girls' volleyball coach at Stoughton last fall. "I got a call from (East side) athletic director Dave Kapp that we had an opening for a volleyball coach after our coach took a job in another state," said the 19-year-old Cleveland, who is a student at... READ MORE

While I enjoy watching my daughter having fun playing prep softball with her teammates and friends, I have also had fun getting to know her teammates' families and friends as well as occasionally those on the opposing team. A perfect example of that occurred on Wednesday when Kelli and the Middleton Cardinals varsity softball team played a home double header at Orchid Heights Park. Middleton earned a 7-1 victory over Big Eight Conference rival Madison West earlier that afternoon before meeting Waunakee in a seven-inning nonconference game that had been rescheduled several times due to inclement weather. The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Waunakee tied it at 2-2 and later grabbed a 5-2 lead. Middleton then rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 5-5 and force extra innings. After surviving a 12-inning, 2-1 victory at Beloit... READ MORE

Senior Ashley Pick, a Monroe High School graduate, was one of three members of the UW-Whitewater women's cross country team who has been recognized for their academic performance for 2007 by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Sophomores Jennifer Rogers of Fort Atkinson and Jaclyn Nett of Hilbert were also named to the 2007 NCAA Division III USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic Team. Rogers paced the Warhawks at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at UW-Oshkosh with a time of 22:52 for 42nd place overall. Nett finished with a time of 23:27 for 70th and Pick 23:28 for 71st place. Pick is majoring in Accounting at UW-Whitewater. Also, the Warhawk cross country team was recognized by being named one of the 2007 USTFCCCA Women's All-Academic teams. For an individual to be eligible for the award, the athlete must... READ MORE

The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association's Division 1 South boys' all-star team will play a college all-star team on Saturday, May 10 at Mequon Homestead High School at 1 p.m. A $5 donation will be accepted at the door with all proceeds to go to the MACC Fund. The college all-star team will include: Michael Flowers and Brian Butch of Wisconsin; Draelon Burns of DePaul; Allan Hansen, Marcus Skinner and Page Paulsen of UW-Milwaukee; and Steve Hicklin of UW-Stevens Point. The Division 1 South team includes: Jake Barnett, Wauwatosa East; Rick Bowers, Germantown; Lucas Burns, Janesville Craig; Cory Degner, Brookfield Central; Mike Harper, Milwaukee Custer; Stephen Jaskulske Jr., Racine Case; Kory Lucious, Milwaukee Pius; Chris McHenry, Milwaukee Bradley Tech; Demarcus Phillips, Milwaukee Washington; and Andy Smith, South Milwaukee. Stoughton's Malcolm... READ MORE

When Boyce Hodge decided to fight for his job as athletic director at Madison West High School last summer, he didn't expect the battle to eventually cost him his coaching job, too. But Hodge said Tuesday that he was forced to resign as the Regents' boys' basketball coach or risk a non-renewal of his coaching contract. Hodge said he has submitted what he called an "involuntary resignation" letter after a meeting last Friday with West principal Ed Holmes and West Side athletic director Tim Svendsen. ` A 1981 West grad, who compiled a 114-134 record over the past 11 years as the Regents' head coach, Hodge was suspended under Big Eight Conference rules last January after he received two technical fouls and was ejected from a game against Madison East. But Hodge said the threat of a non-renewal of his coaching contract was retaliation for his testimony... READ MORE

The WIAA, in cooperation with Rural Insurance, has selected the team Sportsmanship Awards for the 2008 winter State Tournaments. Monroe was the only Madison area school that was honored, receiving honorable mention in both boys' basketball and girls' basketball. The Monroe girls' basketball team won the Division 2 state championship, its second title in three years. The Monroe boys' team lost in the Division 2 state semifinals after winning the 2007 title. The winners of the prestigious award are Antigo in gymnastics, Ellsworth in team wrestling, Oostburg in girls basketball, Iola-Scandinavia in boys basketball, Superior in boys ice hockey and the Mosinee co-op (which includes Schofield D.C. Everest, Wausau East and Wausau West) in girls ice hockey. Receiving honorable mention honors were: *** gymnastics: Southwestern/ Cuba City and... READ MORE

The WIAA Board of Control authorized a $1 increase of selective WIAA"ˆRegional Tournament admission prices and approved cooperative programs for the winter sport seasons at its monthly meeting today. The boost in ticket price of a volleyball, basketball, hockey and wrestling regional tournament ticket from $3 to $4 aligns the cost of admission at both the regional and sectional levels. It is the first increase in adult regional admission cost since 1990-91 and the first increase of student admission since 2001-02. The added revenue will help offset expenses of administering the tournament series for 25 sports and enhance the financial returns to schools hosting WIAA tournament events. The Board applied increased scrutiny to the acceptance and criteria for establishing cooperative teams before approving proposals for new and renewed winter co-op teams. The... READ MORE

By DENNIS SEMRAU The Capital Times The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association will hold its annual Boys and Girls All-Star games on June 21, featuring the top senior basketball players in the state. There are four games featuring a team of All-Stars from the North facing off against a team of All-Stars from the South part of the state in each of the four divisions. Teams are based on splitting up the sectionals that the WIAA assigns. Each year the WBCA runs this event to raise money for the MACC Fund to help their fight against childhood cancer. This year will be the 31st annual Boys' game and the 26th annual Girls' game. The Boys and Girls All-Star Game banquets will be held at the Marriott West in Middleton on Friday June 20. Both banquets will begin at 7 p.m. The Boys games will be held at the UW Field House, while the Girls games will be held at... READ MORE

Monroe senior guard Brett Stangel will attend UW-Platteville and play basketball for the Pioneers, UWP Coach Paul Combs announced today. The 6-foot Stangel was the co-Most Valuable Player in the 2007 WIAA Division 2 State Championship game after leading the Cheesemakers to the state title and setting tournament records for points in one game (33 vs. Seymour in the semifinals) and most free throw attempts (17) in a game. Stangel also tied records for most 3s in a game (five), most free throws made in a two-game state tournament (24) and most free throw attempts in a tournament (29). A two-time All-Badger South Conference performer, who was coached by former Pioneer Pat Murphy, Monroe went 63-13 in Stangel's three seasons. The Cheesemakers also won back-to-back conference, regional and sectional championships. They lost in the Division 2 state semifinals this season... READ MORE