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It was a good news-bad news day for Middleton's girls golf team last Thursday.

The good news for the Cardinals was they won the Big Eight Conference championship held at Evansville Golf Course. Middleton shot a 349 and edged Verona by two shots for the title.

The bad news, though, is Middleton indeed shot a 349. That was one of the Cardinals' poorer scores of the year, and with the postseason looming, Middleton can't afford many more rounds like that.

"We definitely didn't play our best down at Evansville, but the girls were able to find a way on the back nine to get the win," Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. "I'm proud of the way they were able to grind it out and find a way to win. The girls were not happy with their play, especially their short games."

Senior Payton Hodson led Middleton with an 81, while sophomore Kate Meier fired an 85. Both Hodson and Meier shot five strokes better on the back nine than they did the front.

Grace Peterson carded a 90, while Haley Dunn shot a 93.

Middleton was scheduled to host a regional Wednesday at Pleasant View. If the Cardinals advance there, as expected, they'll head to the Verona Sectional on Oct. 4 at Edelweiss Country Club starting at 8:30 a.m.

"Entering the postseason now we need to continue working on our short game and figuring out a way to use our nerves in a positive way," Halverson said. "It's inevitable that there will be nerves going forward, but we need to keep our nerves under control.  

Mary Langenfeld

Standout senior Payton Hodson led the Cardinals to the Big Eight Conference championship last Thursday.

"They've spent a lot of energy worrying about things that they can't control and they need to focus more on the shot at hand. That's what we are going to try to work on here at regionals and hope to continue with that focus going forward."

Big Eight Conference meet

At Evansville GC (72)

TEAM SCORES

Middleton 349, Verona 351, Janesville Parker 385, Sun Prairie 386, Madison West 398, Janesville Craig 418, Madison Memorial 429

MEDALISTS

Courtney Shorter (Ver) 77, Lauren Shorter (Ver) 79, Payton Hodson (Mid) 81, Kate Meier (Mid) 85, Kallie Lux (JC) 85, Sophia Dooman (JP) 87, Lillian Knetter (MW) 88, Chloe Day (Beloit) 89, Grace Peterson (Mid) 90, Ashlyn Burdick (JP) 91