Speedy & Skilled, Krueger Again Boosting Niles' Cross Country, Tennis Teams

By Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com

October 3, 2023

NILES – On any autumn weekday afternoon, Aiden Krueger can be found using his legs to carry him across the campus of Niles High School.

Southwest CorridorAfter cross country practice, the Vikings' senior literally runs over to the tennis courts to work out with the boys tennis team.

The fall dual-sport athlete has managed to make a significant impact on both programs during his career at Niles.

In cross country, Krueger is a two-time Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals qualifier and recently broke a long-standing school record in the 5,000-meter (3.1 mile) race.

In Saturday's Berrien County Meet held at Lake Township Park in Bridgman, Krueger's first-place time of 15:55.5 broke Jeff Ort's 33-year record of 16:05 set in 1992.

Breaking the school record was one of two main goals that Krueger, the Vikings' No. 1 runner, and his head coach Tony Todd and assistant coach Jason Todd set prior to the start of the 2023 season.

"It felt great to take down a school record that's been there for so long. On the day of the Berrien County Meet, my coaches and I talked about how I felt that day. They could tell I was feeling really good, so we went for it," Krueger said. "I felt great the entire race, and my body responded very well. My coaches were at the one and two-mile mark to let me know where I was at. I was able to squeeze out a record time, and the feeling of being able to share that moment with my family, coaches and teammates was unmatched. It's a day that I'll cherish for a very long time."

While Krueger always has shown a natural ability for running, he soon realized he needed to increase his offseason training in order to reach his career goals.

"Aiden is naturally gifted. He broke the eighth-grade two-mile record in cross country, so we knew he was going to be a special runner. What we didn't know at that time was how strong of a runner he was in terms of his mental preparedness. He was a quick study coming into the program as a freshman, but natural ability will only take you so far. There is a lot more that goes into becoming an elite distance runner," Tony Todd said.

Despite running very little over the summer prior to the start of his freshman season, Krueger still managed to post some respectable times in the 17:20s, but he narrowly missed qualifying for the Finals.

Following a couple of years of running track & field for Niles, and with running higher mileage the last three summers, Krueger feels he has prepared himself well enough to attain his ultimate goal of earning all-state (Top 30) at this year's Finals on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Michigan International Speedway.

"Aiden isn't afraid of hard work. He ran 55 miles per week this summer, and up to this point we haven't backed him off from that number very much," said Niles' head coach. "We've been concentrating on consistency, and once the state meet is about a month away we'll start him on more speedwork."

Krueger, a three-time all-Wolverine Conference and all-Regional runner as well, has the opportunity to graduate as one of Niles' most decorated athletes ever with 14 varsity letters.

Well-respected by his teammates, Krueger was selected as one of the Vikings' team captains this fall.

"Aiden is a very positive person and is always encouraging his teammates," said Niles' head coach.

Entering Tuesday's Wolverine Conference tri-meet in Sturgis with the host Trojans and Otsego, Krueger hadn't lost a league race yet and finished first individually in five of Niles' first eight meets. He ran 16:40 or better in five of those meets as well.

As the season progresses and Krueger prepares for this weekend's prestigious Portage Invitational, he knows what he has to do to reach those goals.

"Right now it's real important for me to get out fast and get into a good position so I can figure out when exactly I need to sit back and when I need to move up," Krueger said.

"As we reach the bigger meets like conference and Regionals, there are a lot of good runners. My coaches help me familiarize myself with who is at those races and who I need to go out and run with. I thank God who gave me the ability to run, along with the support of my coaches and family."

Krueger plans to end his competitive running career once he has finished high school. His parents, Robert and Korrie Krueger, own Milano's Pizza in Niles, and his future plans are to help out with the family business or attend trade school.

Krueger didn't play tennis as a freshman, but made an immediate impact as a doubles player the last two years on the varsity. Since cross country is Krueger's priority sport, Niles head boys tennis coach Jill Weber felt it would be more beneficial for the team if he played singles this fall.

Krueger follows through on a forehand shot during a Wolverine Conference match earlier this season."Aiden was real receptive to the change. As coaches, we just thought it would be easier to replace him in singles rather than have a doubles partner be forced to play with someone they weren't familiar with," said Weber, who has coached the Niles boys team the last 18 seasons and the girls squad for 20 years.

Krueger was sporting a record of 13-2 and was undefeated in the Wolverine at No. 2 singles at the end of last week. His only losses came in nonleague matches to Coldwater and Kalamazoo Christian.

"Aiden has an extraordinary work ethic. He works really hard, but at the same time he enjoys it and has fun. He usually only needs two or three games to figure out what he needs to do to win a match," Weber said. "I have so much confidence in him to get the job done."

Weber is amazed at how Krueger juggles his time off the court with school and cross country.

She used Saturday, Sept. 9, as an example of his commitment to both sports.

Krueger started that day competing with the cross country team at the Kalamazoo Loy-Norrix Mini-Meet, a race he won in a then personal-best time of 16:31.4. He then jumped in the car with his parents, who drove him to Mattawan where the Vikings' tennis team was competing in a tournament.

"Mattawan was gracious enough to put Aiden on one of the later courts so he could play all three of his matches once he was finished with his cross country meet," Weber explained.

Krueger won all three of his tennis matches.

"That was a pretty exciting day for Aiden. He just takes it all in stride and isn't a showboat on the court. When he's on the court he has a way of making friends with his opponents and makes good calls and shows good sportsmanship. A lot of people have nothing but good things to say about him," Weber said.

"As far as his ability on the court, Aiden is a very tricky player to figure out and has a lot of weapons. He has a good dropshot, can lob the ball, hit an angle shot or hit an approach shot and draw you out of position."

Krueger is well-respected by his tennis teammates as well.

"Everyone loves Aiden. He likes to joke around, but he truly enjoys every one of his teammates and respects them all equally. He's a good student and had the team over to his house for a team dinner recently," Weber said.

Knowing how important Krueger's senior season of running was to him, Weber spoke with Tony Todd before the year began about his role with the tennis and cross country teams.

"I understood how important running is to Aiden this year. The last thing I want to do is stress a kid out. He's done a nice job for us in tennis, but we're not expecting a great deal out of him. I want him to be able to concentrate on his cross country goals," Weber said.

Krueger's older brother Andrew Krueger played tennis for Niles a few years ago, and that sparked Aiden's interest in the game.

"I participated in some summer tennis camps back when I was in seventh grade. I liked my experience playing doubles the last couple years, but singles is a challenge because you have only yourself to rely on and the court is smaller," Krueger said.

Krueger describes himself as confident on the court, and he considers himself more of baseline player.

"I'm really comfortable on the baseline, and my tennis goals are to just try and finish the year with the best record I can in the conference and help my team do as well as we possibly can," Krueger said.

Scott HassingerScott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Niles’ Aiden Krueger crosses the finish line after winning his race during a home meet this season against Edwardsburg. (Middle) Krueger follows through on a forehand shot during a Wolverine Conference match earlier this season. (Top photo by Scott Novak/Leader Publications. Middle photo by Kelly Sweeney/Leader Publications.)

Dow Completes Perfect Season with Another Dominating Finals Performance

By Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com

October 21, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS – Austin King would have been hard-pressed four months ago to come up with a single word which would aptly describe his coming junior season.

But now the Midland Dow No. 1 singles player has one.

Perfection.

King finished off a perfect season by defeating Drew Hackney of Muskegon Mona Shores 6-2, 6-3, at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Tennis Finals at the Grand Rapids Racquet and Fitness Club. The win capped a stunning performance by Midland Dow that included sweeping all four singles flights en route to 29 total points, five better than runner-up Birmingham Seaholm.

King, who boosted his career record to 99-12 over three seasons, never lost a single set in any of his 37 wins this fall. The championship erases some of the frustration from a year ago when King lost in the semifinals to finish 34-5.

"I definitely put the work in over the summer, so I knew it was possible," King said. "Winning state has always been a dream of mine."

The team title by unbeaten Midland Dow, ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season, was the eighth in 17 seasons and second straight for coach Terry Schwartzkopf. In all, Dow had five flights reach championship matches, a feat which didn't necessarily come as a surprise. Dow has seven seniors and all but three players back from the 2022 Division 2 champion.

Mattawan was third this weekend with 22 points, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern was fourth with 19 and Birmingham Groves was fifth with 18.

While Schwartzkopf said every team is different, the current club was marked by a terrific senior class.

"I know we have kids who have as good of records as we've had, but I knew I could count on these guys, no matter the situation," he said.

As for King, Schwartzkopf said it's pure drive which makes him successful.

"He's got the experience, the drive, the determination," Schwartzkopf said. "When he was in middle school, he came up to me and said (his teammates) would bring a state title to Dow."

Joining King as flight champs were teammates Aaron Li at No. 2 singles, Logan Yu at third singles and Nimai Patel at No. 4. Li defeated Mason Crosby of South Lyon East 6-4, 6-1, while Yu downed Gerritt Cheng of Mattawan 7-6, 6-1, and Patel knocked off Dylan Hodgman of Mattawan 6-4, 6-1.

Birmingham Seaholm tennisIn doubles, Dow had one duo make the finals. But Mattawan's Andrew Williams and Tanner Segraves defeated Dow's Roofy Elsaadamy and Vishagan Karthikeyan 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 1 flight.

While Schwartzkopf praised his singles teams, it was the strength of the doubles flights which helped the Chargers finish on top. Dow's third and fourth doubles teams made the quarterfinals and semifinals.

"We didn't anticipate the doubles teams being as strong as they were," he said. "The singles flights didn't surprise me that much because we were all back in singles. But every team is special for different reasons. You have your ups and your falls, but we have a lot of senior leadership. They've been absolutely incredible and one of the coolest things I've experienced."

William Knoester and Alex Chen of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central defeated Carson Wright and Sean Joyce of Seaholm 6-3, 6-3, to win the No. 2 doubles flight.

In the third doubles flight, Benji Cook and Nathan Lucken of Groves defeated Mohan Badhwar and Sammy Abdo of Seaholm 6-3, 6-3, in the final.

At No 4 doubles, Leo Kim and Finlay Sparby of Seaholm defeated Austin Rowland and Owen Godley of Forest Hills Central 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, in the final.

King said he wasn't put off by the pressure of being unbeaten as the season progressed.

"I like the pressure. As a No. 1 singles player, you want to be the best and to do that you have to beat the best," he said. "We knew there was a target on our back as a team, but we put in a lot of work over the summer."

Yu won his flight despite severe leg cramps during his second set. After winning the first 7-6, he took a 3-0 lead in the second set. But he was sidelined as doctors tried to get him ready to finish off the title.

"It was really tough," he said. "I won 7-6, but that was as tough as it could be. Garrett played well and I started to cramp up, but then I started to feel better."

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