Miners, Maroons Close with Wins to Share
June 2, 2016
By Steve Brownlee
Special for Second Half
NEGAUNEE — A tale of two strategies worked out about as well as possible for the Negaunee and Menominee high school tennis teams Thursday afternoon.
In the end, each won its final match of the day to forge a tie for the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys tennis title at the Miners’ courts.
It will be considered a win for each school, with each adding to its respective trophy case. A duplicate will be ordered and sent out, of course, so each team can claim the ultimate spring victory.
The Maroons claimed their half of the title when juniors Levi Kempka and Jake Anglehart pulled out a comeback 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Negaunee seniors Jacob Paupore and Matthew Jandron in the No. 2 doubles final.
Theirs was one of only two matches still going late in the afternoon at the new set of eight side-by-side courts at Negaunee High School.
Asked if they had an inkling their match might help determine the meet’s winner, Kempka said they had much more than an inkling.
“Right after the first set was over, (Menominee) coach (Troy Reuter) came over and asked if we wanted to know where we were in the meet,” Kempka said. “I said, ‘Yeah, tell us.’ And he said if we won, we wrapped up at least a share of the title.
“I think we started playing a lot better after that. The intensity went way up.”
The second-year doubles partners rallied to win those last two sets and get their team to 16 points.
One final match continued after theirs, Miners sophomore and first-year varsity player Thomas Sertich versus Kingsford’s Mikhail Roell.
Sertich would need a win to get Negaunee to its 16th point.
However, he had no idea what was on the line.
“I had no idea what the magnitude of the match was,” Sertich said. “I just thought that it was the last match.”
“We try to keep our distance and stay quiet in those kind of circumstances,” Negaunee coach Kyle Saari said. “Just let nature take its course.”
That was readily apparent as Menominee players and coaches crowded close to the fence to watch the outcome of the match, while no one from Negaunee stood within 40 or 50 feet of the adjoining outside fence where Sertich was playing.
And it worked perfectly, as Sertich won 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
“You’ve got to give Thomas credit,” Saari said. “He’s a consistent hitter, he hits a slow ball back, and at No. 4, that can be frustrating to a lot of players.
“Give him credit, too, especially with the pressure of having two teams rooting against you.”
While this was Menominee’s first U.P. title since 1998, Negaunee added to its legacy in the second decade of the 21st century — the Miners also shared the 2010 title along with winning outright in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
“What it comes down to, going back to 2010, is that the groups (of players) that follow watch it being done, and that next group comes in not only expecting to contend, but believing they can do it.
“It makes them work that much harder to see if they can achieve more than the group that preceded them.”
On Thursday, Menominee won four flight championships and Negaunee three, accounting for all but one title among the eight flights as each scored 16 points.
Despite not winning a title, Kingsford finished third with 12 points as the Flivvers had four runner-up finishes.
Escanaba was fourth with five points, followed by Marquette with four and Gladstone with one.
The Redmen had the other champion, freshman Alec Olivier at No. 1 singles. He slipped by Kingsford’s Brady Hicks 6-2, 6-0 in his finale.
Menominee also got wins from No. 3 singles player Mitchell Boucher, 6-4, 6-4 over Negaunee’s Luke Skewis; the No. 1 doubles tandem of Adam Nolde and Aaron Maas, 6-4, 6-1 over Brett Hicks and Chris Roell of Kingsford; and the No. 3 doubles pair of Peyton Mileski and Joe Anttila, 6-4, 6-1 over Negaunee’s Dylan Tasson and Peyton Anderson.
Negaunee’s other victories came from No. 2 singles player Eric Hurst, 6-4, 6-4 over Kingsford’s Alec Shanks; and the No. 4 doubles duo of Klay Ronn and Tyler Ryan, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4) over Menominee’s Sam Larson and Andrew Leinonen.
PHOTOS: (Top) Menominee's Aaron Maas takes a swing during the No. 1 doubles championship match against Kingsford on Thursday. (Middle) Negaunee's Thomas Sertich serves the ball during the No. 4 singles semifinal match against Escanaba's Christer Carne. (Photos by Elizabeth Bailey.)
Rising St Clair Nets 'Unattainable' Goal
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 25, 2019
For years, the St. Clair boys tennis team used the Macomb Area Conference Red schedule as preparation for the postseason and not much else.
As by far the smallest school in the MAC’s toughest division, the Saints regularly took their lumps against perennial Division 1 and 2 MHSAA Finals contenders Grosse Pointe South and Port Huron Northern – but always kept their focus on how it would make them stronger for the regional and state competitions.
“We put ourselves in that league to get better for the state finals,” said St. Clair coach Dave Clutts, who is in his 24th season leading the program. “The teams that are in the Red are the teams that are consistently going (to the Finals), and it was never a goal of ours to win it because it was not attainable.”
A year ago, the Saints finished second and made Clutts re-think his outlook. This year, the Saints took it a step further.
St. Clair tied Grosse Pointe South 4-4 in the league opener before defeating Grosse Pointe North (7-1), Utica Eisenhower (7-1) and Port Huron Northern (6-2) to grab a share of the title, their first in the division.
“It was very exciting, because even last year we really struggled against (Grosse Pointe) South, especially,” said St. Clair sophomore Derek Distelrath, who plays No. 1 singles. “We’ve been building our program now for a couple years, and we’ve gained a lot. When we were able to finally get a share of it this year, it was really exciting. When our coach told us he’d never had a boys team or a girls team win the MAC Red – and he’s had some really good girls teams, especially – it was really exciting.”
St. Clair’s conference title came after graduating eight starters off a team that finished a program-best eighth at the Division 3 Final a year ago. The success also came despite being at least 500 students smaller than any of its competitors.
By the latest MHSAA count, St. Clair has 780 students, well below division mates Port Huron Northern (1,284), Grosse Pointe North (1,295), Grosse Pointe South (1,510) and Utica Eisenhower (2,617). South is ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 this week.
“It felt really good to be able to do it once and for all,” said St. Clair senior Eli Pinnoo, who plays No. 2 singles. “We’ve always worked hard all these years leading up to it.”
Pinnoo is one of two seniors on the team, joined by Ethan Urban who plays No. 2 doubles. They were around for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, which both ended with the Saints finishing 1-3 in the Red. In St. Clair’s time in the Red from 2005-09 (which included two seasons in 2007 because of the switch from spring to fall) and 2014-17, the Saints were 3-36-2 in divisional play.
“Because we have so many freshmen, they don’t really get it,” Clutts said. “The two seniors, it means a lot more because they’ve been getting their butts kicked and they know how hard it is.”
Amazingly, during that time, the Saints have steadily been a very strong program despite the conference losses. They’ve advanced to the MHSAA Finals 21 seasons in a row, and they won a MAC White title in 2013.
Clutts sees the program entering a new level, however.
“The big thing is the middle school program we started nine or 10 years ago,” Clutts said. “That’s where we’re getting those good kind of club players that were always at the top of our lineup, now they’re playing their role. Now we have kids who can play those top spots, and all those club players who can fill in behind them.”
Between the singles players – Distelrath, Pinnoo, No. 3 Michael Mascarin, and No. 4 Ian Pinnoo – there are only two losses, and both came in three sets. Clutts said he feels that foursome has the potential to all reach the final of their respective flights at the MHSAA championship tournament Oct. 18-19 at Kalamazoo College. Eli Pinnoo did it last year, finishing runner-up at No. 2 singles after dropping a three-setter in the final.
St. Clair’s doubles teams are inexperienced but solid, as Urban and Quinn Schwarz are the only returners from last year’s team. Schwarz plays with his sister Hadley at No. 1 doubles, while Urban plays with Joey Fajardo at No. 2. Eli Lohr and Patrick Mason are the No. 3 doubles team, and Will Wentrack and Jared Kramp are at No. 4.
The team is ranked No. 5 in LP Division 3, and has seen three of the top four teams – tying No. 4 East Grand Rapids 4-4 and losing to No. 3 Detroit Country Day and No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood each by a score of 5-3. The Saints have a match with top-ranked Ann Arbor Greenhills coming up Oct. 2.
While scheduling tough is obviously nothing new for Clutts, what is new is the top teams seeking St. Clair out, which Clutts said is now happening as each of the top teams jockeys for seeding.
“That says a lot for sure,” Distelrath said. “With these top schools, they didn’t know who we were a couple years ago. Now they’re actively looking to play us, which is really cool because they can respect the strength of our team.”
A top-three finish at the MHSAA Finals is the goal for this year’s Saints team, and it’s something they believe is realistic. But even without that, this two-year run has already been one of, if not the most successful in the program’s history.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Eli Pinnoo said. “Just knowing that the time I’m there, that’s one of the best it’s been so far – that's just crazy.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTO: The St. Clair boys tennis team locked down its first Macomb Area Conference Red championship this month with a 3-0-1 record in league play. (Photo courtesy of the St. Clair athletic department.)