Performance: Dow's Varun Shanker
October 20, 2016
Varun Shanker
Midland Dow senior - Tennis
Shanker finished an incredibly successful and in ways unprecedented career Saturday by winning the No. 1 singles championship at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final while leading the Chargers to their first team championship since 2013. Shanker became the first No. 1 singles champion for his school's prestigious program since 1999 and finished 32-1 this season in earning the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
This was Shanker’s third season at No. 1 singles; he also won No. 3 singles as a freshman as Dow earned a fifth straight Division 2 team title. The next fall, Shanker became the first sophomore captain in Chargers history, and as a sophomore and junior he made the Division 2 semifinals at the top flight. But this fall was special; Shanker’s only loss was to Birmingham Groves’ Gabe Liss, who Shanker came back to beat two weeks later, and total his season sheet included victories over four of the top-six seeded players in Division 2 and three of the top five at the Division 1 Final including eventual champion Steven Forman of Troy. Shanker had 11 wins over players considered among the top 100 in their age groups in the Midwest, including a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (8) nail-biter over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix freshman Reed Crocker in Saturday’s championship match. Shanker finished 115-19 over his four varsity seasons.
Shanker followed into the program his brother Vikram, a 2014 graduate who remains tied for second in MHSAA history with 132 career doubles wins and who was named an MHSAA/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete Award winner as a senior. Similarly, Varun has a 4.0 grade-point average (4.79 weighted) and is a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. He’s been part of teams that have won three first-place A.H. Nickless Innovation Awards and a total of $135,000 in scholarship and grant money for work in water purification by electrodialysis, piezoelectric devices and microbial fuel cells. He’s contemplating studying biomedical engineering as he considers opportunities for academics and tennis at the next level.
Coach Terry Schwartzkopf said: “As Dow’s only three-year captain in history, Varun demonstrated the character, drive, determination, and dedication needed in order to claim a championship. In terms of community, he has organized beautification projects within Midland and participated providing free tennis clinics in the tri-cities. He has handled grant applications for team income, ordered inventory including uniforms and warm-ups, and handled media relations. As for athletics, we have had talented teams who won championships based on the depth of talent. This year, it was based upon work and improvement. Varun spent the offseason corralling kids, encouraging them to train, and even offering rides when needed. During season, he would work daily with players individually, deconstructing and rebuilding pieces of their game. He ... worked more as an assistant coach than a player. Varun unified, inspired, and took players to task when needed. He had no issue calling out players due to lack of effort and praising those who worked hard. In 17 seasons as a coach, Varun is without a doubt the strongest captain I have ever had. There was never a single time in four years where I questioned his loyalty to the program, his drive to succeed, or his willingness to give all he had to help his team succeed. In fact, I have never wanted a player to win a championship more than him because that was never his focus. From the beginning, his focus was team. He was content that if he played his best he would be satisfied with his outcome, provided the team was successful."
Performance Point: “Coming into the tournament as the one seed, there’s always a little pressure,” Shanker said. “For me, this year was different. This year, I knew, was my chance, that I could do something special. That I could fulfill my dream of always winning the one singles position. I knew I’d have tough opponents to play in the tournament, but I definitely came in with a focused mindset, and obviously it’s tough to not reflect on that last match, those last few points. … I was down two match points, and he literally needed one point to win twice. I want to say my back was against the wall; that’s as close as it’s going to be. To me, it was about believing. I saw my teammates cheering for me; I saw my coach. I saw it was (about) way more than one match, but all the support, and I was able to find it in myself to get a little bit tougher and mentally to be able to pull it out. The support was unbelievable.”
Dow dynasty: “It’s been unbelievable. We had a tradition of excellence here when I came in as a freshman; we had won four consecutive state titles. When I finally joined the team freshman year, I was finally able to understand why it’s like that. Coach instills hard work and preparation, and that was the reason we were able to achieve that. As my career progressed, I was able to learn what some of the things are that are able to make us successful, what some of the things lead to. During my four years, we had a lot of ups and downs – that’s definitely fair to say. My sophomore year, actually, we were supposed to win the state title (Dow finished third). It was a little bit of a letdown to walk away, but that definitely fueled the next few years. We learned how to get back up and dust ourselves off.”
Vikram’s lead: “My brother has had the biggest impact on my life, sports, academics – pretty much every facet of my life, and I do credit him for a lot of this. Growing up, the first reason I picked up a tennis racket was him. I was always big into swimming, but ever since he picked up a racket, I followed suit. He’s a great supporter and has always been a great coach for me.”
Name on the shirt: “High school tennis always has been one of my most favorite parts of the year. Being able to combine the team element to (tennis), it’s hard to describe, but it really enhances it being able to share the process with a group of teammates, both practice and competition. It truly does become a team sport. Representing my school and the community has been a favorite part of high school, rather than just playing as an individual on the USTA circuit. The community in Midland has helped us a lot in becoming great athletes, especially the Midland Tennis Center. Being able to represent playing for my school, it allows me in a certain way to represent the great things they’ve helped us (accomplish).”
Dr. Shanker: “I’m not sure whether I want to go into biotechnology; I definitely always have aspired to be a doctor. I just love that being a doctor, you’re able to help people, but you’re also on the cutting edge of science. That always has been really intriguing to me.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Midland Dow's Varun Shanker follows through on a return during his No. 1 singles championship match Saturday. (Middle) Shanker shakes hands with Loy Norrix's Reed Crocker after securing the title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Favorites Set, but Challengers Aim to Prevent Repeat Results
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 19, 2023
Three 2022 Lower Peninsula boys tennis champions are ranked No. 1 heading into this weekend's Finals, but at least one new champion is guaranteed.
Bloomfield Hills in Division 1 and Midland Dow in Division 2 are considered favorites to repeat in those respective divisions. But reigning Divison 3 champion Ann Arbor Greenhills is playing again in Division 4, opening up the Division 3 bracket to other contenders – although of course hopefuls will be aspiring to prove the rankings wrong in all four.
Play begins between 8-8:30 a.m. Friday at the various sites for opening rounds, and between 8-9 a.m. Saturday for anticipated semifinals and championship matches. Visit the Boys Tennis page to find out which flights will be played at each location and to track results as they are received.
Below is a glance at several contenders in all four divisions.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center & Midland High School
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Troy, 3. Northville
Bloomfield Hills moved up from runner-up in 2021 to champion last fall, winning by 10 points and with that title the program’s third over the last six seasons. Troy was the 2021 champion and finished third a year ago, one point behind runner-up Northville as the Mustangs earned their first top-two Finals finish in program history.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks won three doubles and two singles flight championships during their dominating 2022 run, and they’re seeded to win six this time. Junior Pierce Shaya (21-0), part of last season’s No. 1 doubles champion, is seeded first at No. 2 singles, and sophomore Connor Shaya (24-0) was last year’s No. 4 singles champion and is seeded first at No. 3 this time. Senior Merrick Chernett was the other half of that No. 1 doubles champion, and he and senior Aaron Rose are seeded first at that flight. Seniors Ryan Rose and Michael Dillon are seeded first at No. 2 doubles and won that flight last year. Senior Kierth Lingam and junior Dominic Pascarella are seeded first at No. 3 after winning No. 4 last year, and senior Ethan Endelman and junior Asher Langwell are seeded first at No. 4 this time. Sophomore Jonah Chernett is the third seed at No. 3 singles.
Troy: The Colts are seeded fourth or better at all eight flights, with the second seeds at all four doubles. Senior Haresh Anand (26-1) has the team’s lone top seed, at No. 4 singles, but junior Dhruv Gupta is seeded third at No. 3 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 a year ago. Senior Nish Palepu and sophomore Derrick Kim were the runners-up at No. 2 doubles last season and are the second seeds at No. 1 this weekend. Senior Derek Blackwell is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles.
Northville: All eight flights are seeded fifth or higher, with the singles lineup including two second seeds after top-seeded senior and two-time reigning champion Sachiv Kumar (24-0) at No. 1 singles. Junior Brian Zhang was part of the runner-up at No. 4 doubles last season and is teaming with senior Nathan Waller for the third-seeded pair at No. 2.
Clayton Anderson, Rochester senior: The No. 1 singles runner-up the last two seasons, he’s 21-1 this fall with his only loss to Kumar in August. He’s second-seeded at the top flight.
Chad Anderson, Rochester sophomore: He’s also second-seeded, at No. 2 singles, and 17-3 with two of those losses to Pierce Shaya.
LP Division 2 at Byron Center West Sports Complex, East Kentwood & Grand Rapids South Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Mattawan, 3. Birmingham Seaholm
Dow is the reigning champion, coming off its first Finals title since 2016 and seventh under coach Terry Schwartzkopf since 2009. Mattawan is seeking its first title and finished fourth last season and second in 2020. Seaholm also is seeking a first Finals team championship in this sport and has finished runner-up three times, most recently tying for second in 2018. The Maples placed third last year.
Midland Dow: The Chargers are undefeated this fall, and their seeding reflects that dominance as six flights are top-seeded. The entire singles lineup is back from last season, with senior Aaron Li (24-1) the reigning champion at No. 2 and the top seed at that flight, junior Nimai Patel (28-1) the reigning champion and top seed at No. 4, senior Logan Yu (27-0) the reigning No. 3 runner-up and top-seeded, and No. 1 singles junior Austin King (33-0) also a top seed after making the semifinals last season. Seniors Roofy Elsaadany and Vishagen Karthikeyan are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Elsaadany was part of last year’s No. 2 champion and Karthikeyan part of the No. 3 runner-up, and senior Andrew Frickey and sophomore Matthew McGaugh are the top seed at No. 4.
Mattawan: The Wildcats will be playing for their best finish with six seeded flights, including all four at singles. Senior Garrett Cheng and freshman Dylan Hodgman lead the way as the second seeds at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples graduated two doubles champions from last season but are seeded at seven flights, led by No. 3 doubles top-seeded seniors Mohan Badhwar and Sammy Abdo. Junior Carson Wright and senior Sean Joyce are the second seed at No. 3, and senior Blake Smith is the second seed at No. 2 singles.
Karan Deol, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern junior: He’s seeded third at No. 1 singles after taking Dow’s Li to three sets in last season’s No. 2 singles championship match. He’s 24-3 this fall with his only losses twice to Drew Hackney (below) and once to Dow’s King.
Drew Hackney, Muskegon Mona Shores senior: He’s 28-0 and the second seed at No. 1 singles. He reached the quarterfinals last season, giving King a tough match there after entering as the sixth seed.
LP Division 3 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. East Grand Rapids
Reigning champion Ann Arbor Greenhills is back in Division 4, and Cranbrook is back as the favorite in Division 3. The Cranes have won six of the last eight Division 3 titles, with Greenhills winning the other two during that time. Cranbrook followed its 2021 championship with a runner-up finish last fall, finishing only two points off the lead. Country Day finished third and is seeking its first title since 2014, and East Grand Rapids tied for fourth last season and is seeking its first title since the spring 2007 season.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: Saturday should be busy as four Cranes flights are top seeds, and the other four are second seeds. Junior Amaan Khan (20-0) was the champion at No. 4 singles last season and is top-seeded at that flight, and sophomore Jace Bernard (17-3) is the top seed at No. 3. Cranbrook won No. 1 doubles last season and finished runner-up at the other three doubles flights, with Bernard and senior Andrew Fink that champion at No. 1; Fink is second-seeded at that flight this weekend with junior Aryan Tiwari, part of last year’s No. 2 runner-up. Freshman Ryan VanDyke and senior Ben Stevenson are the top seeds at No. 3 doubles, and seniors Ketan Swami and Kevin Guo are the top seeds at No. 4 after Guo was part of the runner-up at that flight last season and Swami was part of the runner-up at No. 3. Junior Ryan Michaels (10-10) is the second seed at No. 1 singles after reaching the semifinals at No. 2 last year.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets are set up well to make a push. Country Day is seeded third or higher at every flight, with two top seeds and a second seed in singles. Junior Saahitth Reddy is the top seed at No. 1 after receiving the seventh seed at that flight last season; he’s 10-9, but has won nine of his last 10 matches with all of his defeats to Division 1 opponents. Junior Dan Marin (19-4) is the top seed at No. 2 singles after reaching the semifinals at that flight last season.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers are seeded at seven flights and could make their move based on the success of some highly-regarded doubles pairs. Seniors Charlie Lentz and Luke Lentz are top-seeded at No. 2, seniors Ben Ruppert and Walter Zimdar are second-seeded at No. 3 and senior Joe Mulder and junior Tommy Rosmarin are second-seeded at No. 4.
Bhavesh Burramukku, St. Joseph junior: The third seed at No. 1 singles is 26-2 with his only losses to Division 1 opponents.
LP Division 4 at Hope College & Holland Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
As noted above, Greenhills was last season’s Division 3 champion but is back in Division 4, where St. Francis and Liggett have combined to win the last three titles. Liggett won last year and in 2020 and was runner-up in 2021, edging Hudsonville Unity Christian by three points to claim last season’s championship.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeded second at No. 1 singles and first at the other seven flights as they seek to win this division for the first time since 2018 after playing in Division 3 the last four seasons. Junior Kabir Rajendra (12-8) is that second seed at No. 1 after he was runner-up at Division 3 No. 3 last year. He’s followed in the singles lineup by top-seeded junior Teddy Staebler (23-7) at No. 2, sophomore Charlie Rich (22-7) at No. 3 and freshman Murli Pandey (21-9) at No. 4. Seniors Lucas Nor and Alex Ye are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles after Ye was part of last year’s runner-up at No. 1 in Division 3 and Nor was part of the champion at No. 2. Senior Charles Branch and sophomore Ajay Purohit are the top seed at No. 2; they teamed up to win No. 4 in Division 3 last fall. Sophomore Richard Wu and freshman William Pearce are the top seed at No. 3, and senior Shyam Pandey and freshman Maksim Rakic-Denis are the top seed at No. 4.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators are seeded fifth or higher at all eight flights, led by strength in doubles. Juniors Eli Schmude and David Ansley are the second seed at No. 1, and freshman Casey Jackson and sophomore Brady Thelen are the second seed at No. 4. Ansley was part of the No. 3 runner-up last season. Junior Owen Jackson (26-9) is the third seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 last season and No. 3 in 2021, and senior Chris Bobrowski is the fourth seed at No. 2 after finishing No. 3 runner-up in 2022.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are seeking their fifth Division 4 championship over the last eight seasons, and they’ll enter with six seeded flights and a singles lineup that will be especially key. Senior Sebastian Courtright (22-8) is the top seed at No. 1 after finishing runner-up at that flight the last two seasons, and junior Charlie Cooksey is the second seed at No. 2 after winning No. 4 last season.
PHOTO Troy's Dhruv Gupta returns a volley during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)