Preview: Title Streaks On The Line
October 16, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four of the most impressive winning streaks in any MHSAA sport are on the line at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals.
Ann Arbor Greenhills is playing for its seventh straight championship in Division 4. Midland Dow has won five straight in Division 2. And Ann Arbor Huron and Detroit Country Day are just behind with a three-season title streaks in Divisions 1 and 4, respectively.
Read on for more on the top contenders in all four divisions, plus individuals who enter with high seeds – and expectations. Click for full draws for all four divisions.
LP DIVISION 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Novi, 2. Troy, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
These have ranked among the top three most of the season, with Novi holding the top spot in Division 1 since the first rankings were published Sept. 1. The Wildcats finished runner-up by a point last season to Huron, while Brother Rice was the runner-up to Huron in 2011 and 2012. Neither Novi nor Troy has won an MHSAA team title. Huron is ranked No. 4 but seeded at only one singles flight.
Novi: The Wildcats carry top seeds at five flights including three in singles, and last season’s No. 1 singles champion – Tim Wang – is seeded second at that flight as he plays for the repeat. Koushik Kondapi moved to No. 2 singles after winning the No. 3 title a year ago, and Maxx Anderson – last season’s champion at No. 4 singles – is teaming with Daniel Yu on the top-seeded No. 1 doubles team. All but No. 3 doubles is seeded – with freshman Alex Wen at No. 3 singles another with a top seed.
Troy: Last season’s fourth-place team is seeded at all but No. 1 singles, with second seeds at No. 2 singles with Steve Forman and No. 3 doubles with Adi Das and Anidow Saha. Six flights won Regional championships despite facing stiff competition from a field that included No. 8 Grosse Pointe South and No. 10 Troy Athens.
Brother Rice: The Warriors were third in 2013 but only two points off the lead. Three singles and all four doubles flights are seeded, including two second seeds including halves of championship pairs from a year ago – Brendan Dillon and Joe Paradiso won No. 3 doubles, and Dillon has moved up to No. 2 and Paradiso to No. 1. Returning No. 4 singles runner-up Jack Winkler is seeded second at No. 3.
Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ian Yi: After winning No. 2 singles last season as a freshman, Yi enters as the third seed at No. 1.
Northville’s Connor Johnston: The No. 1 seed at No. 1 singles, Johnston fell to Wang in straight sets in last season’s championship match but defeated him in last week’s Regional.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Will Brenner and Orion Sang: Last season’s winners at No. 4 doubles are the top-seeded pair this time at No. 2 and one of only two top seeds for the reigning champion.
DIVISION 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 3. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Dow dominated the field a year ago finishing 13 points ahead of the rest. Forest Hills Central was runner-up twice during Dow's recent run, in 2012 and 2011, and was fourth a year ago as Forest Hills Northern finished third.
Dow: Every flight is seeded, with Nos. 2-4 singles and No. 4 doubles all favored. Varun Shanker, the third seed at No. 1, and Michael Szabo at No. 3 were champions at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in 2013. No. 2 singles Colin Angell was on the winning No. 2 doubles team, and No. 4 singles Aditya Middha is only a freshman. No. 1 doubles Daniel Magno was part of the champion at No. 3 in 2013.
Forest Hills Central: Six flights are seeded, but the strength is doubles with all four flights seeded including No. 3 top seeds Humzah Azeem and Ryan Conner – Azeem was part of the winning No. 4 doubles pair last fall. Cooper James, the fourth seed at No. 2 singles, made the semifinals at No. 4 in 2013.
Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies had four flight runners-up a year ago in addition to finishing second as a team. Will Christian was the lone runner-up in singles, at No. 3, and is the fifth seed at No. 2. Ryan Roach and Daiki Adachi were runners-up at No. 3 doubles and are top-seeded at No. 2 after playing the only three-set match of last season’s Division 2 championships. All eight flights are seeded at least fifth.
Portage Central’s Bill Duo: The standout freshman enters his first MHSAA Finals as the second seed at No. 1 singles.
Portage Central’s Ben Orwin: Last season’s No. 1 singles player won a match at the Finals and is the second seed at No. 2 this fall.
Portage Northern’s Steward Sell: After entering last season’s tournament as the fourth seed at No. 1, Sell returns as the top.
Grosse Pointe North’s Nick Cusmano and Mitchell Zacharias: Cusmano is a returning No. 1 doubles player while Zacharias played No. 2 in 2013; together they are the top seed at the top flight.
Portage Central’s Cameron Raedy and Sahil Tandon: The second seed at No. 1 doubles is made up of Raedy, last season’s third seed at No. 3 singles, and a returning No. 1 doubles player in Tandon.
DIVISION 3 at Holly and Fenton
Top-ranked: 1. Detroit Country Day, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 3. East Grand Rapids.
Country Day’s championship in 2013 was one of the most dominating performances in MHSAA tennis history; the Yellowjackets won seven flights and had the runner-up in the eighth. Cranbrook-Kingswood finished fourth last season but is the last team to win the title before Country Day’s recent run. Combined, those two teams have the top two seeds at six flights.
Country Day: All eight flights are seeded first or second, including returning champions at No. 1 doubles Blake Burstein and Damian Runkle and No. 2 doubles Rishabh Nayak and Adam Junn. Noah Karoub is the top seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 last season, and Davis Wong is the second seed at No. 2 after winning No. 4 in 2013. Jakob Gahn is the top seed at No. 3 after also winning that flight last season.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded among the top three at their respective positions, with Colin Petzold and Brandon Kerr the top seed at No. 4 doubles and Marc Sable the top seed at No. 2 singles. Alex Hubers and Steven Meng are the second seed at No. 3 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last fall, while Nolan Trepeck is part of the second-seeded No. 2 doubles pair after contributing to a runner-up finish at that flight. Freshman Benji Jacobson is the second seed at No. 1 singles at his first MHSAA Finals.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers have one of the most accomplished programs in MHSAA history and could make an interesting run again with all eight flights seeded and some experienced players returning. Thomas Bailey and Will Rea finished runners-up at No. 3 doubles in 2013; Bailey is the sixth seed at No. 3 singles and Rea part of the fifth seed at No. 1 doubles. Grant Bailey is the third seed at No. 1 singles after falling to Karoub in the No. 2 championship match.
Grand Rapids Christian’s Max Hartman: The Eagles didn’t make the 2013 Finals, but Hartman also was their No. 1 singles player and won a match at the 2012 tournament.
Holland Christian’s Christian Rhoades: The third seed at No. 2 singles won a match at No. 1 in 2013.
DIVISION 4 at Holland
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett.
Greenhills is seeking its eighth championship in nine seasons and claimed last year’s title in large part by winning all four doubles. St. Francis finished sixth in 2013 but moved up to second in the coaches' second set of rankings this year and has remained in that spot. University Liggett could add a major highlight to its long history of success by breaking Greenhills’ streak, and finished third last season.
Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeded first at six flights and second at the seventh – and the lone player not seeded, No. 1 singles Zach Martell, made the quarterfinals at that flight last season while seeded fifth. Gage Feldeisen is the top seed at No. 3 singles after winning No. 4 in 2013, and six of eight doubles players were part of championship pairs: Sam Talsma and Brandon Johnson at No. 1 doubles (No. 1/No. 4 last year), Isak Akervall and Andy Xie at No. 2 (No. 2/No. 3 last year), Matt Chatas at No. 3 after winning No. 3 last year with Xie, and David Groden at No. 4 after winning that flight last year with Johnson. Nick Sandhu, a doubles champion in 2012 and 2011, is the top seed at No. 2 singles.
St. Francis: Seven seeded flights have the Gladiators looking like the team most likely to push Greenhills. Jack Krcmarik advanced the farthest last season, to the No. 3 singles semifinals, and is the third seed at that flight. Top singles players Gus Danz and Sam Holmes have switched flights after Danz played No. 2 and Holmes No. 1 a year ago.
University Liggett: The Knights also are seeded at seven flights with big points expected from doubles; Casey Scoggin and Thomas Van Pelt are the top seed at No. 3, and Alex Dow and Dave Sekhon are the second seed at No. 2. Dow and Sekhon were flight runners-up last season at No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, and the No. 1 doubles pair is made up of August Bonacci and Jackson Benning – returning runners-up at Nos. 2 and 4.
Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Nick Solarewicz: Last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles is back as the third seed and only qualifier from his team.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Teddy Oosterbaan: The No. 2 singles champion in 2013 will take a step up as the fourth seed at No. 1.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Henry Hedeman: The reigning No. 3 singles champion enters as the second seed this time at No. 2.
Lansing Catholic’s Matt Heeder: The top-seeded player at No. 1 singles is the reigning champion and also will play for the third title for his family (brother Paul won No. 1 singles in 2010).
Otsego’s Luke Ford: The second seed at No. 1 singles won his first match in Division 3 last year before falling to that division’s eventual runner-up.
Kalamazoo Christian’s David Niewoonder and Dean VanElderen: After making the quarterfinals at No. 1 doubles last season despite entering unseeded, this pair comes in this weekend seeded second.
PHOTO: Novi is returning three singles champions from the 2013 LP Division 1 Final, and is favored to win the team title this weekend.
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.
After 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.
"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 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.)