Logo
Forest Hills Northern tennis

Forest Hills Northern Returns with Dominating Performance

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

June 5, 2021

MIDLAND – The cancellation of last season due to COVID-19 didn’t affect Abby Siminski in the same way it affected her classmates in the Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern girls tennis program, because she hadn’t planned on playing high school tennis in 2020.

But that hardly means it was lost on her and her current Huskies teammates that they were back playing for a championship Saturday at Midland Tennis Center.

And dominating.

Forest Hills Northern had a participant in every championship match and ran away with the team title, scoring 39 points by winning seven of eight flights. Bloomfield Hills Marian finished second with 25 points, one more than Birmingham Groves.

“It was sad for all of them (2020 seniors) because everything got cut short,’’ said Siminski. “Especially for the captains. I felt really bad for them. It’s a huge deal for us to be out here today and have someone in every flight. We’re just happy to be playing.’’

Before last year’s cancellation, Northern had won outright team titles in 2019, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2003 and 2002, and tied for first in 2014.

Bloomfield Hills Marian tennis“It was tough not being able to play last season,” said longtime Huskies coach Dave Sukup. “We had three seniors on last year’s team that couldn’t finish their careers. We have four seniors on this year’s team. This is an experienced, talented group. This is one of the most talented groups we’ve had. It’s never over until the finals, but we got everyone through.’’

Alexis Pena, the team’s No. 3 singles standout, said current team members still keep in touch with the seniors from last year.

“It was really hard last year because we got through the hard part,’’ said Pena. “We got through tryouts, waking up at 5 in the morning. Then we got a couple practices in. It was really hard on the team because we didn’t know if we were going to keep going or not. We tried our best to go out and play whenever we could and keep conditioning.

“I think this year we did a really good job of coming back as a team and playing well. The seniors last year come out and watch us play, so we’re playing for the seniors last year and the seniors this year.’’

The Huskies lapped the field this weekend. Northern went into the semifinals with a two-point lead over Groves and a three-point lead over Marian.

Northern’s first champ was crowned at No. 3 doubles, as Tanishka Shenoy and Maya Echtinaw won when their opponents retired due to injury.

The Ws kept flowing.

 Isabella Paul won No. 2 singles over Deshanaa Betala of Portage Central, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Forest Hills Northern tennis“I played her during the season, so I knew it was going to be tough,’’ said Paul, who won the No. 3 singles flight in 2019.

“It was tough not playing last season, but it may have been a blessing in disguise for me because I broke my foot. Winning this year was equally as exciting as it was in 2019.’’

Pena won No. 3 singles with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Anna Dinsmore of Portage Central. Siminski defeated Groves’ Sullivan Patel 6-0, 6-2, to claim the championship at No. 1 singles; Siminski had finished runner-up at No. 1 in 2019.

Marian’s Lily Low ended Northern’s flight title run with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over the Huskies’ Nathalie Lanne. But Northern’s No. 4 doubles team of Marion Haviland and Megan Broughal downed Marian’s Marcella Zarouk and Meghan Sharkey 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) to claim that flight.

Northern’s seventh flight championship came from Sophie Richards and Rhea Marwaha at No. 1 doubles. They defeated Makenna Crandell and Taylor Humphrey of Byron Center, 6-3, 6-2, in that final.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Northern’s Abby Siminski returns a shot during Friday’s No. 1 singles play in Division 2. (Middle) Marian’s Gaby Gryzenia returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Below) The Huskies’ Sophie Richards (left) and Rhea Marwaha await a serve at No. 1 doubles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)

High 5s: 6/5/12

June 5, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to athletes and a team based on their accomplishments the previous week or throughout the season.

A four-time track champion and a longtime state tennis power once again at the top make up this week's list of high achievers.

Sami Michell
Reed City senior
Girls Track and Field

Michell became the first Lower Peninsula four-time champion at an MHSAA Girls Track and Field Final since 1979 when she won the long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200 on Saturday at the Division 3 meet at Comstock Park. Her time of 42.4 in the 300 hurdles broke the all-Finals record that had stood since 1984, and she also set Division 3 Final records in the long jump (18-6.5) and 100 hurdles (13.84) – breaking the record she previously held in the latter. Total, Michell has won eight MHSAA championships during her three-year high school career. She’s also a setter on the volleyball team and the top-ranked student in her class with a 4.0 grade-point average. Her mother Vikki is the coach of Reed City’s girls track and field team, and her father Brent coaches the boys team.

Fantastic 4: “I wanted to win four; I thought about it, but it was kinda crazy when I actually did it. Really, after I crossed the finish line in the 200, I was pretty happy then. Definitely 200 (was the hardest). It was the last one, and I wasn’t seeded first in that one.”

I learned the most about running from: “Both my parents. They both help me in different ways. It’s pretty cool, but it’s hard sometimes. Sometimes listening to them is harder because I think they don’t know what they’re talking about when they do. But just because they’re my parents it’s harder to listen.”

Up next: All I really know is I’m running track someplace. I have no idea where I want to go. A couple of schools down south really seem interested (including Clemson, plus Michigan State closer to home). Stanford seems interested.”

Fun with numbers: “I’m thinking (I’ll study) accounting. I’m kind of a perfectionist. I like the math part of it.”

Air Michell: Despite standing only 5-foot-8, Michell has a vertical jump of nearly 30 inches and just misses being able to touch the basketball rim. “But I can touch the part connected to the backboard. That would be pretty sweet.”

Click to read more.

Birmingham Seaholm tennis

Birmingham Seaholm won only one individual flight, but also had three runners-up in edging Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 27-25 at the top of the Division 2 Final standings Saturday. The Maples won their first MHSAA team championship since 2004, and ended FHN's six-season streak of shared or outright titles. Seaholm had finished runner-up to the Huskies in 2011.

Jackie Meier and Rachel Wilson won what ended up being the deciding match by downing the pair from Forest Hills Northern in the final at No. 3 doubles. Seaholm also gained valuable points by placing seven flights in at least the semifinals.

This spring's previous honorees