Forest Hills Rules D2: FHC's Ohlman Repeats, FHN Takes Back Team Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
BYRON CENTER — The last day of actual school this year for Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Lily Ohlman might have been May 6. But from a tennis perspective, it can be argued that her last day of school was May 4 — when she learned a few things that paid off during her final high school tournament.
It was then that Ohlman suffered a three-set loss to Megan Sullivan of Farmington Hills Mercy (10-8 in the third-set tiebreak). Earning a rematch with Sullivan in the No. 1 singles championship match at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday, Ohlman tried to figuratively go to school and do her homework from that last match with Sullivan.
“Megan has an extremely good forehand,” Ohlman said. “She really hurt me with that in the last match. Going into this, I just tried as hard as I could not to hit it to her forehand. When I did, I tried to hit it deep and stuff.”
Ohlman certainly played like someone who did her homework from that match as well, as she earned her second straight singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the junior from Mercy.
Ohlman reached Sullivan by surviving Ana Cheng of Mattawan in the semifinals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
“I have thought about this every day for the past year since I won states for the first time,” Ohlman said of trying to repeat. “It’s been like a true dream come true for my tennis career.”
While Ohlman brought home an individual title for Forest Hills Central, rival Forest Hills Northern claimed the team championship for the third time over the last four years. The Huskies netted 29 points to edge 2023 champion Birmingham Seaholm, which finished with 23.
Northern had players in five flights advance to finals, with four of those flights producing championships.
FHN’s title was punctuated when the No. 1 doubles team of Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie defeated Seaholm’s team of Jenna Ting and Katie Slazinski in a thrilling final, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Northern actually had the team title clinched by that point, but head coach Steven Olson didn’t want his players to know that.
“I don’t want them to back off because they think the team has already won it,” he said. “I want them to think they are still hunting for a title the entire time.”
Huskies junior Andrea Wang defeated Keira Kirkland of Farmington Hills Mercy, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to win at No. 2 singles, sophomore Harriet Ogilvie captured the title at No. 3, and the team of Lauren Jaklitsch and Morgan McKenzie won at No. 2 doubles.
Olson guided his team to a Finals title in his second year as head coach after taking over for Dave Sukup, who led the program for 49 years before retiring. Northern had fallen to No. 2 behind Seaholm in the final regular-season coaches rankings. And then the Huskies lost their No. 1 singles player Nathalie Lanne to a torn ACL last week.
Her replacement, Natalia Acevedo, managed to win a first-round match to earn a crucial point despite not being seeded.
Also stepping up was sophomore Aanya Dogra, who entered the tournament unseeded at No. 4 singles. Dogra recorded upsets of No. 3 seed Elisa Costeux of Mattawan and No. 2 seed Maddy Youngblood of Grosse Pointe South before falling in the championship match to No. 1 seed Gabby Owens of Farmington Hills Mercy, 6-0, 6-2.
Still, Dogra’s run earned some major points for the Huskies.
“The rest of the team just stepped up and performed,” Olson said. “It’s been a wild weekend, but I’m very proud of these girls.”
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Lily Ohlman returns a volley during her No. 1 singles championship match Saturday. (Middle) Forest Hills Northern’s Paige McKenzie, right, with partner Ryan Morey, sends back a powerful volley at No. 1 doubles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Escanaba, Negaunee 'As Even As It Gets' Again in Sharing UPD1 Title
By
Mitch Vosburg
Special for MHSAA.com
October 5, 2023
MARQUETTE — On Sept. 13, Escanaba and Negaunee collided in a dual meet in Escanaba. The Eskymos and Miners tied 4-4.
Flash forward 21 days and both squads once again found themselves neck and neck on the court. With a Finals title on the line, the Eskymos and Miners, similar to their first meeting, finished tied for the Upper Peninsula Division 1 championship Wednesday at Marquette High School.
The squads were crowned co-champions after each accumulating 16 points.
Ishpeming Westwood finished in third place with 14 points, Marquette finished fourth with four points, Gladstone and Kingsford tied for fifth with two apiece and Menominee finished seventh with one point.
For Escanaba, Wednesday was its first share of a team Finals championship since 2011.
“It’s a great ending,” Escanaba coach Chris Ogren said. “We had two really good teams this year. When we played head-to-head we were as even as it gets. On the last day of the year with everybody here, we were as even as it gets. It’s perfectly fitting. It feels great.”
For the Miners, it was their sixth claim of a Finals title since 2015.
“This is probably one of our most rewarding titles that we've had in any particular year,” Miners coach Kyle Saari said. “These girls battled through an awful lot of adversity this season. Some had injuries, and just a variety of different things kind of popped up. Coming into today we knew we needed a lot of things to go right to have a chance. Every single thing we needed … they answered the bell and it happened.”
In No. 1 singles action, the Eskymos claimed three critical points behind the efforts of Sophie Derkos. The senior knocked off the reigning No. 2 singles champion, Gladstone’s Tia Schone, 6-0, 6-1 in semifinal action. In the final, Derkos collided with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson, who was runner-up to Schone in No. 2 singles action in 2022. The Esky senior earned a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win to finish undefeated at 18-0 and claim her second-straight individual Finals title in the process.
The Miners earned two individual titles Wednesday. Rheana Nelson claimed hers at No. 3 singles, besting Gladstone’s Alexis Burch in quarterfinal action 6-0, 6-0, Westwood’s Emersyn Nelson 6-1, 6-3, in the semi and earning a 6-2, 7-5 win over Escanaba’s Sam Korpi to clinch. Nelson finished the season with a record of 18-1.
Madalynn Peters, the top-seeded competitor at No. 4 singles, toppled Westwood’s Morgan Schnieder 6-1, 6-3, in semifinal action and earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Escanaba’s Maggie Martin in the final.
Escanaba made up ground on Negaunee with a pair of championship victories in doubles play.
In No. 1 doubles action, the tandem of Natalie Williams and Sam Manninen first defeated Kingsford’s Audrey Veale and Libby Vross 6-2, 6-4. In the final, Williams and Manninen vanquished Westwood’s Isabelle Marta and Alyssa Couveau 6-4, 6-3 to finish their senior seasons with a perfect record of 15-0.
Williams and Manninen weren’t the only Eskymos pairing to find success Wednesday and in 2023. Escanaba’s No. 4 doubles pairing of juniors Danni Hughes and Carly Bowden bested Marquette’s Eva Sjoholm and Mylee Muscoe 6-0, 6-2, before toppling Westwood’s Taylor Jackovich and Kaya Etelmaki 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match to finish their season at 19-0.
Negaunee claimed the No. 3 doubles title. The tandem of Autumn Ring and Alyssa Borlace – the latter subbing in at the last minute Wednesday – ran the table by defeating Kingsford’s Addisyn Kreigl and Eden Janousek 6-1, 6-1, in quarterfinal action, top-seeded Laura Barsch and Aubree Blackburn (Marquette) 7-5, 6-0, and Escanaba’s Sophie Wagner and Val Royer 2-6, 6-0, 6-1, in the final.
Westwood’s Samantha Ruby earned the crown in No. 2 singles by defeating Kingsford’s Allette Shanks 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinal, knocking off Gladstone’s Addie Thombley 7-6, 6-3, in their semifinal and besting top-seeded Lilliana Saunders from Negaunee 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to clinch.
The Patriots also claimed a title in No. 2 doubles action. The pairing of Nolia Dawson and Kaylin Doney knocked off Menominee’s Isabelle Bentley and Isabelle Busher 6-3, 6-0 in a quarterfinal, defeated Escanaba’s Sonya Maki and Molly Smale 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals and vanquished Negaunee’s Olivia Lunseth and Sage Juntti in a thrilling 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) championship match.
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba senior Sophie Derkos returns a volley during her semifinal match with Gladstone’s Tia Schone on Wednesday. (Middle) Negaunee junior Aubrey Johnson tracks a shot during her semifinal against Westwood’s Lexi Olson. (Photos by Mitch Vosburg.)