Grosse Ile Ends Wait for 1st Championship
May 31, 2014
By Keith Dunlap
Special to Second Half
HOLLY – MHSAA Finals championships are typically remembered forever in trophy cases of schools around the state. But sometimes there are championships that differentiate themselves more than others from a historical perspective.
No doubt, the championship the Grosse Ile girls tennis team captured Saturday is one of those unique pieces of history that will stand out forever.
Coach John Shade has presided over Grosse Ile’s program for 42 years, but never got to experience the feeling of winning an MHSAA Finals championship until the Red Devils won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 title on Saturday at Holly High School.
Grosse Ile won its first-ever championship by collecting 26 points, finishing five ahead of Kalamazoo Christian and six ahead of third-place Traverse City St. Francis.
Needless to say, there were a lot of fellow coaches who wanted to offer congratulations to Shade afterward, and there will likely be many more in the coming days who couldn’t be happier to see him win his first title with the girls after previously winning with the boys program.
“It’s nice to hear congratulations from your peers,” Shade said. “I think most people know me and know Grosse Ile.”
The Red Devils produced individual champions at two flights, Kennedy Quinn at No. 4 singles and the team of Rose Tucker and Casey Guthrie at No. 4 doubles. But it was the overall depth of Grosse Ile that stood out.
Ola Latala at No. 3 singles and the team of Karolina Kvasnitova and Elli Formentin at No. 2 doubles finished second in their respective flights, and Julia Formentin at No. 2 singles and the No. 3 doubles team of Katherine Kuzmiak and Luna Terauchi reached the semifinals to add more valuable points to Grosse Ile’s total.
The seeds for Grosse Ile’s title were really sewn at last year’s MHSAA tournament, where the Red Devils finished an agonizing three points behind champion Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart.
With much of its core returning, Grosse Ile knew this could be the time to win that elusive championship, and it was.
“This was our goal since last year,” Latala said. “We are all really excited that we are state champs. We really wanted to make our coach really proud.”
Redemption from last year was also a theme for Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard senior Colleen O’Brien, who finished off an unbeaten season by winning the title at No. 1 singles.
O’Brien, who will play at Michigan State University, lost in last year’s championship match, but avenged that by beating Calla Ramont of Lansing Catholic, 6-3, 6-2.
“I think I was motivated to win more,” O’Brien said. “I just never wanted to give up, and keep fighting. Obviously last year I needed to fight a little more to win that match. I just had that mentality.”
It often can be a mental strain for a player to try and keep a perfect season going, but O’Brien’s focus turned out to be too good.
“I blocked it out,” O’Brien said. “It didn’t really affect me too much.”
Gabriel Richard also had the champion at No. 2 singles, as Maddy Szuba beat Jessica Bouma of Kalamazoo Christian, 6-3, 6-2.
Audrey Bouma of Kalamazoo Christian beat Latala, 6-3, 6-1, to win the No. 3 singles title, and Quinn beat Sydni Greenhoe of Portland at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3, to round out the singles portion of the tournament.
At No. 1 doubles, Sacred Heart’s team of sophomore Gretchen Lemon and senior Sarah Spangler beat Chrissy Flynn and Ella Anteau of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the final, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
In the semifinal, Flynn and Anteau upset the top-seeded team, Gabrielle Kelly and Stephanie Kelly of Ludington, and both Lemon and Spangler admitted they were surprised to not be facing the Ludington team in the final.
That set up a rematch from a regular-season match, when Lemon and Spangler rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win the first set and ultimately beat Flynn and Anteau.
Lemon and Spangler rallied again Saturday after dropping the first set.
“In the first set, we didn’t really realize their disadvantages,” Lemon said. “In the second and third set, we figured it out and that is how we won.”
Olivia Laman and Brooke Schneider beat Kvasnitova and Formentin, 6-4, 6-4, to win the title at No. 2 doubles, Sarah Stayman and Rosie Wilson of Traverse City St. Francis won the title at No. 3 doubles by beating Julia Maltbie and Claire Flewelling of Ludington in the final of that flight, 6-1, 7-5, and Tucker-Guthrie beat Brooke Butterfield and Morgan Wittkopp of Portland in the final of the No. 4 doubles flight, 6-2, 6-2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Ile celebrates its first MHSAA girls tennis championship. (Middle) Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard's Colleen O'Brien returns a shot during the No. 1 singles championship match. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
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.)