LP Tennis Finals: Brackets at a Glance

May 30, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
 

Only three champions are back this weekend in flights they won at the 2011 Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.

That means the likelihood of a lot of first-time individual winners -- and some shuffling among the contenders for MHSAA team titles. 

Three of last season's Finals came down to three or fewer points. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Division 3 is the only reigning champion ranked No. 1 again heading into this weekend. Division 4 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart is the only top-ranked team this weekend seeking its first MHSAA title.

Below is a look at the races at a glance in all four divisions, plus flights that could make the biggest differences in deciding team champions. Play begins at 8 a.m. both Friday and Saturday, with Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center, Division 2 at Kalamazoo College, Division 3 at Fenton and Holly high schools and Division 4 at Holland High School. Admission is $5, or $10 per car where applicable.

The Contenders

Division 1: Port Huron Northern is ranked No. 1 and seeking its first MHSAA team championship since 2002. But the Huskies must hold off No. 2 Clarkston, which won its first team title last season and has six seeded flights – including five seeded among the top two in their respective flights. Port Huron Northern is seeded in seven flights, with four either numbers one or two. Grosse Pointe South, ranked No. 3, is seeking its first team title since 2008 but has won 12 in the tournament’s 30 seasons. (Click for full brackets)

Division 2: If a team is going finish ahead of reigning champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, it’s likely going to be from the Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills area. FHN has won six straight championships, all outright except when it shared with Bloomfield Hills Marian in 2010. Marian is ranked No. 1 this spring and finished ahead of No.3 Seaholm at their Regional, while Bloomfield Hills Andover is No. 2. Forest Hills Northern is ranked No. 4, and despite six seeded flights will need some upsets to keep the streak going. (Click for full brackets)

Division 3: Cranbrook-Kingswood is the favorite again after edging Detroit Country Day by a point in 2011. The Cranes are seeded at every flight, with six flights at Nos. 1 or 2. East Grand Rapids, owner of 16 MHSAA titles, is ranked No. 2 as a team but seeded in only two singles flights. The Pioneers will need big points from doubles flights that are all seeded No. 3 or better. (Click for full brackets)

Division 4: Academy of the Sacred Heart is expected to take another step with the top ranking after coming in as runner-up a season ago – Sacred Heart’s doubles teams have the top seeds in all four flights. But Capital Area Activities Conference White rivals Williamston and Lansing Catholic – ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively – will provide plenty of competition. The Hornets are seeded at seven flights and seeking their first championship since 2008. (Click for full brackets)

Top flights

Plenty playing for No. 1: The No. 1 singles bracket in Division 1 is filled with intriguing contenders. Top-seeded Mary Hannah, of Saline, was a Quarterfinalist last season when she lost to Grand Ledge’s Hailey Barrett, who is seeded No. 3 this spring. No. 2 seed Katie Brozovich of Clarkston was the champion at No. 3 singles in 2011 and has dominated tough competition this season.

Cousin connection: Port Huron Northern’s Lizzie and Rae Brozovich – Katie’s cousins – are the top seeds at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, in Division 1.

Unfinished business: Four of the eight players who made up the Division 1 No. 1 doubles semifinalists last season are back at that flight, but Ann Arbor Pioneer’s top-seeded pair of Alexa Arvidson and Julia Rampton are the lone pair of that group that returns intact.

Running up to the top spot: Bloomfield Hills Andover’s Kristen Law and Erin Weingarten were the runners-up at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, last season. Both were two seeds in 2011 and are four seeds this weekend in the same flights.

The champ is here: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian is one of three returning champions – Clarkston’s Lexi Baylis (Division 1 No. 2) and Kalamazoo Hackett’s Meika Ashby (Division 4 No. 1) are the others – but should get a tough test from second seed Sydney Liggins of Grand Rapids Catholic Central, a semifinalist in 2011.

Our turn: Allegan’s Kaycee Harness will try to help teammate Christin Drozd get one more win this season after Drozd and Hannah Schulz finished runner-up at No. 1 doubles in Division 3 last season. Harness played No. 3 singles at last season’s Finals.

Singles showdown: Ashby, mentioned above, is the returning champ in Division 4 but seeded only No. 2 behind Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Kasey Gardiner – the No. 1 champion in both 2009 and 2010. Gardiner didn’t compete in last season’s Finals.

Doubles must deliver: Academy of the Sacred Heart is planning on big finishes from its doubles teams, and that could start at the top with No. 1 pair Kelsey Nagle and Emily Nash. They are the top seed after making the semifinals last season as the No. 3 seed in this flight. 

PHOTO: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian won the No. 1 singles championship in Division 3 last season.

Lessons from Multi-Sport Experience Guide Person in Leading New Team

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

August 1, 2024

PARCHMENT — When Amanda Person was in sixth grade, her family hosted an international student from Japan.

Made In Michigan and Michigan Army National Guard logosUntil then, soccer was the main sport for her family – but that soon changed.

“Naoki wanted to play tennis,” Person said. “He started playing and then my sister (Marissa) started playing, and then I started playing.”

That passion for both sports only increased during her four years at Parchment High School.

“Soccer was really fun, but when I look back on my high school career, tennis was the most prominent thing I remember,” the 2008 grad said. “I think it’s because I played year-round: our regular tennis season and then our summer tennis program and winter tennis program.”

Although it has been 16 years since her glory days at Parchment ended, Person has no trouble recalling the best parts of her Panthers sports career.

In fact, coming up with memories from those days is no problem — she has a folder full of photos called “I Miss Team Sports” on her Facebook page.

Playing intramural soccer at Michigan State University, she graduated with a degree in social work, then stayed in the Big Ten. She is the campus tours and ambassador coordinator at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where she supervises 80 to 100 student tour guides who provide information for families considering the school.

Her ties to the Spartans sometime makes for interesting conversations with her colleagues.

“They give me a hard time,” she said with a quick laugh. “I say Michigan State will always be my No. 1. That’s my alma mater I spent four years of time, tears and money at Michigan State. But I really love Purdue, so I’ll root for the Boilermakers second.”

She is also working on her master’s degree in higher education at Purdue.

Her office in the welcome center shares space with the alumni association, leading to an unforgettable experience.

During a lunch break, she went home to let out her dog, Tessa. When she returned, a trophy and a bucket were sitting on her desk.

A pair of beloved trophies sit temporarily on Person’s desk at Purdue.Confused, she asked what they were doing there.

“The tour guides I was working with said (during an event) they had to put them somewhere before putting them out (to the public), so they just put them on my desk,” she said.

Turns out, one trophy was the NCAA Final Four runner-up men’s basketball trophy the Boilermakers took home last year after losing to Connecticut in the championship game.

The other was the Old Oaken Bucket, the trophy that goes to the winner between Purdue and Indiana University’s annual football grudge match.

“I didn’t know anything about the Old Oaken Bucket,” she said. “They were like, what do you mean ‘what is this?’ Then they told me the story behind it.”

Creating core memories

Recalling her years at Parchment, Person becomes animated, smiling and laughing at all the memories.

“The first thing I remember is that my sister was really, really good at soccer,” she said. "I was always trying to keep up with her a bit.”

Her dad, Dave Person, noted that “all of our kids (Adam, Marissa, Amanda) had some success in sports during high school while realizing that it was secondary to their education.

“My only input was that I insisted they treat officials, coaches and opponents with respect, which they did. I always thought that while Marissa did very well in tennis, she was a natural at soccer. Amanda, on the other hand, was very good at soccer, but was a natural at tennis.” 

Amanda said her soccer memories come down to “we might not have won a lot, but it was still a lot of fun.”

She said while several on the team, including herself, had years of soccer experience, players also welcomed those who wanted to try the sport for the first time.

“Our team had a home for those people, too,” she said. “The games were always fun, but I feel like a lot of being on a team like that is the outside things you do together: the team dinners, the traveling on the bus, even practices.”

Her freshman year, the team advanced to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Tennis Finals, finishing 19th.

Her senior year was a transition when several sports seasons were switched, putting girls soccer and tennis at the same time during the spring.

Person also was a soccer standout at Parchment.Person and the other three two-sport seniors juggled both.

“All of a sudden we were playing soccer and tennis in the spring,” she said. “Thankfully they let us do both, and our coaches were very good in terms (of) making sure nothing important overlapped.”

Person played doubles all four years and was at No. 1 with Kelly Drummond her final two seasons.

“If my memory serves me correctly, I believe we only lost two matches the whole (senior) year, so it was a good year for us,” she said.

It was a very good year.

She and Drummond won their Regional Final, but that ended her prep career since the team did not qualify for championship weekend.

Preparing for life

The best thing about high school tennis, she said, was that it was a combination team and individual sport.

“You can do really well individually and maybe the team doesn’t do well, or maybe the team does well and you don’t do well personally,” she said. “It has the aspect of wanting the entire team to do good.”

Competing in both sports prepared her for the “real” world, she said.

“Playing soccer and tennis and being part of a team helped me cheer other people on,” she said. “The world is a competitive place, so having that foundation of team sports is really good to teach a plethora of things you can use in the real world.

“Even at work, you have your individual job but you’re also part of a team. If one person isn’t doing well, then your whole team isn’t doing well. If someone else is having a hard time, helping them out is helping the team.”

She added that losing also teaches important lessons.

“You’re going to lose at things your entire life,” she said. “Being able to handle losing, handle rejection, is a good skill to have for anything in life. I’ve learned it’s not what happens to you but how you respond to it. That’s a huge lesson. There are a lot of life lessons you can get from playing team sports in high school.”

Her advice to high school athletes today: “Enjoy it, first of all. Don’t take it too seriously in wins and losses.

“When I look back, most of my core memories are being part of a team, having fun with the team, having fun playing the sport. Enjoy your time,” she said.

“Now I miss it.”

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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Parchment’s Amanda Person plays a 2008 tennis match with doubles partner Kelly Drummond; at right, Person and her dog Tessa. (Middle) A pair of beloved trophies sit temporarily on Person’s desk at Purdue. (Below) Person also was a soccer standout at Parchment. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Person.)