Next Negaunee Standouts Take Title Turn
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 5, 2018
KINGSFORD — The Negaunee girls continued their winning ways at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Tennis Finals, earning their fifth straight championship with 15 points.
They were followed by Marquette with 13, Menominee nine, Kingsford eight, Gladstone six and Escanaba with two.
“We knew coming in that Marquette and Menominee would push us,” said Negaunee coach Kyle Saari. “We needed to get a number of our flights into the finals, and we got 6-of-8, which put us in good position. You just have to focus on the job ahead of you once you get in.”
The Miners clinched the title with senior Maci Aho’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marquette’s Mollie Kilpela in No. 2 singles.
“I didn’t know our match was going to decide it,” said Aho, who won at No. 4 singles the past two seasons. “I tried not to worry about the team standings and focused on doing my job. I just sprinted to every ball, and Mollie did the same. She’s a very good player. I don’t have a special shot. I just do what I do.”
Negaunee sophomores Morgan Carlson and Katelyn Lammi completed a perfect season (21-0) with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Menominee’s Abbie Anglehart and Meghan Francour in No. 3 doubles for their first title on a sunny and seasonably cool day in Dickinson County.
“I think it went pretty well,” said Lammi. “We didn’t play at our best, but we did well at the net. Winning here for the first time is a pretty big confidence boost.”
Both girls believe Thursday’s championship will be a major motivator going forward.
“We know where our strengths are and what we need to work on,” said Carlson. “I felt we moved around pretty well, which is what our coaches wanted us to do. Only, you have to know when to attack and when to back off.”
The Miners were facing the possibility of rebuilding after graduating seven from last year’s team.
“We’re pretty sophomore heavy, but every girl stepped up,” said Saari. “We just hope to keep it going as long as we can. This has been a fun year in the U.P. Each team presented a different challenge. The most important thing is the girls didn’t get complacent. They were able to stay focused.”
Marquette junior Elysa Olivier won No. 1 singles with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) triumph over Gladstone junior Andie Belanger.
“She’s a real good player,” said Olivier, who won at No. 2 singles a year ago. “Andie has gotten so much better since the first time I played her. I was real nervous coming into the finals. There were times when I lost my focus. We both hit some great shots.
“The other players really stay on their game (in No. 1 singles). Next year won’t be a picnic, but I’m really looking forward to it. I’m definitely going to play over the summer.”
Olivier was also happy with how the season went overall.
“ I’m really proud of our team,” she added. “We’re losing a lot of good players and friends, but I’m looking forward to playing with the new girls next year.”
Negaunee, Marquette and Menominee won two flights apiece. Gladstone and Kingsford took one each.
PHOTOS: (Top) Negaunee won its fifth straight MHSAA Finals championship Thursday. (Middle) Marquette’s Elysa Olivier returns a volley on the way to claiming the No. 1 singles title. (Photos by Adam Niemi.)
Title IX at 50: Prychitko 'Legend In Her Own Time,' Legend for All Time
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 3, 2022
When Stephanie Prychitko was inducted into the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1987, she was referred to as “a legend in her own time.”
What she accomplished remains legendary, and in some ways unequaled in Lower Peninsula girls tennis.
From 1976-86, Prychitko coached Grosse Pointe South to 11 consecutive LP Class A team championships, seven of them outright. Only Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, with 10 straight LP Class C-D team titles from 1980-89, has approached that streak.
Girls tennis had become an MHSAA-sponsored sport only a few years before South’s dominance began, with the 1972 season. But her coaching career predated that by decades – at the time of her Hall of Fame induction in 1987, MHSTeCA reported she had completed 36 seasons having led teams to 16 league and 15 Regional championships as well, with a 273-28 record.
Prychitko enjoyed an especially notable 1984, being named national high school tennis Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, and also becoming the first woman elected to the Western Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame, in 1986.
According to various reports, Prychitko began her coaching career with three seasons leading the boys team at Western State High School in Kalamazoo before taking over at South in 1952. Prychitko had graduated from Hamtramck High, and in 1947 reached the quarterfinals of the National Junior Girls grass court tournament. She played No. 1 singles all four seasons at WMU.
Prychitko died in 2016 at the age of 87.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
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Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
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Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTO Coach Stephanie Prychitko, standing far left, and her Grosse Pointe South team won the program's first MHSAA Finals title in 1976. (MHSAA file photo)