Perseverance Pays for East Grand Rapids
June 3, 2017
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – Refuse to lose would be the perfect theme for this year’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals as time after time players came from behind to claim victory.
East Grand Rapids players were involved in many of the comeback wins, and that proved critical in the Pioneers winning their first Finals championship since claiming the Division 3 title in 2009.
East Grand Rapids finished with 31 points to edge second place Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern by three, with Bloomfield Hills Marian placing third with 21 points.
East Grand Rapids knew it would take a total team effort to defeat its longtime local rival, as Northern has won nine MHSAA championships since 2002.
“We know that Northern is always good,” said East Grand Rapids coach Mickey Mikesell. “We’ve known them for a long time. I know their coach and kids very well.
“This title feels real good for my girls. Since we’ve moved up to Division 2 we’ve had some tough luck with injuries and other things, so to get one feels great.”
Strong play in singles fueled East’s drive to the title. East Grand Rapids singles players won three of the four flights including with a pair of come-from-behind wins.
At No. 1 singles, sophomore Sloane Teske battled back from dropping the first set to defeat Mason senior Olivia Hanover 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Teske knew the road to victory would be a difficult one, as she lost to Hanover in last year’s semifinals.
“I just shrugged off losing that first set and moved on,” Teske said. “(Hanover) played a great match, and she made me work real hard to beat here. I just stayed confident and wanted it more.”
Teske’s win also helped the Pioneers clinch the overall team title.
“I’m so proud of our team and what we’ve done this year,” Teske said. “Everyone worked real hard for this.”
At No. 2 singles, top-seeded East Grand Rapids junior Hannah Stuursma played to form with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Kaitlyn Fox of Forest Hills Central. For Stuursma, her comeback involved battling back from injury. Stuursma battled back from a pair of foot surgeries during her sophomore season to win her first title this spring
“Coming off a foot injury, I was not very confident last year,” Stuursma said. “I was scared of hurting my foot again. This year my confidence level was so much higher. I’m really excited and real proud of how I played. I was pretty nervous, but I kept my confidence up.”
Stuursma’s title was the first of the day for the Pioneers.
“I’m so proud of our team this year,” Stuursma said. “Everyone really stepped up. We won so many big matches here, and I’m so proud of our team.”
Coming from behind was also the story for East Grand Rapids junior Audrey Olson at No. 3 singles. After dropping the first set 2-6 to Sema Colak of Okemos, Olson won the second set 6-2. In the third, Olson found herself trailing four games to one before rallying one more time to claim a 6-4 win and the title.
“This feels real great,” Olson said. “I started out down 2-6, and then I was down 1-4 in the third set. I had great support from my coaches and my teammates, and that made the difference. They told me to dig down deep, and I did.”
At No. 4 singles, Forest Hills Northern senior Felicia Zhang turned in a solid performance to win her second consecutive Finals flight title. Zhang turned back Gigi Kalabat of Bloomfield Hills Marian 6-0, 6-2.
“It’s a real great feeling,” Zhang said. “I wanted to win it most for the team. To win another title my senior year is indescribable.”
Zhang was not the only member of her family to win a championship, as her younger sister, freshman Abby Zhang, was part of Northern’s No. 2 doubles team that claimed a title. Abby Zhang teamed with senior Salonee Marwaha to hold off the East Grand Rapids duo of Annie Meye and Alivia Vencelj 7-5, 6-3.
Being able to win with her younger sister made Felicia Zhang’s title even sweeter.
“She is a freshman, and this was our only chance to play with each other,” Felicia Zhang said. “It feels great.”
That feeling was shared by the younger Zhang.
“It feels great to win a state title my first time here,” Abby Zhang said. “It was also great to help send Salonee out with a state title in her last high school match.”
The doubles title was the second straight for Marwaha, who was part of Northern’s winning No. 3 doubles team last year. Like last season, Marwaha was paired up with a freshman.
“We didn’t know at the beginning of the season that we would be paired together,” Marwaha said. “At the beginning of the season we started a little sluggish, but we meshed so well together that it didn’t take long for us to get going. Abby did a great job. As a senior, I just told her to keep calm and be patient. She did a great job of that.”
Northern won three of the four doubles flights, and no pair of players displayed a determination to win as strong as Northern’s No. 1 team of Maansi Dalmia and Claire Tatman. Just getting to the finals was an exercise in determination as Dalmia and Tatman outlasted Birmingham Seaholm’s Layla Bellissimo and Emily Hirsch in a semifinals match that lasted more than three hours. In a match that saw two tiebreakers, Dalmia and Tatman came away with a 6-7 (7), 7-5, 7-3 (3) victory.
The semifinal win sent Dalmia and Tatman into the finals, where they went up against top-seeded Yana Beeker and Kristin McLintock of Traverse City Central. The Northern duo had more than enough energy remaining, as they claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Tatman said.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Dalmia added.
The title was a repeat for Tatman who teamed up with Marwaha to win No. 3 doubles last season.
“The semifinal match was super close,” Dalmia said. “It was over three hours and had two tie breakers. We knew we had to dig deep down to pull it off. We just took it one point at a time. I don’t feel that tired now, but I know later I will feel it.”
Refusing to lose was key to the semifinal and final wins for the duo.
“You just have to power through it,” Tatman said. “We practiced hard all season, and we knew in the end that we could do it if we kept powering through.”
Coming from behind was also the theme of the No. 3 doubles match. Nele Geiger and Sydney McLean of Forest Hills Northern rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win against Lily Trinch and Brooke Forte of Birmingham Seaholm.
The No. 4 doubles title also went three sets. East Grand Rapids’ Audrey DeVries and Kate Mackeigan outlasted the Bloomfield Hills Marian team of Ariano Kotsakis and Catherine Chinonis 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. DeVries and Mackeigan were runners-up at that flight last season.
PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids tennis players hoist their MHSAA championship trophy. (Middle) Forest Hills Northern No. 1 doubles players Claire Tatman and Maansi Dalmia pursue a volley Saturday. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Rising St Francis Eyes 1st MHSAA Title
May 25, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – Paul Bandrowski gave his players a choice.
“Girls,” the St. Francis tennis coach said at the start of spring practice, “do you want to work to win, or do you want to work to have a good time? We can do it either way. It’s up to you.”
The girls didn’t hesitate.
“They all said they wanted to work hard, put in the effort,” Bandrowski said.
The results have been impressive. The Gladiators swept all eight flights in the Lake Michigan Conference championships, the MHSAA Division 4 Regional and enter next weekend’s Lower Peninsula Finals ranked No. 1 in their division in the state coaches’ poll. St. Francis, which finished second in Division 4 last season, did not lose a set in Regional play.
“We’ve been pushing them, and they’ve responded,” Bandrowski said.
Bandrowski is in his first season as the head coach. He previously coached in the middle school program, and later as an assistant to varsity coach Jeff Hughes. Bandrowski is also the head coach of the boys program, which has finished third in Division 4 the last two falls.
“He really has the tennis programs rolling, and he’s doing it the right way – from the middle school on up,” said Tom Hardy, the school’s athletic director.
Statewide, Hardy said, the trend is just the opposite. He said the number of Division 4 schools dropping tennis because of low numbers is “amazing.”
“The ones that are succeeding are because of the coach,” he said.
Hardy said when he coached boys tennis nearly 10 years ago “we were trying to pull kids out of the hallways to have 12 to have a team.”
By comparison, the Gladiators had just under 40 boys participate last fall, “enough to have three full teams,” Hardy said. The girls field two complete teams.
But it runs deeper than the high school level.
“We have around 900 kids in our entire school system,” Bandrowski said, “and 240 are playing tennis at some level. That’s almost 25 percent. That’s pretty exciting. If you catch them early, develop that bug (for tennis), then you can build a long term program.”
St. Francis recently constructed five new courts at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, and resurfaced the existing four courts. The school hosted its first Regional last week. The event turned into a celebration.
“We had 300 kids from our school there during (parts of) the day watching and cheering,” Bandrowski said. “I’m a huge advocate for making it fun. We had free hot dogs, chips, water. It was like a carnival. Kids notice that kind of environment. They think, ‘Man, this is like football. This is a lot of fun.’ If you can make it interesting, exciting and fun, and let them cheer, all of a sudden it’s an in-thing to do.”
Of course, it helps to put a good team on the courts to keep spectators interested.
“A lot of people told my dad afterwards they were surprised tennis was so intense and fun to watch,” said Amanda Bandrowski, the Gladiators’ No. 1 singles player. “My dad was probably saying to himself, ‘Told you so.’”
Amanda Bandrowski is the reigning Division 4 champion at No. 1 singles. She’s 30-2 this spring.
“Amanda is a real dedicated tennis player,” Paul Bandrowski said. “She loves playing the game, teaching the game. Tennis is her life.”
“I don’t do too much else,” she said with a laugh.
Defending her title will not be easy as the No. 1 singles flight is loaded. The field includes Kalamazoo Hackett’s Kate Ketels, who handed Bandrowski one of her two losses this spring, and last year’s runner-up Jeanne Nash of Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart.
“It’s going to be good, tough competition,” Amanda Bandrowski said.
Tournament-tested Bailey Chouinard (28-4), Anne Bandrowski (31-2) and Rosie Wilson (30-4) team with Amanda Bandrowski to give the Gladiators a potent singles lineup. Chouinard and Anne Bandrowski were Finals runner-ups last spring at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, respectively. Wilson played No. 2 doubles a year ago and reached the semifinals with partner Nicole Ehardt. Anne Bandrowski, who has had 16 shutout matches this season, is the lone underclassmen among the four. Two singles players, Amanda Bandrowski and Chouinard, will play collegiately next season – Bandrowski at Hope College and Chouinard at Aquinas College.
The doubles lineup has provided a nice balance. Carlee McCardel, an all-state skier, and Jenna Tomczak are 31-3 at No. 1 doubles. McCardel reached the career 100-win mark in the Regional, joining teammates Amanda Bandrowski and Wilson in the century club. Bethany Richey-Margaret Sutherland (24-3), Nicole Ehardt-Camille Madion (29-4) and Dee Ehardt-Maddie Muzljakovich (16-9) add to the team’s strength. First-year players Dee Ehardt and Muzljakovich have come on strong, winning their last 11 matches, Paul Bandrowski said. Dee and Nicole Ehardt were on the school’s Class C Semifinal volleyball squad in the fall. Bandrowski has nine volleyball players competing in tennis.
“You take a girl that’s a great volleyball player and they learn overheads quickly, they learn how to serve quickly,” Bandrowski said. “They have that hand-eye coordination. They know how to bounce, how to move. I’m always looking for that next athlete.”
As a team, St. Francis is 11-0-1 against some of the top Division 4 squads in the state. The Gladiators tied Hackett 4-4 and edged last year’s champion, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, 5-3. Those three teams will likely battle it out for the crown.
“It will be tough, but we definitely have shot at winning the state championship,” Amanda Bandrowski said.
Paul Bandrowski agreed.
“Hackett has a great team, so does Sacred Heart,” he said. “It’s going to be a battle.
“Our attitude right now is this: We can win if we play our best tennis and put all of our energy into it (leading up to the finals). We’re going there (Kalamazoo College) to try and win. If we don’t, at least we’ll know we left it all on the court.”
It’s been quite a first season for Bandrowski, but he’s quick to praise Hughes, whose last three teams had consecutive top-three finishes at the MHSAA Finals.
“Jeff built a great program,” Bandrowski said. “He’s a great guy with a great personality. He helped these girls enjoy tennis. I definitely go on the back of the people who have come before me – Annie Murphy (previous boys coach) and Jeff. Building a successful program doesn’t happen overnight.”
Hardy said Bandrowski has been the perfect successor to Hughes. And with the feeder programs flourishing, Hardy expects the success to continue. More importantly, though, he appreciates the way it is being achieved.
“We get more compliments (about the tennis program),” he said. “People (that are involved) are enthusiastic about it. It’s a fun, safe environment for kids so they (parents and kids) are going to be drawn to it.”
The tennis team is looking to put an exclamation point on what’s been an incredible sports year at St. Francis, especially for the girls. The cross country and co-op downhill ski teams won MHSAA titles. The basketball team reached the Class C Final, the volleyball team the Semifinals. The track & field team just won its fifth consecutive Regional while softball is 23-9 and co-op soccer 7-6-2.
The boys are doing well, too. The football team went 12-1 and reached the Division 6 Semifinals, the co-op ski team placed second in Division 2, the tennis team took third in Division 4, the basketball team won a District, the track & field team just captured a Regional, and the golf and baseball teams won conference crowns Monday.
The success has been so prevalent that this year’s yearbook theme is “The Year of SF.”
“All of our sports teams have done incredibly well, so much better than anybody would have expected,” Amanda Bandrowski said. “It’s really exciting to be part of it.”
What excites Hardy is that it’s been shared by so many.
“We had a school assembly at the beginning of the year,” he said. “I asked all the fall sports athletes to stand, then I asked the winter sport athletes to join them, and then the spring sport athletes to join as well. I think we had maybe 15 or 20 kids not standing.
“So out of the 340 kids at the high school we have nearly 320 participating in at least one sport. That’s unreal.”
So is the success.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Traverse City St. Francis girls tennis team huddles before a match. (Middle) Amanda Bandrowski, the reigning No. 1 singles champion in Lower Peninsula Division 4, begins a serve. (Photos courtesy of the St. Francis girls tennis program.)