Quick Study Becomes Three-Time Champ
October 18, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
At the end of every fall, Escanaba native Denny Lueneberg heads back to California after another summer in his hometown and fall coaching the Eskymos girls tennis team.
A tennis instructor in Palm Springs who played at Western Michigan University, he’s seen plenty of talented players over the decades. So his final thought to Escanaba senior Codi Jenshak before he departed this month was especially meaningful.
Lueneberg told Jenshak he used to consider her a softball player who also plays tennis – which made sense, since Jenshak pitched the Eskymos to the Division 2 Quarterfinals this spring.
But after this fall, Lueneberg said he now sees Jenshak as a tennis player who plays softball – a seal of lasting approval on a career that included three MHSAA singles championships, including MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 titles at No. 1 the last two seasons.
“I felt like I finally had done what I needed to do, for him to think that,” Jenshak said. “He takes tennis very seriously. He always thinks no one could ever play enough. He has pretty high expectations.
“When he told me that, it was just special.”
Jenshak receives a Second Half High 5 for repeating as the best player in the Upper Peninsula Division 1. And as a sophomore, she won the title at No. 2 singles.
As a freshman, Jenshak played mostly No. 4 doubles. After all, she was just starting to learn the game.
Jenshak had played for fun and attended one of Lueneberg’s beginner clinics when she was young. But nothing serious – until Lueneberg saw her hitting with her dad one summer and encouraged Codi to come out for the high school team.
He knew he could teach her the shots. What caught his eye was how she reacted to and pursued the ball, like a softball infielder making a play.
After a mostly uneventful freshman year, Jenshak lost a close match to start her sophomore season and then beat the same player handily in the MHSAA Final. She split four matches with Kingsford’s Sam Fleming as a junior, but beat her when it counted – in the championship match.
This season she beat Fleming all five times they faced each other, including 6-1, 6-2 in the Final, and finished 18-2 overall. Her losses were to Iron River West Iron County’s Kylee Erickson, the U.P. Division 2 champion – Jenshak finished 1-2 against her this season.
Jenshak did beat Erickson in their first meeting, but then lost to her four days later. Jenshak didn’t speak much with Lueneberg for three days after that – and that hammered home again how seriously she took her “other” sport.
“She processes things. I don’t know where that came from … but you can explain things or maybe try to do things with her in tennis that other players are not capable of doing in terms of strategy and shot selection,” Lueneberg said. “She’s willing to do that. It cost her a couple of matches her junior year, but by the end of the year she was doing those things and becoming a better player. … (And) by no means has she reached her potential.”
Jenshak also plays basketball, and sees crossovers among all of her sports.
She picked up tennis quickly, just as she’s been able to pick up other sports. She has a similar point in both her overhand throwing and serving motions where her arm slows down. The lateral movement she uses as an occasional second basemen is similar to that employed on the tennis court or even defending a basketball opponent.
Her strengths and weaknesses correlate for all three. She uses the same steady work ethic to fix the bad and hone the good.
Girls tennis is played in the spring in the Lower Peninsula, so Jenshak hasn’t gotten a chance to see how she’d compare against top players from downstate. She did get that chance in softball, leading her team before it fell to eventual Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in the Quarter at Central Michigan.
“I’m actually pretty curious. I played a lot of softball in lower Michigan, played a lot in Wisconsin and Illinois and other places, so I can see where my talent stacks up against other people,” Jenshak said. “But in tennis I can’t. We don’t get out as much. … I’d love to see how we would stack up. We just never got the opportunity.”
She might get a better gauge next season if she decides on a small college – she’s received interest at that level for both sports, and is considering playing both. Or she might go to Central Michigan and attempt to walk-on the softball team and play on the school’s club tennis team.
“If she wanted to commit to this sport, she has the skills and the athletic ability. She’ll obviously get better and enjoy the game at a different level,” Lueneberg said of Jenshak's tennis potential.
“Usually it’s a summer thing, and we try to get the most out of them. Once in a while we get an athlete like Codi, and we try to develop them. Someone special comes along every once in a while."
PHOTO: Escanaba's Codi Jenshak returns a volley during a match earlier this season. (Photo courtesy of RRNsports.com)
Preview: Familiar Favorites, New Leaders
June 1, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The favorites to win team championships at this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals aren’t too much of a surprise – six of eight teams ranked first or second by the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association at the end of this regular season finished either first or second at one of last year’s four championship tournaments.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for change.
Traverse City St. Francis in Division 4 is favored to win its first MHSAA title, while Grand Rapids Christian should be in the mix in Division 3 to win for the first time as well. And only one of four No. 1 singles champions from 2015 is back this weekend.
Matches begin Friday, with final rounds Saturday morning, and coverage of all four tournaments will be posted to Second Half by Saturday evening. Below is a brief look at top contenders at each tournament; click for more including brackets and seeds for all 32 flights plus specific sites where each flight will begin play.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top ranked: No. 1 Midland Dow, No. 2 Northville, No. 3 Grosse Pointe South.
Northville won its first MHSAA championship a year ago finishing five points ahead of Midland Dow, which is favored this time to win its first team title since 2009. Grosse Pointe South finished third last season and was champion in 2014 and 2012.
Midland Dow: The Chargers are seeded at all eight flights with top seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles (Caroline Szabo, Sarah Ismail) and No. 1 doubles (Afua Ofori-Darko and Kamryn Matthews). Ofori-Darko and Matthews won No. 1 doubles last season, while Jessica Brown (sixth-seeded at No. 1) and Hadley Camp (third-seeded at No. 4) were runners-up at Nos. 2 and 4 singles, respectively. Kelly Livingston also brings championship match experience – she’s seeded third at No. 2 doubles this weekend with Meghan Killmaster but was part of the runner-up pair at No. 2 a year ago – and Szabo was the No. 2 singles runner-up as a freshman in 2014.
Northville: Three of Northville’s singles players from last season’s title run are back on that side of the line-up this weekend, as are a handful of experienced doubles standouts. Emma Worley returns at No. 1 singles, as does reigning champion Shanoli Kumar at No. 2 and reigning No. 3 champion Joanne Gao; both Kumar and Gao are seeded second in their flights this time. Serena Wang was part of the No. 4 doubles champion a year ago; she’s seeded second with Maya Mulchandani at No. 1. Reeshma Kumar and Molly Bis are the top seed at No. 2 doubles – Kumar was part of the No. 1 runner-up in 2015 and Bis partnered with Wang as the No. 4 winner. Neha Chava and Sophie Zhuang are seeded first at No. 3 doubles (Chava was seeded at No. 4 singles a year ago), and Brittany Macaddino and Alexandria Petix are seeded first at No. 4 doubles.
Grosse Pointe South: Four seeded doubles pairs will be key in South staying in contention; the No. 1 pair is seeded fourth with Hanna Wilhelm and Madie Flournoy, with Flournoy the No. 4 singles champion as a freshman in 2013. No. 1 singles player Raven Neely is seeded second after making the semifinals with that seed a year ago and also as the third seed in 2014.
Bloomfield Hills’ Tia Mukherjee – One of the standout freshmen regardless of division, Mukherjee is seeded third at No. 1 singles and split matches against South’s Neely this season.
Utica Eisenhower’s Ava Thielman – Last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles, now a junior, enters as the fourth seed after playing as the top seed a season ago.
West Bloomfield’s Anika Tarlagadda – West Bloomfield’s top player is arguably the top freshman in the state and seeded first at No. 1 singles after defeating Mukherjee in their Regional’s championship match.
Another returning 2015 flight champion – Traverse City Central’s Autumn Roberts (No. 4 singles last season, No. 2 singles this season).
LP Division 2 at Holly
Top ranked: No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 2 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Two of the above three teams have won and finished second in every LP Division 2 Final since 2009, and at least one of the three has claimed the title every season since 2002. Finals 2015 saw Seaholm claim the championship by a point over Forest Hills Northern and six over Marian after sharing the title with Forest Hills Northern in 2014.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: All eight flights are seeded, with three top seeds including two at doubles. No. 1 doubles pair McKenna Landis and Regan Patterson have a top seed after Landis won the title last year with now-graduated partner Bianca Emde, and No. 2 doubles pair Melanie Roma and Shannon Flynn also earned the top seed in their flight with Flynn coming off a runner-up finish at No. 3 with graduated Marta Colosimo in 2015. Carolina Cibulas at No. 3 singles earned that other top seed, but a pair of past champions also return to the singles lineup; Breann Lunghamer, seeded second at No. 2, won No. 3 in 2013; and Sophie Balardo, fourth-seeded at No. 4, won that flight in 2014.
Birmingham Seaholm: Two top-seeded doubles pairs and two second-seeded doubles lead the way. Caity Buechner and Meaghan Flynn were the champions at No. 2 last season and are seeded second at No. 1, and Sam Lareau and Emily McDermott are seeded second at No. 2 after winning No. 3 doubles a year ago. Catherine Markley and Ellie Benson at No. 3 and Alex Wineman and Emma Latessa at No. 4 have top seeds, but there’s also a past champion in singles in Lisa Johnston, who’s seeded third at No. 2 after winning No. 3 singles last season.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies’ most successful returnees from last season – No. 2 doubles runners-up Felicia Zhang and Maansi Dalmia – are split up this time, with Zhang second-seeded at No. 3 singles and Dalmia teaming with Ellie Katz for the fourth-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Olivia Dicks at No. 1 singles has the team’s lone top seed, but total six flights are seeded to make semifinals.
Mason’s Olivia Hanover: The Bulldogs junior advanced to the semifinals at No. 1 singles last season as the second-seeded player and enters with the second seed again.
Okemos’ Alisa Sabatic: For the first time in three seasons, there will be a new No. 1 singles champion after two-time winner Emily Struble graduated. But holding the top seed this weekend is another Okemos player, sophomore Sabatic.
LP Division 3 at Holland
Top ranked: No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, No. 2 Detroit Country Day, No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood is seeking a sixth straight Division 3 title, a streak that would tie for fifth longest among girls tennis teams in MHSAA history. And the Cranes will be plenty motivated after defeating Detroit Country Day in a dual but then finishing runner-up to the Yellowjackets at their Regional. Don’t forget Grand Rapids Christian, which finished runner-up a year ago and has the strongest doubles of this tournament.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: All four singles players plus a doubles team are seeded first or second. Senior Allison Motea is the top seed at No. 1 and won No. 3 singles as a freshman, while Emily Harvey is second-seeded at No. 2 after finishing runner-up at that flight a year ago. Madison Narens is seeded second at No. 3, Emma Sable is the top seed at No. 4, and Sauma Du and Alexandra Bowers are the top seed at No. 3 doubles; Bowers was part of the champion at No. 4 last season and Du was part of the runner-up at No. 3. The No. 2 doubles pair of Amelia Smith and Kate Cao is seeded third and also brings plenty of championship experience, with Smith serving as Bowers’ partner in 2015 and Cao coming off a runner-up finish at No. 4 singles.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets finished third last season, five points back, despite three singles championships and a runner-up finish at the top flight. That runner-up, Sasha Hartje, is back and seeded second at No. 1, with Monique Karoub the top seed at No. 2, reigning champion Sadina Fadel the top seed at No. 3 and Jenna Lee seeded second at No. 4. More help is expected from doubles with three top-two seeds, led by No. 1 top seed Elle Hartje and Haley Mullins. Mullins was the No. 2 singles runner-up in 2014 and No. 3 runner-up in 2013.
Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles finished runner-up a year ago, four points back, with three doubles teams finishing first or second, and all eight flights are seeded third or higher this weekend. Doubles could lead again, with Caroline Heule and Olivia DeVos the top seed at No. 2 and Emily Schellenboom and Peyton Russell the top seed at No. 4 – and with Hannah Slenk and McKenzie Moorhead the second seed at No. 1 and Kate Zwiers and Natalie DeBoer the third seed at No. 3 after both pairs won those flights last year.
LP Division 4 at Kalamazoo College
Top ranked: No. 1 Traverse City St. Francis, No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett.
Academy of the Sacred Heart has won three of the last four championships and finished a comfortable seven points ahead of St. Francis last season. But that was the Gladiators’ best finish ever, and they’re riding plenty of momentum after sweeping the flight championships at their Regional.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators bring in two top seeds and two second seeds plus a reigning champion at No. 1 singles. Amanda Bandrowski may be seeded only third at No. 1 this time but won the title in straight sets a year ago. Bailey Chouinard is the third seed at No. 2 after finishing runner-up at that flight in 2015, and Anne Bandrowski is the top seed at No. 3 after finishing runner-up at No. 4 a year ago. St. Francis didn’t get a doubles pair to the championship round last time, but enter with Bethany Richey and Mary Margaret Sutherland top-seeded at No. 2 and two other pairs carrying second seeds.
Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart: The Gazelles swept doubles last season, and seven players from that group of eight are playing again this weekend in some combination. Kendall Gassman and Sara Gerard are fourth-seeded at No. 1 after winning No. 2 a year ago, while Abby Hildebrand (part of the No. 1 champion in 2015) teams with Gretchen Lemon for the second seed at No. 2. Reigning No. 3 champions Tate Lehman and Kathryn Monahan are back as the top seed at that flight, while Stella Betrus will play for a second straight title at No. 4, this time with Meghan Carroll. Selina Fuchs teamed with Hildebrand last season, but this weekend is the second seed at No. 3 singles, and fourth-seeded Jeannie Nash is the reigning runner-up at No. 1.
Kalamazoo Hackett: Three top-seeded singles players make Hackett dangerous after it scored just a point a year ago. Kate Ketels, who has signed with Gonzaga University, is the top seed at No. 1, while Natalie Moyer is the top seed at No. 2 and Lizzie Stull the top seed at No. 4. Three other flights also have top-four seeds.
Kalamazoo Christian’s Lizzie Bauss: She’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals and then losing to Nash last season as the fourth seed.
Other returning 2015 flight champions: Kalamazoo Christian’s Audrey Bouma (No. 2 singles), Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Julia Friedman (No. 3 singles).
PHOTO: Bloomfield Hills Marian’s McKenna Landis returns a shot during last season’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final on the way to her and partner Bianca Emde’s championship at No. 1 doubles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)