Seaholm Breaks Free From 3-Way Tie to Win 4 Flights, Clinch Team Title

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

June 3, 2023

MIDLAND – A Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Final has never finished with a three-way tie at the top – yet Birmingham Seaholm, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central all entered Saturday’s Division 2 flight semifinals with 22 points at Midland Tennis Center.

But with stellar play from its doubles teams, Seaholm won its first title since 2018, ending Forest Hills Northern’s Finals streak at three championships with 32 points to the Huskies’ 27. Forest Hills Central tied for runner-up, also with 27.

Seaholm’s first flight champion came from the No. 4 doubles tandem of junior Stella North and freshman Lucy Jen, the top seeds. They defeated Maggie Moog and Clare Knoester of Forest Hills Northern, 6-0, 6-4.

“We came out and dominated the first set,’’ said North. “In the second set, we had kind of a slow start.’’

“Then they adjusted to what we were doing, and we had to adjust,’’ said Jen. “We have a great tennis community at Seaholm. We’re a family and we have so many girls come out.’’

Added North: “I’m so happy for Lucy. She had to go through so much to make the team. We had tryouts and we played two days a week. We were the top team in our conference, so there was some pressure.’’

Forest Hills Central’s Lily Ohlman volleys on the way to winning the No. 1 singles flight.Seaholm kept the momentum going winning the No. 2 doubles title with Katie Slazinski and Jenna Ting defeating Ava Hamilton and Lauren Jaklitsch of FHN, 6-3, 6-1.

“We had played them before with an alternate, so we hadn’t played that exact team,’’ said Slazinski. “I feel like we were in control. We were playing our way.’’

“We got up 3-0 in the first set, which was big,’’ said Ting. “We kind of dropped slightly, but we regrouped and got fired up.’’

Seaholm added another flight championship with the No. 3 doubles team of senior Sydney Fong and sophomore Jordyn Lusky downing Forest Hills Central’s Veronica Vincent and Ella Hunnewell, 6-2, 6-1.

“Jordyn has been great,’’ said Fong. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her. We played them before, so we knew what to expect. We had a plan. We took notes and executed what would thought were our strengths and their weaknesses. Our coaches do a great job.’’

Seaholm scored a championship at No. 2 singles as well, as Courtney Marcum outlasted Anna Dinsmore of Portage Central, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, in that final.

Forest Hills Central junior Lily Ohlman, second-seeded at No. 1 singles, made school history in getting past top-seeded Helania Pietrowsky of Grosse Pointe North 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

“I have been dreaming about this for a year,’’ said Ohlman, fighting back tears. “When she was having trouble keeping the ball in play, I just said keep the ball in play. In the second set, I started missing shots and my coach reminded me to just keep the ball in play. I just thank God.

“I’m the first (girls) singles champ in school history. This is so amazing.’’

Forest Hills Northern’s Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie celebrate their championship at No. 1 doubles. Portage Central freshman Adelie Chen captured the No. 3 singles title over Jada Josifovski of Seaholm, 7-5, 6-4.

“After the semifinals, I didn’t think I could do it, but my teammates believed in me," said Chen.

In the battle of freshmen at No. 4 singles, FHN’s Harriet Ogilvie defeated Chloe Cox of FHC, 6-1, 6-2.

“I really like her as a player and a person,’’ said Ogilvie. “I had played her before, so I know her tendencies. I started executing what I needed to do and was able to keep the points coming and build some momentum. This is the end of a great season for me.’’

Forest Hills Northern’s No. 1 doubles team of Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie kept Seaholm from sweeping doubles by defeating Tatum Hirsch and Ellie Wyzykowski 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.

First-year Huskies coach Steven Olson had to make a tough decision during a No. 2 singles semifinal, retiring his player Andrea Wang as she faced off with Marcum.

The two were tied at one set apiece – Wang won the first 6-1 and Marcum the second 7-6 – and Marcum was winning the third 5-1. But Wang’s right ankle was injured so badly she could barely move.

“She won the first set pretty quick,’’ said Olson. “She wouldn’t quit. I asked her to, and she wouldn’t. She’s a competitor, and she has a lot of pride. She’s only a sophomore.’’

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PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Seaholm’s Courtney Marcum fires a backhand during a No. 2 singles match Saturday at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Forest Hills Central’s Lily Ohlman volleys on the way to winning the No. 1 singles flight. (Below) Forest Hills Northern’s Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie celebrate their championship at No. 1 doubles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)

Westwood Adds 2 Titles to Successful Swing

October 16, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Dynasty and dominance too often are used to describe long-term success in sports. And assigning them to shorter-term accomplishments often takes away from teams that might be deserving of such high praise.

But when it comes to Ishpeming Westwood tennis, there aren’t a lot of words to better explain the Patriots’ hold on Upper Peninsula Division 2 over the last 11 years.

The Patriots have won 10 Finals championships during that time, all but one outright. At this season’s MHSAA tournament, Westwood claimed six flight titles and finished runner-up at the other two. And this run was kicked off by another memorable accomplishment a week earlier – the taking back of the Mid-Peninsula Conference title after three straight years finishing runner-up to UPD1 power Negaunee.

The MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for September accomplished all of this under a first-year coach, but hardly a first-year contributor to the program. Sarah Massie was part of four Division 2 titles as a player from 2009-12, then spent summers home from college giving clinics and private lessons to players who now fill her lineup. She watched the success from afar while getting her teaching and coaching start at Kingsford, then returned to her alma mater this fall to take over for mentor Chris Jackson, who remained her assistant and had coached the Patriots to nine of their 14 Finals titles.

“It’s pretty much a continuing of what I already knew and what I knew worked,” Massie said. “I will try different things. But as far as the program in general, I was there as Chris was building it. Whether I was playing in the program or helping out with the program, I was there for the whole process – and that definitely helped.”

A lot goes into Westwood’s annual success. But it’s fair to say it starts with attitude and perspective, which leads to incredible participation.

The program had 37 athletes this fall – which would be 20 percent of the girls in the high school if compared to its 2018-19 enrollment.

“We encourage the girls to come out, but we also have the attitude of tennis is fun,” Massie said. “It's a lifelong sport. It's great to learn it in high school so you can play it forever. The girls that want to get better and want to invest that time, that's what these coaches are here for and we encourage that and we help bring them to their next level.

“That attitude encourages a lot of girls to play. Keeping the numbers up is definitely what helps us be successful every year. We’re competitive with other teams because we’re competitive within our lineup.”

A league title generally ranks a bit lower than something won state or peninsula-wide. But in this case, claiming the MPC title had to come close in significance: Negaunee went on to finish runner-up in UP Division 1 this fall after winning that championship five straight seasons.

Westwood had split with the Miners in a pair of duals leading up to the league tournament Sept. 26.

“We played them our first meet of the year, and you could just tell that it wasn’t (that our team) had gotten beaten by Negaunee every year so they were scared to play them. It was, ‘I want to play them. I want to beat them. I want to play them again,’” Massie said.

“The best part of MPCs was when the day started, we knew we could win and we knew Negaunee could win. So there wasn’t the pressure of ‘we are supposed to win this,’ and also not the downfall of ‘Negaunee should win this.’ We came into the day (saying) we have no idea what’s going to happen, but we know we can win. So let’s just play our best, worry about the things we can control, and see what happens.” 

After winning that first match against Negaunee this fall 5-3, the Patriots fell in the rematch by the same score. The two teams played in the championship match at every flight at the league tournament, with Westwood coming out on top 6-2.

That served as a preview of the UPD2 Final a week later, where the Patriots also won six flights and finished runner-up at the other two.

At both the league and Finals tournaments, Madi Koski (No. 1), Tessa Leece (2), Jillian Koski (3) and Jenna Wealton (4) swept singles championships. No. 3 doubles Avery Mariuzza and Emily Nelson also won at both the league and Finals events, while No. 4 Claire Gilles and Natalie Prophet was a Finals champ and No. 2 Elle Miller and Meghan Johnson won at the MPCs. Top doubles pair Katelyn Antilla and Karlie Patron finished runner-up at both tournaments.

No flight finished undefeated this fall, but none suffered more than four losses. Leece was 16-1 and Wealton 18-1 and avenged her only defeat, while Madi and Jillian Koski both finished 16-3. Miller and Johnson at No. 2 doubles finished 17-2, their only losses both to the pair from West Iron County. As a team, Westwood’s only other defeat came to Marquette, the eventual Division 1 champion.

This had been the dream for Massie, who once she decided to go into education knew that returning to Westwood would be her ultimate goal. As an athlete for the Patriots she won No. 2 and No. 4 singles titles and finished runner-up twice at No. 1. Now she’s 1-for-1 leading the program to the top team accomplishment – and with that league title an added bonus on which to build in the future.

“It seems every year we end up with a good group of girls who are fun to coach,” Massie said. “We had five seniors in the varsity lineup, and they were all great kids and fun to be around, and hard workers.”

PHOTOS: (Top) Westwood’s Tessa Leece returns a volley during a No. 2 singles match this season. (Middle) Katelyn Anttila and Karlie Patron serve during a No. 1 doubles match. (Below) The Patriots celebrate their latest Upper Peninsula Division 2 championship. (Photos courtesy of the Westwood girls tennis program.)