Titles for Three at UP Tennis Finals
October 4, 2012
One of this season’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 girls tennis champions is used to finishing at the top. The other found itself in that favorable spot Wednesday for the first time in 25 years.
Kingsford and Negaunee split this season’s title, each scoring 14 points at Marquette High School. The Finals win was the first for Kingsford since the end of a four-year championship run in 2009. Negaunee celebrated its first championship since winning Class C-D in 1987, and after just missing with a runner-up finish in 2010.
Kingsford advanced players into all four singles and two doubles championship matches, with No. 4 singles Santina Bianco and No. 2 doubles Janay Walters and Ali VanRemortel claiming their flights. Negaunee advanced to five championship matches and had three winners – Allison Carlson at No. 2 singles, Kayla Hakala at No. 3 and Kylee Taavola and Jordyn LaFreniere at No. 3 doubles.
Escanaba senior Codi Jenshak won her second-straight championship at No. 1 singles, and third MHSAA singles title overall, with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kingsford’s Sam Fleming. Jenshak also defeated Fleming in the 2011 championship match.
Her Escanaba teammates Braedyn Bosilovatz and Cathryn Wood won the No. 1 doubles championship.
Click for full championship match results and semifinalists.
Division 2 at Ishpeming Westwood
Westwood won its fourth straight MHSAA championship and fifth in six seasons, scoring 16 points to edge runner-up Iron Mountain by two.
The Patriots won four flights, led at No. 1 doubles by Kara Harrington and Alexis Forchini, who won at No. 3 in 2011. Taryn Moyle and Katie Rankinen won at No. 2 and Rachel Anderson and Shana Caliguri won at No. 4. Courtney Beauchamp won the team’s lone singles championship, at No. 4.
Iron River West Iron County’s Kylee Erickson repeated as the No. 1 singles champion, beating Westwood’s Sarah Massie in the final for the second straight season.
Performance of the Week: St. Johns' Isabel Thelen
May 23, 2024
Isabel Thelen ♦ St. Johns
Senior ♦ Tennis
Playing as part of St. Johns’ singles lineup for the fourth season – and at No. 1 singles for the second straight – Thelen will bring a 22-1 record into next weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University. Thelen won her Regional last week, giving up only five games total in sweeping all three matches that day while also helping the Redwings finish runner-up to advance to the Finals as a team.
All of Thelen’s wins this spring have come in two sets, and her only loss was to Battle Creek Lakeview’s Maddy Simonds, who will be playing in the Division 2 Finals next weekend. Thelen also claimed the No. 1 singles championship at the Capital Area Activities Conference Red Tournament on Tuesday, winning both matches 6-0, 6-0. She’s a combined 91-10 during her high school career, and she also capped her basketball career this winter earning all-area and all-league honors. She will study next at Lansing Community College, possibly health sciences.
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@mhsaasports 🎾POW: Isabel Thelen #tiktalk #questiontime #part2 #culvers #cat #airheadextreme #night #sand #beach #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
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Past 2023-24 Honorees
May 16: Ally Katinas, Novi lacrosse - Report
May 9: Peter Roehl, Rochester Adams golf - Report
May 2: Lilah Smith, Richland Gull Lake soccer - Report
April 25: Mason Mayne, Lawton track & field - Report
April 18: Alli Wright, Jenison softball - Report
April 11: Chloe Wishart, Trenton soccer - Report
March 28: Jenna Maki, Ishpeming basketball - Report
March 22: Jaremiah Palmer, Niles Brandywine basketball - Report
March 15: Leah Hodge, North Farmington gymnastics - Report
March 8: Darius Marines, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Report
March 1: Rylee Smith, Zeeland West bowling - Report
Feb. 22: Caleb Lewandowski, Traverse City West skiing - Report
Feb. 15: Jadin Mix, Onaway basketball - Report
Feb. 8: Onalee Wallis, Cadillac skiing - Report
Feb. 1: Abbey DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek competitive cheer - Report
Jan. 25: Ewan Todd, Riverview swimming - Report
Jan. 18: Ashley Weller, Jackson Northwest basketball - Report
Jan. 11: Michael Baldwin, Saginaw Arthur Hill wrestling - Report
Dec. 15: Jena Fijolek, Fenton bowling - Report
Dec. 8: Sophia Wagner, Escanaba gymnastics - Report
Dec. 1: Isaiah Marshall, Southfield Arts & Technology football - Report
Nov. 24: Sarah Bradley, Clarkston Everest Collegiate volleyball - Report
Nov. 17: Kalieb Osborne, Waterford Mott football - Report
Nov. 10: Tekalegn Vlasma, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3: Colton Kinnie, Birmingham Seaholm football - Report
Oct. 27: Lauren Timpf, Macomb Lutheran North golf - Report
Oct. 20: Alena Li, Okemos golf - Report
Oct. 13: Seth Norder, Grand Haven cross country - Report
Oct. 5: Paige Anderson, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer golf - Report
Sept. 29: MacKenzie Bisballe, Lake City volleyball - Report
Sept. 22: Jhace Massey, Gladwin football - Report
Sept. 15: Kaylee Draper, Sturgis swimming - Report
Sept. 8: Owen Jackson, Traverse City St. Francis tennis - Report
Sept. 1: Rachel Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
(Action photo by Alex Parsons; headshot by Iryshe Photography.)