'House Larry Built' Celebrates Nykerk's Work Constructing TC Central Tennis
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
September 26, 2025
Legendary.
If you don’t know much about the history of Traverse City Central tennis, all you have to do is take a stroll through the newly-renovated and named Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center.
The facility was named after the long-time coach as this season commenced.
Nykerk, whose tennis legacy in Traverse City reaches back to 1968 when he launched a brand-new junior varsity boys tennis program at Central, is thrilled and honored to have the 12-court complex named after him.
He’s proud a local media organization dubbed it the “House Larry Built.”
But he’s even prouder of the program’s rich, successful history and a label many placed on the Trojans before they were a part of a conference and had to travel a long way to find suitable competition.
“We were independent for so many years from about ‘87 till maybe ‘97, and maybe even more than that,” Nykerk explained. “We were the ‘Notre Dame of the North’ in a lot of sports because we were independent and we were a dominant state, elite tennis power for all those years — on the girls side in particular.”
Central’s girls program is currently riding a streak of 43 years qualifying for the MHSAA Finals. The boys have qualified for the Finals 18 straight seasons.
The program’s current coaches are feeling a little bit of pressure to keep the streaks alive as they see Nykerk’s name every time they hit the home court.
During his tenure at Central, Nykerk won regional coach of the year honors 28 times, was named Michigan tennis coach of the year thrice (in 1984 and 2007 for boys tennis, and in 1997 for girls), and was shortlisted for national coach of the year in 2011.
“What am I most pleased with looking back at the accomplishments for what we did in the program is just the continuity of success,” Nykerk said. “It's not just one time with a good team, not just with the guys or just with the girls, but just the overall program that was up their top five, so many years.”
Nykerk coached the Trojans to 40 Regional championships. He had 13 players win individual Finals championships, and 65 players had 100 wins or more.
He retired once before returning to coach the Trojans. Today he’s a big supporter of the program and his successors — Casey Christensen on the boys side and Lisa Seymour on the girls.
“I would consider him our number one supporter,” said Christensen, now in his fourth year at the helm of the Trojans. “He comes to our matches and watches and supports the team. He put so much work into the entire process of the renovations of the courts. I don't think a lot of people realize that he has been a part of court renovations and sport promotion not only for our program specifically at Traverse City Central, but for the sport of tennis and the greater Traverse City area and statewide.”
Christensen stepped into the Trojans program after Shane Dilloway’s seven-year run coaching the boys and girls teams at Central. Dilloway was an assistant coach under Nykerk.
Today, Christensen is humbled to be a part of Trojan tennis.
“What a legacy to be able to have his name there and for us to be part of it but also to just be part of this greater story that goes so far beyond all of us,” Christensen said. “We’re competitive regionally, and at the state level and conference, but 18 years in a row of the state tournament? I don't know if there's a longer streak out there — there probably is — but it is a testament to our program’s consistency.”
Christensen is continuing Nykerk’s legacy and the boys program’s success. He guided the Trojans to a ninth-place finish at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final last fall.
“We graduated a lot a lot of experienced guys,” Christensen said. “And so the challenge for us this year has been re-tooling the roster with some first-year guys, but a lot of them are seniors. It's a challenge in that we only get them for a year and the season is so compact, but it's also an advantage because when you get older guys, that comes with emotional maturity and physical maturity, too, for sure.”
The Trojans do have six players back with high hopes of repeating last year’s first-place finish at the Regional. Alex Lamphier is now a senior and playing No. 1 singles. He won the Regional individual title at No. 2 in 2024.
Holden Berry, a doubles player last year, is now the Trojans’ No. 2 singles player. Also back are doubles partners Nate Brewer and Chris Girrbach and Helly Taylor and Oliver Christensen.
Strong competition early actually spoiled things a bit, handing the Trojans a few losses.
And while they have their newly-renovated courts named after Nykerk, they’re still traveling far to play the best competition they can.
“We're not afraid to go and play anyone,” Christensen said. “And we're kind of road warriors, man. We're on the road a lot. In order to do well in states, you need to play the Ann Arbors and the Midlands and Portage Northern.”
The Trojans traveled across town twice this week en route to their 22nd-straight Big North Conference championship. The event took place over two days due to weather conditions. Petoskey and Cadillac finished three and four points, respectively, behind the Trojans at the conference meet.
Taylor and Ollie Christensen led the way winning the No. 1 doubles crown. Brewer and Girrbach captured the No. 2 doubles title, and Brady Johnson and Henry Yonts came out on top in No. 4 doubles.
“Doubles play was great for us today, but our singles contributed too,” Christensen said moments after the 22nd-straight conference title. “We got points from every play, which is, I think that's ultimately what pushed us over the top.”
Lamphier and Berry helped secure the title with conference runner-up honors, both pushing their matches to 10-8 tie-breakers.
The Trojans now have their sights on the Division 2 Regional at the Midland Tennis Center. Midland Dow is the favorite the win the October Regional. Central expects to be in the mix for one of the other Finals-qualifying spots to keep the streak alive.
In addition to Big North foes Alpena and Traverse City West, the Regional will feature the host Midland Dow, Bay City Western, East Lansing, Flushing, Midland High and Mount Pleasant.
“East Lansing got added to our Regional and they’re historically pretty tough,” Christensen said. “Midland Dow is the cream of the crop, and the rest of us are just kind of playing catch up from there. It's going to be a dogfight for those second and third spots in the region to get automatically to states.”
And while the boys get the first chance to keep their streak alive, the girls are already feeling a little pressure to do the same in the spring.
Lisa Seymour, a former assistant coach under Nykerk at Central and varsity coach at West, heads up the girls program. She took over the Trojans girls in 2022.
And Seymour is thrilled the courts now bear Nykerk’s name.
“It just was such a natural thing for them to name the courts after him because they really are, you know, his courts,” she said. “Obviously he's a legend up in the Traverse City and Northern Michigan region. Even downstate, people and coaches knew him and some of the ones that are still coaching still do.”
The timing of naming the courts after Nykerk may add to the excitement this spring. The girls will be a young team after graduating 16 seniors last season.
“I don't want to say it's a pressure thing, but it's always in the back of your head — a lot of coaches don't ever experience getting to states,” Seymour said, noting the younger players did win the JV conference championship last year. “I don't want to call it a rebuilding year. We do have some really good foundational things in place.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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) Traverse City Central tennis players clear water from the Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center courts this fall. (Middle) The facility was named after the longtime Central coach, who began coaching tennis at the school in 1968. (Below) A Trojans player sends back a volley. (Athlete photos by TC Rick Sports Photography. Nykerk photo courtesy of the Traverse City Central athletic department.)
Built Right, No Rebuild Needed: Cornelius Taking Gull Lake Back to Tennis Finals
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2025
RICHLAND – Once the boys season ends later this week, Roger Cornelius will begin preparing for his 50th year as varsity girls tennis coach at Gull Lake High School.
That tenure may have been cut short at 22 years, if not for the Gull Lake tennis community.
In January 1998, Cornelius’ 16-year-old daughter, Lindsay, died as a result of a winter car crash.
He had recently ended the fall season with the girls team and “I didn’t know if I could (coach) the boys that spring,” he said, still emotional when talking about the tragedy.
One of his former students, Jason Ryan, now a vascular surgeon at Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital, contacted Cornelius.
“He and one or two other guys talked with me and, if not for them, I would have quit tennis,” Cornelius said. “I decided to continue with tennis, and I’m glad I did. I found out that God was going to carry me through the toughest time of my life. The tennis community was really big for me back then. Richland, especially, came beside me and lifted me up.”
Although tennis is his sport of choice, Cornelius played football at Western Michigan University and was first hired at Gull Lake in 1975 to help with the football program. He jumped at the chance to coach the tennis team that spring and has coached either the boys or girls, and sometimes both, every year since.
He has been named Regional Coach of the Year several times and was enshrined in the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association (MHSTeCA) Hall of Fame in 2018.
Cornelius will lead the boys (12-2-1) to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals this Friday and Saturday at Midland Tennis Center. The Blue Devils finished 10th the last two years, earning eight points both times.
In a rebuilding year after losing all four singles and two doubles players to graduation, Cornelius was surprised and thrilled that this year’s team earned 20 points at its Regional, finishing second to St. Joseph and qualifying for the Finals.
At the beginning of the season, senior Peyton Orley said he wasn’t sure how good the team would be.
“Last year at the beginning of the season, we could tell we had a really good team,” Orley said. "This year, we lost a lot of our seniors and it didn’t look promising for states.
“Everyone on the team was mission-motivated to get to the state tournament.”
Orley pairs with senior Sullivan Abegg at No 1 singles and the pair did their part, winning their Regional flight. For Abegg, it was a three-peat after taking the title at No. 3 doubles two years ago and No. 2 doubles last year.
The Blue Devils are led at No. 1 singles by freshman Kade DeMaagd, whose father also played for Cornelius.
“Kade’s got the best strokes on the team,” the coach said.
Lucas Nichols, at No. 4 doubles, is the other freshman in the lineup. The other three seniors are Max Uppal (No 3 singles) and Dylan Piwko and Evan McCann, both doubles players. Three juniors, who all play doubles, are Jaden Jones, Jackson McDermott and McGuire Abegg. Two sophomores round out the singles flights: Jake Worgess at No. 2 and Jacob Nichols at No. 4.
Comparing old & new
Cornelius said there isn’t much difference between the tennis players today compared to those 50 years ago.
“I think what’s changed the most is today’s athletes have so many different options, so many different interest areas,” he said. “A lot of the kids have early college classes, some of them have to come to practice from off site and so many things are happening, whether it’s the Model United Nations or tutoring someone at the high school or DECA. I think that’s the biggest difference.”
While the boys are competing in Division 3, the girls are in Division 2, a more difficult road to the Finals, Cornelius said.
“It does make it pretty tough for the girls to make it out of Division 2 with the Mattawans, Portage Central, St. Joe, Battle Creek Lakeview,” he said.
Orley’s sister, Ava, a junior who plays at No. 1 doubles, said the girls team has already bonded.
“We build our team off loving each other,” she said. “It’s not everyone out for themselves, it’s all of us (working together). We focus on being a good role model.
"We’ve had coaches tell us how we played with class and how it’s an honor to play us because we learned from (Cornelius) that you always want to be a good sport.”
Competitive, compassionate
Cornelius, who taught French at the high school for 32 years, currently tutors French-speaking African and Haitian families for the district.
“I tutor the kids and work with the families,” he said. “It’s vastly different than what I did in the classroom. The greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my nearly 50 years working with Gull Lake schools was working with a little African boy who was blind.”
Cornelius and some friends pooled money to take the boy to a specialist in Grand Rapids. The specialist asked Cornelius to translate for the mother that he thought he could help the young boy regain some sight.
“The two surgeries were successful,” said Cornelius, choking up a bit with emotion. "He has to wear glasses, but he can see. It’s the high watermark of my life.”
That compassion is visible on the tennis courts, said retired Allegan coach Gary Ellis, now a volunteer assistant tennis coach at the school.
“I’ve known Roger since 1977,” Ellis said. “We started competing against each other when he started coaching the boys.”
He said that although Cornelius wants to win and likes to compete, “at the same time, he’s got a good perspective on the whole thing and the value of high school sports, and tennis in particular. He’s very positive, both with his team and with the opponents.”
Cornelius was so supportive of opponents that one year Ellis’ girls team invited the Gull Lake coach to their awards banquet at the end of the season.
“He had a conflict and couldn’t attend, but he sent a really nice letter to the girls,” Ellis said.
Cornelius makes it a point to talk with opponents, both coaches and players.
“I love to get to talk to the kids that I would never get to talk with,” he said. “My favorite is Battle Creek Central because they have struggles that most of us at Gull Lake don’t know about.
“For them to commit their spring or their fall to tennis, that’s a major decision. I want to make darn sure that after the match, I get to meet every one of them, talk with them, talk with their coach.”
Cornelius doesn’t expect this to be his last season.
“I will step down when the good Lord says, ‘I think it’s time,’” he said. “And I don’t think it’s time quite yet.
“I wouldn’t mind if they put on my gravestone ‘Loved God, Loved People.’”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Richland Gull Lake tennis coach Roger Cornelius hits with his players during practice this season. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Cornelius, assistant Gary Ellis, junior Ava Orley and senior Peyton Orley. (Below) Cornelius talks things over with his team. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)