Okemos Sends Coach Out with Title Win
October 16, 2020
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI – After 11 years, Okemos boys tennis coach Chris Silker is riding off into the coaching sunset to spend more time with his three young children and focus on his real estate business.
But before doing so, Silker finished one last ride with another group of kids he’s helped raise on the tennis court for the past 12 to 13 years.
For the third time in four years, Okemos captured an MHSAA Finals championship, although this time it was in Lower Peninsula Division 1 with an 8-0 win over Ann Arbor Pioneer in Friday’s championship match at Novi High School.
“I’ve been with these seniors since they were 5 and 6 years old,” Silker said. “I’m just really excited to be able to finish with them.”
Okemos won Division 2 titles in 2017 and 2018, but moved up to Division 1 before the 2019 season.
The Chiefs tied for fourth at last year’s tournament, but Silker said that proved to be a springboard to this year.
“It is a different level of play, and what we got out of it was that we really belonged,” Silker said. “Our top three sat out last year, and we still tied for fourth. That showed that we belonged here. We knew we were going to be back in this position for these kids to have a shot at it.”
In order to lessen the crowds of players and parents at the event during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new team finals format was instituted.
Instead of teams scoring points based on how well their individuals did against other opponents in each flight, the format this year was a 16-team, bracketed tournament of dual matches.
Silker said his team actually liked the new format.
“To be honest, my guys were stoked for this format,” Silker said. “It really brought us closer together. We have really enjoyed the event.”
Also enjoying the format was Pioneer coach Tom “Brick” Pullen, who has coached the boys and girls tennis programs at Pioneer since 1990.
“I’ve pushed for this format from the beginning,” Pullen said. “I feel that it’s all about team versus team. I like this format.”
The Chiefs began the tournament Thursday with a round of 16 win over Grand Blanc (8-0) and a quarterfinal win over Novi (7-1).
Okemos then came back to the courts Friday morning for a semifinal match against fifth-seeded Troy, winning 7-1.
Pioneer entered the final with a lot of momentum following a 6-2 win over city rival and No. 2-seeded Ann Arbor Huron, a team Pioneer lost to twice during the regular season.
Pioneer had beaten Bloomfield Hills in the quarterfinals (5-3) and Eisenhower in the round of 16 (8-0) on Thursday.
Pullen said Okemos was simply too strong for his team, which was spent emotionally following the semifinal win over Huron.
“I think we did burn ourselves out,” Pullen said. “Okemos is a stronger team than us, no question. We didn’t have much left after playing Huron. We lost to them twice during the year, and that was our state tournament right there.”
Okemos gave up only nine games in the final. Druv Talluri and Shrey Patel at No. 1 doubles and Siddharth Nagisetty and Ethan Portnoy at No. 2 won in shutouts, while Yoonho Cho and Benjamin Wei at No. 4 and Joshua Portnoy (No. 1 singles), Colson Wells (No. 3) and George Fan (No. 4) lost one game apiece. Rohan Shah won his No. 2 match 6-2, 6-0, and Abhi Shukul and Diego Casagrande won at No. 3 doubles 6-0, 6-3.
PHOTOS: (Top) Okemos’ Rohan Shah celebrates during his team’s Division 1 championship win Friday. (Middle) Ann Arbor Pioneer defeated rival Huron to advance to the Final. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Armada's Fredette Receives NFHS Honor
January 16, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Longtime Armada tennis coach David Fredette has been named one of 23 National Coaches of the Year for 2018-19 by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NHFS) Coaches Association.
Fredette was selected first at the state level and then from among the eight sections that make up the NFHS – Michigan is part of Section 4 with Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
The following brief bio includes an excerpt from Fredette’s coaching philosophy, which nominees were asked to submit after being identified as candidates for the awards.
David Fredette began Armada’s tennis program in 1966 and coached the boys team through the 2018 season. He led more than half his teams over the years to the MHSAA Finals, and 17 to top-10 finishes at the championship meet – including four straight from 2009-12. He also was a major contributor during the early days of the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association, and began serving on its board in 1982. Four times he was selected MHSTeCA state Coach of the Year: in Class C-D in 1982, Class B in 1992, and as one of two selections in Division 4 in both 1998 and 2018. Fredette was inducted into the MHSTeCA Hall of Fame in 1988. Armada’s tennis courts are named for him.
Fredette played tennis at Dowagiac High School and then Benton Harbor Community College. He also coached basketball and football during his time at Armada.
“Athletics give students a chance to become student-athletes, which means athletics teach athletes discipline, a strong work ethic, and cooperation with others. Athletics teach athletes how to not only compete, but how to handle both winning and losing. … I know that students who play sports upon graduation are more prepared to face the challenges that life presents them. While I always expected my players to work hard, I wanted my athletes to enjoy the experiences on and off the courts. My former players tell me how much they enjoyed competing, but also how much fun they had on the trips we went on together, whether it was to play top competition across the state of Michigan or on the Florida trips I took my boys teams on over Easter vacation from 1989 through 2001 to practice and bond as a team. Athletes learn how to compete, but they also gain friendships that last a lifetime, if only in their memories.”
Four more Michigan coaches earned honors in Section 4. Brighton girls swimming & diving coach Jason Black led the Bulldogs to a Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals runner-up finish in Fall 2018, its best placing in program history. Dexter boys swimming & diving coach Michael McHugh was selected for the second-straight year as a Section 4 winner after leading his team to its fourth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship last winter. Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball coach Vicky Groat at one point guided the Tigers to nine Class D championships in 10 seasons from 2005-14 and is the sixth-winningest coach in MHSAA volleyball history with a record of 1,154-262-93. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart co-coach Judy Hehs helped lead that program to its second-straight Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship this past fall, its sixth title in eight seasons, in her final tournament before retirement. She previously was named NFHS Coaches Association National Coach of the Year for girls tennis in 2016.
The NFHS has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.