Logo
Country Day's Chloe Conniff sends a backhand during her No. 1 singles championship match Saturday.

Country Day Pulls Away After Power Pair Enters Saturday Tied for Lead

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

June 6, 2026

MIDLAND – There’s a lot of hardware in Division 3 girls tennis between Detroit Country Day, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and East Grand Rapids.

Since 2010 only Country Day and Cranbrook had been able to claim Finals titles. But before that run, East Grand Rapids captured the top spot seven times over 12 seasons.

So it was no surprise heading into Saturday’s semifinals that two of those traditional powers EGR and Country Day were tied for the lead at 24 points at the Lower Peninsula Finals at the Midland Tennis Center.

Two of the heavyweights were ready to claim another title – and the current streak stayed intact.

Country Day dominated the semifinals and finals, prevailing with 34 points. Bloomfield Hills Marian finished second with 29 points, and EGR was third at 28.

Country Day sophomore Chloe Conniff won the final point for the Yellowjackets at No. 1 singles with a 6-0, 6-2  victory over Lilah Zaskowski of Ada Forest Hills Eastern. Zaskowski survived a four-hour semifinal match to advance.

Jiya Gill and Zoe Grebenski claimed the flight title at No. 4 doubles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Marian’s Lizzie Plunkett and Clare Reaume. The championship was Gill’s second at that flight.

“The only thing we think about is what we can control,’’ Gill said. “We always expect to be here, but our goal is to just go out and play good tennis.’’

Country Day’s Karishma Vakhariya, left, and East Grand Rapids’ Farha Malviya shake hands after their title decider at No. 2 singles. Said Grebenski: “We try just to play and not worry about the other things. We played Cranbrook and East Grand Rapids this year, so we knew what to expect.’’

Country Day also captured No. 1 doubles as Quinn Norlander and Helen Benjamin beat Marian’s Allegra Curis and Bri Daood, 6-3, 7-5.

No. 2 doubles went to Marian’s Emerson Turkot and Stella Glorio, who defeated Country Day’s Zoe Bergg and Grace Kaskanis, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2. Marian’s Lexa Hindo and Emerson Villalba won No. 3 doubles with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over top seed Ava Kouza and Julia Geisz of Cranbrook.

While East Grand Rapids didn’t claim the team title on championship Saturday, coach Mickey Mikesell said his team’s future is bright.

“Our doubles teams are experienced, but we have a lot of youth in singles,’’ said Mikesell. “We have great depth. Phenomenal singles. The future is bright as well.’’

Freshman Evelyn Gingras is one of the youngsters. She entered as the top seed at No. 3 singles and won her first Finals title with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Country Day’s Addie Grebinski. Gingras dropped one game in the semifinal and final.

“We’re doing well, and I’m happy to be part of the team,’’ Gingras said. “We’ve worked really hard, and our coaches have put in a lot of effort.’’

Country Day’s Karishma Vakhariya, the top seed at No. 2 singles, said the goals stay the same each year.

“A three-peat would mean we bring in the right players every year,’’ she said. “Everyone believes they can win their flight. There’s a lot of pressure, but when you’re on the court the only thing you can think about is winning.’’

Vakhariya defeated East Grand Rapids’ Farha Malviya 6-2, 7-5 to win the flight. Marian freshman Gwen Slapak won at No. 4 singles 6-4, 7-6 over EGR sophomore Mia Owings.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Country Day's Chloe Conniff sends a backhand during her No. 1 singles championship match Saturday. (Middle) Country Day’s Karishma Vakhariya, left, and East Grand Rapids’ Farha Malviya shake hands after their title decider at No. 2 singles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.) 

High 5s: 6/5/12

June 5, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to athletes and a team based on their accomplishments the previous week or throughout the season.

A four-time track champion and a longtime state tennis power once again at the top make up this week's list of high achievers.

Sami Michell
Reed City senior
Girls Track and Field

Michell became the first Lower Peninsula four-time champion at an MHSAA Girls Track and Field Final since 1979 when she won the long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200 on Saturday at the Division 3 meet at Comstock Park. Her time of 42.4 in the 300 hurdles broke the all-Finals record that had stood since 1984, and she also set Division 3 Final records in the long jump (18-6.5) and 100 hurdles (13.84) – breaking the record she previously held in the latter. Total, Michell has won eight MHSAA championships during her three-year high school career. She’s also a setter on the volleyball team and the top-ranked student in her class with a 4.0 grade-point average. Her mother Vikki is the coach of Reed City’s girls track and field team, and her father Brent coaches the boys team.

Fantastic 4: “I wanted to win four; I thought about it, but it was kinda crazy when I actually did it. Really, after I crossed the finish line in the 200, I was pretty happy then. Definitely 200 (was the hardest). It was the last one, and I wasn’t seeded first in that one.”

I learned the most about running from: “Both my parents. They both help me in different ways. It’s pretty cool, but it’s hard sometimes. Sometimes listening to them is harder because I think they don’t know what they’re talking about when they do. But just because they’re my parents it’s harder to listen.”

Up next: All I really know is I’m running track someplace. I have no idea where I want to go. A couple of schools down south really seem interested (including Clemson, plus Michigan State closer to home). Stanford seems interested.”

Fun with numbers: “I’m thinking (I’ll study) accounting. I’m kind of a perfectionist. I like the math part of it.”

Air Michell: Despite standing only 5-foot-8, Michell has a vertical jump of nearly 30 inches and just misses being able to touch the basketball rim. “But I can touch the part connected to the backboard. That would be pretty sweet.”

Click to read more.

Birmingham Seaholm tennis

Birmingham Seaholm won only one individual flight, but also had three runners-up in edging Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 27-25 at the top of the Division 2 Final standings Saturday. The Maples won their first MHSAA team championship since 2004, and ended FHN's six-season streak of shared or outright titles. Seaholm had finished runner-up to the Huskies in 2011.

Jackie Meier and Rachel Wilson won what ended up being the deciding match by downing the pair from Forest Hills Northern in the final at No. 3 doubles. Seaholm also gained valuable points by placing seven flights in at least the semifinals.

This spring's previous honorees