Greenhills, GR Catholic Central Follow Longtime Leaders to Historic Finals Successes
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2026
MIDLAND — A pair of high school tennis coaches who have coached in the state for more than 50 years had reason to be thrilled after the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Tennis Finals on Thursday.
First, there was Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Mark Randolph, who capped off his 55th overall season in coaching by helping guide his team to its fifth-straight championship.
The Gryphons easily topped the field finishing with 35 points, 11 ahead of runner-up Grand Rapids Catholic Central, to possibly make Randolph rest a little easier after he said sleep was harder to come by recently.
“I’m in a perpetual state of holistic anxiety,” Randolph said. “I’ve not slept well in the last month thinking about all the things that could happen.”
After a decorated senior class graduated last year, this spring represented a unique challenge for Randolph trying get all the pieces to fit.
Greenhills had a sophomore at No. 2 singles, an all-freshman team at No. 3 doubles, and freshmen at both No. 3 and No. 4 singles.
“We had six, maybe seven kids who were new to the varsity lineup,” Randolph said. “So of course, we had to try and teach them how to compete, and they did great.”
One of those freshmen, Jahan Soofi, earned the title at No. 4 singles while another, Faith Miller, advanced to the championship match at No. 3 singles before falling in three games to fellow freshman Naomi Tamae of Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Greenhills also got flight championships from the senior team of Danica Rakic-Dennis and Lauren Ye at No. 1 doubles, the duo of Anye He and Alice Zhu at No. 3 doubles and the tandem of Aoife Tang and Linnea Bengtson at No. 4 doubles.
“Aoife Tang is a senior who won at No. 4 doubles as a freshman,” Randolph said. “Because of that strong (senior) class, she has been out of the lineup. She got back into it this year and won No. 4 doubles with a sophomore partner.”
Greenhills also had finalists at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles.
In addition to Randolph, another longtime coach had reason to rejoice.
Catholic Central’s Pat Williams has presided over the girls tennis program since it began in 1974, and Thursday’s result represented the best her program has finished.
For the first time, Williams got to take a trophy back to the school by placing runner-up.
“We’re all very excited,” Williams said. “I’ve been coaching 52 years with this team, and this is the best we’ve ever done.”
Even better for Williams is the future is bright as the team hopes to contend for a first Finals title in the near future.
Catholic Central will return its top three singles players next year in junior Colleen Kirk, junior Claire Kaufman and Tamae.
“It’s a good core,” Williams said.
The No. 1 singles title was claimed by Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett sophomore Sonya Jayakar, who was a quarterfinalist last year.
Jayakar earned a 6-4, 6-2 win in the championship match over Kalamazoo Christian sophomore Kennedy Price, who in the semifinals beat No. 1 seed Nina Malani of Greenhills, 6-3, 6-4.
Jayakar started her season with two losses, but didn’t lose again.
“I really spent my whole summer and winter training for this,” Jayakar said. “I worked as hard as I could every single day just to get to this point. It really pushed me to win this year.
Other flight winners were Mary-Kate Ansley of Traverse City St. Francis at No. 2 singles and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s team of Vanessa Artinian and Regina Carpenese at No. 2 doubles.
(Photos by High School Sports Scene.)
Country Day Ends Cranes' Title Streak
June 4, 2016
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – Detroit County Day freshman Elle Hartje could’ve avoided the question; instead, she wanted to know what the situation was when she took the court with her teammate, senior Haley Mullins, in the championship match at No. 1 doubles at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls Tennis Finals in Holland.
Detroit Country Day, five-time defending champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood and last year’s Division 3 runner-up Grand Rapids Christian were locked in a battle royal for this year’s title. In the second-to-the-last flight title match of the day, Hartje and Mullins took the court to play the Grand Rapids Christian team of Hannah Slenk and McKenzie Moorhead.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Hartje said. “I asked Coach if we had a chance to win the title, and she said if we win our match we would win it. It didn’t make me nervous at all.”
Hartje and Mullins may have felt the nerves early when Christian jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Instead, the pair stayed strong and controlled the match the rest of the way. Hartje and Mullins went on to defeat the Eagles’ team 7-5, 6-2 to give the Yellowjackets the final point it needed to secure the championship.
Detroit Country Day finished with 32 points to edge second-place Grand Rapids Christian by one and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood by two points.
“We just slowed it down and became more consistent,” Mullins said. “Our team has never won state while I’ve been at Country Day, and we really wanted it. It’s super special because it’s my final match for Country Day, and we definitely wanted to win it.”
Country Day’s title snapped the five-year winning streak of rival Cranbrook-Kingswood, a team the Yellowjackets defeated the week before at the Regional tournament.
“I can’t remember the last time we won state,” said Country Day coach Jessica Young. “It’s been too long. Cranbrook has won five in a row, and it’s awesome to beat them.”
Country Day is actually the last team to have won the Division 3 title other than Cranbrook-Kingswood, as the Yellowjackets claimed it in 2010.
“We couldn’t have done this without a total team effort,” Young said. “We were upset at a couple of spots, so we needed some big efforts at some of our other flights. Our number two doubles team (Tara Rahmani and Chloe Ward) came up big and reached the quarterfinals. We also got a big lift from Sasha (Hartje) at one singles. It was like a 50/50 match between her and Allison Motea, and Sasha really came up big.”
After dropping the first set 5-7, Hartje, the second seed, came back to win the next two sets (6-1, 6-1) to earn her second win of the season against Cranbrook Kingswood’s top player.
“This just feels unbelievable,” Hartje said. “I’ve been trying my whole high school career to win this title. I was runner-up last year and the year before that I made it to the semifinals. To help my team win the state title is the best part.”
Hartje and Motea are no strangers as they have played each other numerous times over the years.
“We both play competitive tennis outside of high school and have played each other several times a year,” Hartje said. “We also play each other three times a year during the high school season.”
Saturday’s was the deciding match this season as Motea won the first of the year before Hartje won at the Regional meet and then Saturday.
Country Day also claimed individual titles at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
At No. 2 singles, freshman Monique Karoub defeated Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Emily Harvey 6-2, 6-2.
“It feels really great,” said Karoub, who came in as the number one seed. “I was really nervous, but my teammates really helped me. I have some really great teammates, and they came together for me and helped me out.”
At No. 3 singles, Country Day junior Sadina Fadel captured her second consecutive title. Fadel defeated Grand Rapids Christian’s Emma Greydanus 6-0, 6-0 to claim the crown.
“It was a lot easier this year,” Fadel said. “Last year I would get nervous, but this year I learned how to control my nerves. I just wanted to win this year as a team. It is a lot better when we can win as a team.”
At No. 4 singles, Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Maria Poortenga claimed the MHSAA title. Poortenga, who reached the semifinals last year as a freshman, faced a number of hurdles on her way to winning this season. Earlier, Poortenga broke a finger that resulted in her missing a few weeks, and just before the MHSAA tournament she was battling a foot injury. Poortenga actually wore a boot on her foot the week before the tournament and was unable to practice, although her doctor gave her the green light to compete in the tournament.
Poortenga made the most of her opportunity as she defeated Allyson Zwiep of Holland Christian 6-0, 6-2.
“This was real, real nice,” Poortenga said. “I was not expected to do this well. My foot was in a boot all week and I was not able to practice. I’ve had a rough season, but we have seven seniors on the team and it’s been real fun.”
Poortenga was seeded third at No. 4 singles but defeated second-seed Jenna Lee of Country Day 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals before defeating Zwiep, the fourth seed, in the final.
“I just became a lot better player since last year,” Poortenga said. “I had a lot of matches that gave me some good experience, and that really helped.”
A pair of Poortenga’s teammates also claimed a title. At No. 3 doubles, Grand Rapids Christian’s Kate Zwiers and Natalie DeBoer needed three sets to hold off Sauma Du and Alexandra Bowers of Cranbrook-Kingswood, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Cranbrook-Kingswood claimed a pair of doubles titles. In the longest match of the finals, the Cranes’ No. 4 doubles team of Ava Harb and Frances Dube outlasted Detroit Country Day’s Maya Nassif and Sharmila Prabhu 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
At No. 2 doubles, Amelia Smith and Kate Cao of Cranbrook-Kingswood defeated Caroline Heule and Olivia DeVos of Grand Rapids Christian 6-2, 6-4.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day hoists its championship trophy Saturday at Holland. (Middle) Detroit Country Day’s Elle Hartje returns a shot at No. 1 doubles with teammate Haley Mullins backing her up. (Below) Grand Rapids Christian’s Maria Poortenga won the No. 4 singles title after coming back from a recent foot injury. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)