Preview: Returning Champions Set to Build on Past Seasons' Successes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 30, 2024
A blend of strong seeds and substantial postseason experience could make catching three of last year’s champions difficult as those teams again pursue repeat titles at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.
But the race for the Division 1 championship might be one of the most intriguing in some time.
While Birmingham Seaholm in Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 3 and Ann Arbor Greenhills in Division 4 remain the teams to chase in those respective brackets, Clarkston should give Ann Arbor Pioneer a mighty challenge as the latter pursues a fourth-straight Finals title.
All four divisions again will be played Friday and Saturday over multiple locations, with semifinals and finals to be played at the first sites listed below in each division. Play begins between 8:15-8:30 each morning.
Below is a glance at the highest-ranked teams in each division and additional No. 1 singles players expected to be in contention. Click for full brackets and more from MHSAA.com.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Clarkston, 2. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 3. Novi.
Clarkston: The Wolves finished third a year ago and are seeking their second team championship to go with the Division 1 title won in 2011. All eight flights are seeded, including four top seeds – freshman Sydney Geisz at No. 2 singles, freshman Kayla Lemke at No. 3, junior Charlotte Partchenko at No. 4, and senior Katarina Fisher and junior Ava Henkel at No. 2 doubles. A flight champion would be the team’s first since 2014. Partchenko finished No. 4 singles runner-up last season, and Henkel and now-sophomore Lana Sloan reached the semifinals at No. 3 doubles; Sloan and senior Lauren Sielinski are the second seed at that flight this weekend.
Ann Arbor Pioneer: The Pioneers have won the last three Division 1 championships (sharing with Bloomfield Hills in 2021), and the majority of Finals experience returns in doubles or with doubles players from 2023. Senior Noa Gluskin and sophomore Jessica Primus are the fifth seed at No. 2 after winning the No. 4 doubles title a year ago, and senior Casey Roe and junior Natalie Guo are the second seed at No. 1 with Roe having been part of last season’s runner-up at No. 2 and Guo half of a semifinalist at the top flight. Junior Arella He was part of the runner-up at No. 3 doubles in 2023 and this time is seeded third at No. 4 singles, and senior Eleanor Vogel teamed with Roe last year and this weekend is seeded third at No. 3 singles.
Novi: The Wildcats have never won or finished runner-up at the Finals, but did tie for fourth a year ago and enter this weekend with six seeded flights and especially strong points potential in doubles. Seniors Haruka Ishibashi and Arushi Singh are the top seed at No. 3 doubles, and sophomores Samaara George and Kyra Thomas are second-seeded at No. 4. George played No. 1 singles last season, and Ishibashi played No. 3. Singh was part of the runner-up at No. 4 doubles in 2023.
Gabrielle Sadkowski, Utica Eisenhower sophomore: Top seed Sadkowski’s only loss over two years of high school tennis was last season to eventual LPD1 No. 1 singles champion Sari Woo from Ann Arbor Skyline. Sadkowski is 11-0 this spring.
Nicole Fu, Rochester Adams junior: Fu has finished No. 1 singles runner-up the last two seasons, and she’s the second seed this weekend entering at 16-0 this year.
Brooke Nicholson & Alexis Gabriel, Utica Eisenhower senior/sophomore: This pair entered last season’s No. 1 doubles bracket as the fifth seed and reached the quarterfinals. They’re the top seed this time and 28-2 this spring.
Other returning 2023 flight champions: Troy seniors Hannah Lee & Michelle Baik (No. 3 doubles last season, No. 1 doubles this weekend).
LP Division 2 at Byron Center West Sports Complex & Grand Rapids South Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 3. Farmington Hills Mercy.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples jumped past Forest Hills Northern into the top spot in the final coaches poll of the regular season, and the reigning LPD2 champion has finished first or second at this tournament nine times beginning in 2011. All eight flights are seeded this time, but the greatest scoring potential is in doubles with junior Jordyn Lusky and sophomore Lucy Jen seeded first at No. 3 and sophomore Anna Olekszyk and freshman Katie Joyce top-seeded at No. 4. Lusky and Jen were part of championship pairs at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, last season, and seniors Katie Slazinski and Jenna Ting were champions at No. 2 and are the second seed this weekend at No. 1. Senior Stella North won with Jen a year ago and is seeded fifth this time at No. 2 doubles with freshman Sophia Arndt. Senior Courtney Marcum is seeded fourth at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 a year ago, and sophomore Jada Josifovski is seeded third at No. 2 coming off a No. 3 runner-up finish as a freshman.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: Although only five flights are seeded, three are top-seeded as FHN looks to bump up from last year’s tie for second place and claim a third championship over the last four seasons. Seniors Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie at No. 1 doubles and junior Lauren Jaklitsch and Morgan McKenzie at No. 2 carry those top seeds, with Morey and Paige McKenzie the reigning champs at the top flight and Jaklitsch part of last year’s runner-up at No. 2. Morey also was part of No. 2 doubles flight championships as both a freshman and a sophomore. Junior Andrea Wang adds another top seed at No. 2 singles, and sophomore Harriet Ogilvie is the fourth seed at No. 3 singles after winning No. 4 in 2023.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The Marlins have been surging with a powerful singles lineup that locked down top seeds at No. 1 with junior Megan Sullivan, No. 3 with sophomore Alexa Dueweke and No. 4 with sophomore Gabby Owens, and a second seed at No. 2 with sophomore Keira Kirkland. Mercy’s only top-two Finals finish was second place in Division 1 in 2013, and the Marlins tied for 11th in Division 1 last season. Two doubles flights also are seeded.
Lily Ohlman, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior: The reigning champion at No. 1 singles is 24-2 and seeded second with her most recent loss coming to Sullivan on May 4 by a score of 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 10-8.
LP Division 3 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes have won the last two Division 3 titles after three straight runner-up finishes (not counting COVID-canceled 2020). There’s loads of championship experience and every flight is seeded, with four top seeds – junior Chiarra Martella at No. 3 singles, senior Olivia Zhang at No. 4, junior Madeline Day and senior Sanvi Upadhyayala at No. 3 doubles and juniors Michelle Chen and Jessica Hall at No. 4. Zhang has won No. 4 singles the last two seasons, and senior Sienna Ilitch has won No. 3 singles the last two seasons and is seeded eighth at No. 1 this weekend; both also were singles runners-up as freshmen. Martella was the runner-up at No. 2 a year ago. Seniors Daryn Krause and Kayli Lala are the second seed at No. 1 doubles after finishing runner-up last year, winning No. 4 in 2022 and finishing No. 3 runner-up in 2021. Junior Sophia Kouza and senior Grace Zhang are fourth-seeded at No. 2 doubles after winning that flight last year. Day and Upadhyayala were runners-up last spring at No. 3, and Chen and Hall were the runners-up at No. 4. Grace Zhang also was part of the No. 3 doubles champion in 2022 and the No. 4 runner-up in 2021.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets fell just two points shy of catching Cranbrook a year ago and return significant members of that lineup as well. Junior Sophia Grzesiak is the top seed at No. 1 singles after reaching the semifinals last season, followed by freshman Quinn Norland seeded first at No. 2 and sophomore Helen Benjamin seeded second at No. 3 after finishing runner-up at No. 4 singles in 2023. Seniors Marin Norlander and Peja Liles are the top seed and reigning champs at No. 1 doubles, and Liles also was part of the winning pair in 2022 and runner-up pair in 2021. Sophomore Jiya Gill and senior Becca Borgia are the third seed at No. 3 doubles with Gill coming off a No. 4 doubles championship last year.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs finished fifth last year and were third in Division 2 just three seasons ago. All eight flights are seeded, led by a pair of second-seeded doubles – sophomore Audrey Agbay and freshman Yana Higgins at No. 3 and senior Lauren Higdon and freshman Stella Glorio at No. 4.
Natalie Poortenga, Grand Rapids Christian senior: Last season’s champion at No. 2 singles is the third seed at No. 1 this time, and took Forest Hills Central’s Ohlman to three sets in an April loss.
Lilah Zaskowski, Ada Forest Hills Eastern freshman: She’s 22-3 and the second seed at No. 1 singles heading into her first Finals, with two of her three losses coming over the last two weeks in tune-ups against Ohlman and Forest Hills Northern’s Wang.
Other returning 2023 flight champions: Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Avah Jerke (No. 3 doubles last season, No. 4 singles this weekend).
LP Division 4 at University of Michigan & Ann Arbor Greenhills
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons also are seeking their third-straight Finals team championship, and nearly doubled up the next-highest finisher a year ago. Junior Maddie Morgan is the reigning champion at No. 1 singles and seeded second this weekend, while junior Shangyang Xia is the top seed at No. 3 after winning No. 2 in 2023 and sophomore Danica Rakic-Dennis the top seed at No. 4 after winning at No. 3 a year ago. They moved with freshman Ellie Kim is the top seed at No. 2 singles. Greenhills has all four top seeds in doubles as well – sophomore Lauren Ye and freshman Nina Malani at No. 1, juniors Sophie Chen and Sophia Kleer at No. 2, juniors Meera Tewari and Meera Pandey at No. 3, and senior Parini Rao and freshman Alyssa Hong at No. 4. Chen and Ye were runners-up at No. 1 last season, and Pandey and Tewari were the runners-up at No. 3.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Fighting Irish should provide a nice challenge after finishing fourth in Division 3 last season and with all eight flights seeded fourth or higher. Junior Francheska Daugaru at No. 2 singles and senior Addison Bellows at No. 3 lead with second seeds. Bellows was the Division 3 runner-up at No. 4 singles as a sophomore, and senior Julia Gurne – seeded third at No. 1 singles this weekend – was the Division 3 runner-up at No. 1 as a freshman.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators were fourth a year ago and have finished runner-up four of the last nine years, most recently in 2021. All but one flight is seeded, and five are seeded fourth or higher led by senior Ava Pomaranski with the second seed at No. 4 singles.
Ayva Johnstone, Elk Rapids senior: She reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 singles as the fourth seed last season and returns this weekend as the top seed and 25-0.
Other returning 2023 flight champions: Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart senior Kayla Nafso (No. 1 doubles last season, No. 1 singles this weekend), Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart senior Maggie Pulte (No. 2 doubles last season and this weekend).
PHOTO Birmingham Seaholm's Jordyn Lusky returns a volley during last season's LPD2 Finals championship match at No. 3 doubles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
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.)