Howell Puts Heart Into Memorial Meet

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 22^nd-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 22^nd-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.)