Let's Play 2 (or 3, or 4)
February 16, 2012
A few conversations I had at last week's Women In Sports Leadership conference further affirmed a point I've been making for years -- high school athletes, if they'd like, shouldn't hesitate to play multiple sports.
Doing so does not hurt, but might just help their chances at landing that prized college scholarship -- on top of adding another layer to the high school sports experience.
Reaffirming this for me last week was Michigan State softball coach Jacquie Joseph, who spoke on that subject at the WISL conference. She's heading into her 24th season as a head coach at the Division I college level -- so she's been around for some of the evolution of both high school sports specialization and college recruiting. Plus, she coaches a sport that sees its share of athletes playing just that one.
Later, I spoke with a high school coach who leads teams in three sports and also played one at the Division I college level. She's a believer in this as well.
Some of the things I've been told over the years about playing more than one sport:
- It allows an athlete to learn more skills and hone more parts of his or her athleticism.
- Using another range of movement further helps condition an athlete's body and make it more resistant to injury.
- It's hardly rare to see a college football coach watching a prospect's basketball game -- coaches like to see how athleticism transfers across sports, and sometimes will see something from an athlete playing basketball that he didn't show on the football field. (Football and basketball are used in this example, but the same applies to a number of similar situations.)
- Athletes get an opportunity to play whatever they'd like only this once (unless they turn out to be that rare college athlete who takes on more than one sport at that level).
These are hardly new arguments. But they are always worth repeating -- especially when the people frequently making them (college coaches) are the ones single-sport athletes often are trying to impress.
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.’’
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.
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.)