Prep Roundup: St. Francis, Elk Rapids tie to claim share of Division 4 regional crown; Trojans finish 3rd at Midland to qualify for state

Brendan Quealy, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·6 min read

May 19—TRAVERSE CITY — Twenty-six points apiece for Traverse City St. Francis and Elk Rapids meant that Thursday's regional championship would be shared between the Gladiators and the Elks.

But they'll each have a chance to gain bragging rights when they battle it out for the Lake Michigan Conference championship Tuesday. For now, St. Francis and Elk Rapids will have to settle for being co-champions and also qualifying for the Division 4 state championships along with third-place Harbor Springs.

The Glads and Elks each collected 26 points throughout the day at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School in Traverse City. Harbor Springs ended with 20 followed by Charlevoix with eight, Manistee and Grayling with six, Boyne City with two, and both East Jordan and Traverse City Christian with a single point.

Elk Rapids did leave with more individual regional championships, however, claiming five to St. Francis' three.

In one-singles action, it was Elk Rapids' Ayva Johnstone besting St. Francis' Mary Chittle in the flight finals by a 6-0, 6-1 score. In two-singles, St. Francis' Mary-Kate Ansley added a regional title to her resume with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Harbor Springs' Quinn Cassidy in the finals.

At three-singles, it was Elk Rapids getting the best of St. Francis again as Morgan Bergquist bested Ava Pomaranski 6-3, 6-3 in the championship match. Audrey Lee gave St. Francis another regional title at four-singles, defeating Harbor Springs' Maja Thompson 6-2, 6-4 in the finals.

The one-doubles championship went to St. Francis as Lily Lurvey and Caroline Knox won a hard-fought battle in straight sets against Harbor Springs' Stella Vranes and Charlotte Westbrook by a 6-3, 7-5 final in the title match. Elk Rapids claimed the gold at two-doubles, once again at the expense of St. Francis as sister duo Haleigh Yocom and Ryleigh Yocom defeated Lizzie Frederick and Abby Corpus 6-1, 6-3 in the finals.

The three-doubles title was also won by an Elk Rapids' sister-sister connection as Jaida Schulte and Brynne Schulte toppled St. Francis' Alyssa Corpus and Elly March by a 7-5, 6-4 final in the championship match. Portia Beebe and Tessa Nico captured Elk Rapids' third doubles regional title of the day as they defeated Harbor Springs's Beatrice Krieger and Elliott Baetens 6-3, 6-2 in the four-doubles championship match.

The state championships are slated for June 2 at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University.

TENNIS REGIONALS

Trojans place 3rd at Midland Dow, qualify for state

MIDLAND — Although Traverse City Central could not come away with a regional championship trophy, the 2023 Trojan girls tennis team kept the streak alive and advanced Central to the state finals meet for the 41st consecutive season.

Regional title-winner Okemos finished with 24 points to runner-up Midland's 22 and Central's 19. The top three teams advance to state.

"The team fought hard all day and had a few hiccups, but they rallied as a team and ended up finishing the job," TC Central head coach Lisa Seymour said.

Six Trojans left with individual regional championship hardware as Central won the one-, two- and three-doubles flights.

Isabella Fochtman and Natalie Bourdo beat Okemos in the one-doubles finals without dropping a single game for the 6-0, 6-0 win. Wren Walker and Aili Brockmiller also bested Okemos in the two-doubles finals by a score of 6-2, 6-1. And it was Audrey Parker and Carly Galsterer topping Midland Dow in the three-doubles finals 6-4, 6-2.

"Our depth has been in our doubles teams all season, and they showed up in their final round today," Seymour said.

The Trojans compete for a state championship at the Dewitt Tennis Center at Hope College on June 2.

Traverse City West, which came on strong at the end of the regular season and showed tremendous growth in 2023, finished the day in eighth place with four points.

Anna Elmquest won her first-round matchup against Grand Ledge 6-3, 7-5 in two-singles. Sara Elliott also won her in the first round, beating Davison 6-1, 6-0 in three-singles. At two-doubles, Anna Sperry and Calli Hathaway won in the first round over Lansing Sexton 6-1, 6-0. And West's fourth point came from Meg Barnum and Alexa Nguyen's 6-0, 6-0 win over Lansing Sexton in the first round of four-doubles.

GIRLS SOCCER

TC St. Francis 5

Grayling 0

Traverse City St. Francis: Sidney Peters 2 goals, 1 assist; Riley Collins 1 goal, 2 assists' Lilianna David 1 goal, 1 assist; Gabi Chuinard 1 goal; Paisleigh Upshaw 4 saves.

UP NEXT: The Gladiators (8-3-2, 5-3-1 Lake Michigan) travel to Harbor Springs on Monday. The Vikings (6-10-1, 4-10-1 Lake Michigan) host Kingsley in district action Wednesday.

Elk Rapids 3

Charlevoix 0

Elk Rapids: Sofie Bellner 1 goal; Pipre Meteer 1 goal; Lauren Bingham 1 goal; Miriam Ribera 1 assist; Elizabeth Pike 1 assist; Jorja Jenema 9 saves.

Charlevoix: Addison Boop 8 saves.

UP NEXT: The Elks (16-0-1, 9-0 Lake Michigan) head to Boyne City on Monday. The Rayders (6-9-1, 2-7-1 Lake Michigan) close out their regular season Saturday when they host Birmingham Seaholm.

TC Central 3

Alpena 0

Traverse City Central: Emma Jo Papranec 1 goal; Elizabeth Thaxton 1 assist; Maddy Bartlett 1 goal; Allie Lewis 1 assist; Tessa Petty 1 goal; Nora Madion 1 assist; Amelia Jordan 5 saves.

UP NEXT: The Trojans (8-7-2, 6-1-2 Big North) host Romeo on Saturday.

Gaylord 2

Cadillac 1

UP NEXT: The Blue Devils (7-7-2, 5-2-2 Big North) travel to Traverse City Central on Monday. The Vikings (3-12-1, 1-7-1 Big North) host Traverse City West on Tuesday.

Glen Lake 9

Kingsley 1

Glen Lake: Ruby Hogan 2 goals, 4 assists; Gemma Lerchen 2 goal, 1 assist; Opal Poushi 1 goal, 2 assists; Paige Steffke 2 goals, 1 assist; Grace Diotte 1 goal; Ava Raymond 1 goal.

Kingsley: Bailey Charter 1 goal; Claire Dutton 1 assist, 5 saves; Moira Martz 4 saves; Chris Whims 4 saves.

UP NEXT: The Lakers (8-1-1, 8-1-1 Northwest) head to Leland on Monday. The Stags (3-11-1, 2-6-1 Northwest) travel to Benzie Central on Monday.

Buckley 3

Benzie Central 1

Buckley: Maddi Chilson 1 goal; Emma Cooper 1 goal; Avalon Valentine 1 goal; Aiden Romzek 1 assist; Maddi Sladek 5 saves.

UP NEXT: The Bears (5-6-2, 3-6-2 Northwest) travel to Leland on Friday. The Huskies (1-11-1, 0-8 Northwest) host Kingsley on Monday.