Practice Gladiators

By Michael Selecky

VIEW Sports Writer

 

In the Nov. 1, 2007, edition of the VIEW Newspapers I raised the issue of recognition for all those hard working athletes who made up the bottom half of so many quality area football teams. Now that some time has passed, I think it’s time to revisit the plight of the unsung heroes of the fall, only this time I’d like to discuss one of the lesser recognized sports that comprise the competitive waters of high school athletics: boys tennis.

For first year coach Kevin Smith and the Atherton boys tennis program, who ended their season in the regional round of the state tournament, some of the squads doubles players who weren’t quite as recognizable as their teammates playing singles include Jon Peck and Joel Kulcher, who were each 5-10 for 2007, Kole Tate and Ian McClain fought valiantly only to finish at an identical 2-14 and Josh Korpi came in at 3-13 for the year.

Other Wolverine tennis players who haven’t received the star treatment include Haslett Invitational semifinalist Kyle Caudle at 7-8, Josh Edwards was 6-11 and placed third at the GAC tournament and James Sternberg finished at 10-7 and was also a Haslett Invitational semifinalist, as well as placing third at the league tournament.

In Grand Blanc, boys tennis coach Dave Clement had quite a successful season as his team took top honors in the Big Nine while being named league coach of the year but some of the cogs in his engine that perhaps haven’t been recognized as they could’ve been include the No. 5 doubles unit of Pat Leavy and Pete Colasanti, who went 9-3 overall, 3-0 league, while notching wins that include Clarkston, Grand Rapids and Holly.

As the Bobcats had nine players receiving All-League nominations between the first and second teams, their three other remaining starters, Nick Swanson at No. 4 singles and Alex Burau and Shaun Doss at No. 4 Doubles, were named honorable mention for accomplishments that include taking the title at the Big Nine tournament and earning important victories over squads such as Brighton, Powers, and Traverse City Central.

The Martians of Goodrich also had a quality boy’s tennis season under coach Roger Conn, winning the GAC Independent League tournament over Durand, Mt. Morris and Atherton.

At the conference tournament, Goodrich had a total of five first place finishes in the eight flights, with the other three each losing their first match only to come back and place third in the four team field. One of those not gaining an initial match victory include Chris Garman and Ian Kells at No. 3 Doubles, who defeated Atherton after falling to Jordan Pierre and Patrick Dean of Durand, 4-6, 2-6, in round one.

The other two Martian’s placing third at the league tourney were Joe McAuliffe at No. 3 Singles and Justin Slade at No. 1 Singles.

At Lapeer East, boy’s tennis coach Oscar Rodriguez took his team all the way to the state finals after going 11-2 overall, 5-1 Metro, to finish second in the league behind Holly and second at regionals, and part of how he got this accomplished was through performances that broke numerous school season records, such as Dustin Charnley’s 19 victories, which set a new mark for both doubles and first year varsity wins.

For Steve Elzerman, his 18 wins this season were the most ever for the Eagles at No. 1 doubles and, as a team, Lapeer East’s second place finish at the Port Huron Invitational was their best finish since they began competing at the event in 2001, when they came in third.

Some of this seasons other Eagle honorables include Elzerman and Nick Stepp, who were issued with the coach’s award, Scott Schneider at No. 4 Singles was named most improved and at No. 2 Singles, Steven Wilmers was named the unit’s Most Valuable Player.

With all these teams doing so well, what I hope people take away from this is the fact that every quality program is supported by a multitude of contributors, even though we don’t get the chance to regularly thank and congratulate them all.

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