Traverse City Record-Eagle

Sports

October 17, 2009

Glads advance to semis in 3 flights

FROM STAFF REPORTS

So far, so good for the Traverse City St. Francis tennis team.

The Gladiators advanced to today's Division 4 semifinals at Kalamazoo in three flights -- Mac Corcoran at No. 3, Alex Primeau at No. 4 singles and Josh Kurtz and Patrick Wilson at No. 3 doubles.

St. Francis is tied for fifth with 14 points, two more than last year.

Corcoran beat Lansing Catholic's Tom Cummings (6-1, 6-0) and Whitehall's Nick Johnson (6-2, 6-2). He'll face top seed Brett Graham of Williamston in the semifinals.

Primeau downed Kalamazoo Christian's Colin Plaisier (6-1, 6-2) and Portland's Carson Seal (6-2, 6-2). He'll meet top seed George Tam of Ann Arbor Greenhills in the semifinals.

Kurtz and Wilson upended Lansing Catholic's Shane Guysky and Ethan Archer (6-2, 6-1) and Grosse Pointe Liggett's Robert Stanley and Garrett Mallires (6-2, 6-3). Up next: No. 2 seeds Sahir Choudhry and Akash Sudhakara of Grosse Ile.

St. Francis also picked up second-round wins from Sean Paquet and Newton Calcutt at No. 1 doubles, and Chris Miller and Stephen Siddal at No. 4 doubles after first-round byes.

Josh Quinlan and Alex Rushlow won a first-round match at No. 2 doubles.

Leelanau County finished with two points, picking up wins from Simon Kohler and Andrew Campbell at No. 3 doubles and Axam Scarbrough and Clay at No. 4 doubles.

Division 1

Goal met.

Traverse City Central sat in ninth place after the first day of the Division 1 state finals in Midland, and are guaranteed to stay there.

"Nobody can catch us," Trojans coach Larry Nykerk said. "The teams behind us are done. We're pleased. We were ranked in the top 10 and wanted to finish in the top 10."

Birmingham Brother Rice leads after the first day with 22 points.

The Trojans won a match in seven of the eight flights, and could have done more if the team hadn't received such a poor draw that saw a half dozen No. 1 seeds in the first few rounds matched up against TC Central.

Hunter Bergsma beat Dearborn Fordson 6-1, 6-2 in his opening No. 1 singles match before a 6-0, 6-1 loss to No. 6-seeded Huron.

Max Lundmark capitalized on a first-round bye with a second-round win over East Kentwood (7-6 [2], 4-6, 6-3) before running into No. 1 seed Troy and dropping a 6-2, 6-1 decision.

Harry Malone also opened with a win over Dearborn Fordson (6-0, 6-0) before a setback against No. 2 seed Brother Rice (6-3, 6-1), and Caleb Morgan defeated Grosse Pointe South (6-2, 6-3) ahead of a 6-1, 6-2 loss to No. 1 seed Detroit Catholic Central.

In doubles, the No. 1 team of Chris Heimburger and Peter Pappas beat East Kentwood (7-5, 7-6 [7-4]) after an opening-round bye, but fell to No. 1 seed Brother Rice 6-1, 6-1.

Jack Raymond and Matt Coleman were the only Central flight to not record a win, but the gave Troy a close battle in a 7-5, 7-5 loss.

Spencer Potter and Clark Phelps took a 7-5, 6-2 decision from Tory before a 6-1, 6-3 setback to No. 1 seed Detroit Catholic Central.

Then Central's No. 4 doubles team of Mark Jones and Eric Krueger beat Northville 6-2, 6-3 before taking the first set from top-seeded Pioneer in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 loss.

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