Whitehall achieved its goal of placing in the top 15 in the Division 4 state finals Monday, tying for 13th place with six points.
The highest-achieving Viking flights were No. 3 doubles pair Evan Thomas/Elijah Roberge. who earned the No. 6 seed and reached the quarterfinals, and No. 4 singles player Ryne Nicholas, who also reached the quarterfinals. Thomas/Roberge picked up a very close second-round win over Oliver Burnett/Noah Kuebler of Allegan by winning the third-set tiebreaker; the final score was 6-4, 4-6, 11-9. That sent the duo to the quarterfinals, where they bowed out to No. 3 seed Charlie Laethem/Peter Leathem of University Liggett.
Nicholas drew a first-round bye and beat Shyah Lakind of West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy, 6-4, 6-0, to reach the quarterfinals. No. 2 seed Hayden Riley of Lansing Catholic then beat Nicholas in that round.
The Vikings' top doubles flight, Patrick Cole/Ian Sampson, and No. 3 singles player Evan Schuitema each added a first-round win to the team score. Cole/Sampson edged Saginaw Nouvel Catholic pair Charlie Thiel/Conrad Wardin, 7-5, 6-2, in the first round, and played very competitively against No. 2 seed Nate Kuebler/Ezra Smith of Allegan before losing in the second round, 6-3, 7-5.
Schuitema defeated Nouvel Catholic's Ty Iamurri in a first-round match, 6-3, 6-4, before Berrien Springs' Andrew Seo, the No. 3 seed, knocked him off.
No. 2 singles player Brady Tate drew a first-round bye for the Vikings, as did No. 4 doubles pair Adam Sikkenga/Remington Whelpley. Sikkenga/Whelpley won the first set of their second-round match against Traverse City St. Francis' Joel LaDuke/Tristan Durkin before falling, 3-6, 6-2, 10-3. Tate also dropped his first match, as did No. 1 singles' William Burger and No. 2 doubles' Jon Hall/Myles Welch.
