By Dominic Scianna
Lane Tech College Prep won four of five brackets in cruising to the 2023 CPL Boys Varsity Tennis City Championship on May 5 at Riis Park in Chicago. Catalysts in the win were an impressive group of underclassmen who brought home the title for Lane Tech’s co-coaches Josh Park and Darren Olson.
“We have three freshmen in doubles and one in singles. We’re very young and have a lot of promise for this program now (in winning a city title) and in future years,” said Olson.
Lane sophomore Marko McRae got the team rolling as he earned a hard-fought 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kenwood’s Nyland Westmoreland in No. 1 singles. That was followed up by teammate Thomas Gjoklaj, a freshman, winning 6-0, 6-0 over Lincoln Park’s Sam More in the championship match in No. 2 singles. Both McRae and Gjoklaj finished the regular season undefeated.
“Marko and I practice against each other all the time and it’s a good way for us to improve our games. He thinks he’s better than me and I think I’m better than him so that pushes us,” said Gjoklaj, laughing while talking about their friendly rivalry as teammates.
Back-to-back city champion McRae was thrilled to come out on top and now looks forward to the IHSA state playoffs later in May.
“I’m excited to play in the state tournament this year because I wasn’t able to last season because of COVID-19,” said McRae, who won a CPL city title in the No. 2 singles bracket a year ago.
In doubles, Whitney Young’s Porter Baginski and Chetan Cherukuri broke through in No. 1 doubles to capture the title defeating Lane’s Freddy Hasnovi and Alex Lapins 6-2, 6-3.
“I’m really proud of my partner and I,” said Baginski. “We were consistent and hit some smart shots in the match that helped us win.”
The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles crowns went to Lane to close out the overall team competition finishing with 28 total points followed by Whitney Young finishing second with 16 points, and Lincoln Park placing third with 14 points.
No. 2 doubles champions for Lane were Indrit Metarapi and Sean Meyer beating Whitney Young’s Henry Alessi and Patrick Billings 7-5, 6-0, while No. 3 doubles led by Fletcher Glass and Andrew Choi prevailed over Young’s Vinay Patel and Angelo Schiciano 7-5, 6-1.
The most exhilarating tennis of the day saw Lincoln Park High School’s No. 2 doubles team of Joseph Putrim and Daniel Lapins survive a three-set, super tie-breaker winning 13-11 in the final match. The victory vaulted Lincoln Park to a third-place finish in the team competition besting Walter Payton College Prep by one point in the overall standings.
“Not much you can put into words,” said Putrim, when he and his teammate leaped into each other’s arms after their come-from-behind win. “We just kept fighting and staying calm and collected throughout the match.”
Lane coach Park closed the day by putting his team’s city championship victory into perspective.
“I’m super excited to see our aggressiveness paid off,” said Park. “We really stepped it up and I’m proud of the boys and the way they pulled together to win a championship today.”
